Jewish Groups Call to Outlaw Circumcision - Intactivist Jews in Israel Reform the Interpretation of Abraham's Covenant to be more Ethical

'We're seeing [circumcision's] decline, and we're seeing Rabbi's like me and others in other communities saying these practices are not warranted and we're seeing a generational shift away from them. One of the things that I think that's also critical is the growing popularity, and I think a rightful popularity of natural medicine and natural childbirth ideas. And I think that this is clearly seen as inconsistent - circumcision, male infant circumcision, female infant circumcision or genital mutilation - not consistent with natural childbirth, natural health. To the extent we see within nature patterns of evolved health and wellness. This is clearly not one of them. Inflicting a wound on an infant is clearly not one of those... If circumcision is ever wanted, it's not warranted at this point. “
- Rabbi Binyamin Biber
Washington DC Q&A with Ryan McAllister & Rabbi Binyamin Biber, Thursday, September 22, 2011
http://www.cutthefilm.com/Cut_Website/The_Cut_Podcast/Entrie....

An Ethical Jewish Movement to Abolish Bris Milah Part 1.
http://www.intactnews.org/node/104/1311886091/jewish-voices-....

An Ethical Jewish Movement to Abolish Bris Milah Part 2.
http://www.intactnews.org/node/105/1311886372/jewish-voices-....

An Ethical Jewish Movement to Abolish Bris Milah Part 3.
http://www.intactnews.org/node/112/1313862929/jewish-voices-....

Jews Speak Out in Favor of Banning Circumcision on Minors
http://www.intactnews.org/node/103/1311885181/jews-speak-out....

Jewish Writers Write on Intactivism
http://www.thewholenetwork.org/14/post/2011/12/jewish-intact....

Many Jews Oppose Circumcision
http://www.thewholenetwork.org/14/post/2011/8/the-many-jews-....

Saving Our Sons: The Intactivist Movement Within Judaism
http://www.savingsons.org/2011/10/intactivist-movement-withi....

peaceful parenting: The Intactivist Movement Within Judaism
http://www.drmomma.org/2011/10/intactivist-movement-within-j....

Eradicating Circumcision: Judaism, Intactivism, & Human Rights ...
http://www.restoringtally.com/blog/2011/10/eradicating-circu....

Jewish Intactivism Part II
http://guggiedaly.blogspot.com/2011/11/jewish-intactivism-pa....

The Guggie Daily: Jewish Intactivism: Circumcision Resources
http://guggiedaly.blogspot.com/2011/09/jewish-intactivism.ht....

Some American Rabbis Explain their Opposition to Circumcision.
Eliyahu Ungar-Sargon with Ryan McAllister & Rabbi Binyamin Biber *
http://www.cutthefilm.com/Cut_Website/The_Cut_Podcast/Entrie....

Eliyahu Ungar-Sargon with Rabbi Steven Blane & Laurie Evans *
http://www.cutthefilm.com/Cut_Website/The_Cut_Podcast/Entrie....

Rabbi Jeffrey Falick: Eliminating The Cruelest Cut * A humanistic Rabbi on Intactivism.
http://www.theatheistrabbi.com/2011/10/eliminating-cruelest-....

Rabbi Nathan Segal Calls for an End to Circumcision * A Progressive Rabbi urges us to move to peaceful covenants.
http://www.rabbinathan.com/writings/circum.shtml

Rabbi Jeffrey Falick: A Resource Guide To The 'Intactivist' (No Circumcision) Movement *
http://www.theatheistrabbi.com/2011/10/resource-guide-to-int....

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* According to modern scholars, circumcision is not even mentioned in the either the earliest, 'J', version of Bereshth ('Genesis') nor the next three rewrites by other authors. Most importantly, the story of Abram is there in its entirety, except the part about the Covenant being 'sealed' with circumcision. The parallel Covenant story of 'a smoking kiln and its blazing torch' passing between the halves of animals and birds sacrificed by Abram is in J. Many biblical scholars agree on this point, and it is in accord with the mitzvot against desecrating the body.... It has even been suggested that early Judaism forbad circumcision!'
Case for Bris without Milah.
http://www.circumstitions.com/Jewish.html

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* In Israel, opposition to circumcision has happened in just two decades, and now these “rebels” number in the tens of thousands, according to Ronit Tamir, founder of Kahal ( http://www.kahal.org ), a support group for parents who choose not to circumcise their children.
Jewish World, 3/11/10.

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Jewish Groups Call for an End to Circumcision



Jews Against Circumcision: Jewish Groups Call for an End to Circumcision
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'Being Jewish is in your heart, not in your penis.'

SAN DIEGO, California — The recent death of a baby boy in New York City has prompted some Jewish groups to call for an end to the practice of male circumcision. City investigators believe the boy died after contracting herpes from an infected mohel who sucked the blood from the baby's circumcision wound. Two other boys circumcised by the mohel have also contracted herpes, including the dead boy's twin brother.

Also known as Brit Milah, circumcision is the surgical removal of the foreskin from the penis. Although circumcision deaths in the U.S. are rare, the ritual is facing heavy criticism as it becomes synonymous with genital mutilation.

'What happened to this innocent Jewish baby in New York is especially tragic,' said Gillian Flato, Director of Jews Against Circumcision < http://www.jewsagainstcircumcision.org > , an international organization of Jews who have re-examined the practice and have found it to be immoral. 'I think this is a wake up call for the Jewish community. Circumcision does not make one Jewish. Being Jewish is in your heart, not in your penis.'

One of those options is a Brit Shalom, a naming ceremony that some Jewish families practice as an alternative to traditional circumcision. Growing in popularity, it shares many of the same ceremonial aspects of the Brit Milah, but without cutting the genitals. It is similar to the naming ceremony used to celebrate the birth of Jewish girls.

- Jewish Groups Call for an End to Circumcision

Jews Against Circumcision
http://www.jewsagainstcircumcision.org

Doctors Against Circumcision
http://www.doctorsopposingcircumcision.org

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* Betty Katz-Sperlich is a Jewish woman living in New Mexico, USA. A registered nurse, she is co-founder of Nurses for the Rights of the Child ( http://www.Nurses.cirp.org ). She refused to circumcise her son, now aged 13.
* 'I've been called anti-Semitic by non-Jewish people. But as a Jew, how could I not speak up against Jewish circumcision? I would be letting Jewish babies down.'
* Jenny Goodman, from north London, also refused to circumcise her son. She is a doctor and a psychotherapist as well as a Jewish feminist ( http://www.nocirc.org/symposia/fourth/goodman.html ). 'I know at least a dozen non-circumcised boys whose parents are identified as Jews,' she says. She adamantly opposes circumcision ( http://www.cirp.org/library/cultural/goodman1999/ ), claiming that it is physically and psychologically damaging to the child and violates human rights: 'It also violates the most important of medical ethics, above all do no harm.'
* Opposition to male circumcision in the UK had its first big breakthrough 18 months ago with the controversial Channel 4 documentary It's a Boy!, by Jewish director Victor Schonfeld. It slammed the practice of Jewish circumcision as unnecessary and barbaric, with potentially horrific consequences. Mr. Schonfeld claims that public consensus against it in the UK is growing.
Nursing Times, p. 12-13, February 19, 1997

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Israeli Related Links: (In Hebrew)
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> Kahal / Intact Israelis' Parents' Rights Group (Israel, International, in Hebrew) <
> http://www.kahal.org <

> Israeli & Jewish Association Against Genital Mutilation (Israel, International, in Hebrew) <
> http://www.britmila.org.il <

> Gonen Al Hayeled / Israel's Protect the Child (Israel, International, in Hebrew) <
> http://www.gonen.us <

> Af-Milah - Second Thoughts on Brit Milah <
> The Israeli/Jewish Journal To Stop Circumcision (in Hebrew) <
> P.O. Box 207, Rosh-Pinah 12000, Israel <

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* 'A web-based multimedia project that puts real faces and voices to the current Jewish movement against circumcision. This dynamic site is being created by, for, and about Jewish people. We each hold our own ideas about life and our Jewish heritage. We won't always agree. But we're united by this principle: the genital cutting of infants and children is wrong and must stop, no matter their religion or gender.' ( http://www.beyondthebris.com )

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Related Links: (In English)
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> Jews Opposing Circumcision (Israel, UK, USA, International) <
> http://www.jewsagainstcircumcision.org <

> Ending Circumcision In The Jewish Community By Moshe Rothenberg, CSW. (International) <
> http://www.nocirc.org/symposia/second/rothenberg.html <

> An Orthodox Jewish Rabbi Speaks Out to Stop Circumcision, 2007 (Israel, UK, CA, Worldwide) <
> http://www.rabbinathan.com/writings/circum.shtml <

> Brit Shalom - A Jewish Covenant of Wholeness Text (Israel, UK) <
> http://www.nocirc.org/religion/Naming_ceremony.php <

> Bris B'lee Milah & Bris Shalom Ceremony Text (International) <
> http://www.noharmm.org/nontrad.htm <

> Brit B'lee Milah & Bris Shalom Ceremony Text (Israel, UK, USA, International) <
> http://www.cirp.org/pages/cultural/bris_shalom.html <

> List of Brit B'lee Milah & Bris Shalom Rabbis by Dr. Mark D. Reiss, MD. (International) <
> http://www.circumstitions.com/Jewish-shalom.html <

> Women's Perspectives: Dr. Ron Goldman's Website (Israel, UK, USA) <
> http://www.jewishcircumcision.org/women.htm <

> The Case Against Circumcision by Dr. Paul M. Fleiss, M.D. (Worldwide) <
> http://www.mothersagainstcirc.org/fleiss.html <

> Jewish Roots of Anti-Circumcision Arguments by Lisa Braver Moss (UK, USA, International)<
> http://www.nocirc.org/symposia/second/moss.html <

> Dr. Ron Goldman's Site <
> http://www.circumcision.org <

> Jewish Women Speak Out: Miriam Pollack (UK) <
> http://www.noharmm.org/pollack.htm <

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'Growing numbers of American Jews are now leaving their sons intact'

'I am a 72 year old retired physician, a Jew who is an active member of a Conservative synagogue, and a grandfather. Three years ago, as I was about to become a grandfather for the first time, my interest in the subject became more focused. Whether done by a physician in the hospital, or a mohel in a ritual brit milah, the procedure has significant complication rates of infection, hemorrhage and even death.

Growing numbers of American Jews are now leaving their sons intact as they view circumcision as a part of Jewish law that they can no longer accept. Alternative brit b’li milah or brit shalom ceremonies (ritual naming ceremony without cutting) are being performed by some rabbis. Increasing numbers of intact boys are going to religious school, having bar mitzvahs, and taking their place as young adults in the Jewish community.

As a Jewish grandfather, I want to assure young couples about to bring a child into the world, that there are other members of the Jewish “older” generation, including other Jewish physicians, and even some rabbis, who feel as I do. If your heart and instincts tell you to leave your son intact, listen!'

- Dr. Mark D. Reiss, M.D.

Dr. Reiss is the executive vice-president of Doctors Opposing Circumcision.

Doctors Opposing Circumcision
http://www.doctorsopposingcircumcision.org

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Although I grew up as a Conservative Jew, learned to read Hebrew, had a Bat Mitzvah, and even kept kosher... When I was a teenager, my father started complaining about circumcision. He would say things like, “I don’t understand why, in a world full of pain, we choose to put our baby boys through even more pain.” It was only when I was pregnant with my son, and had a serious conversation with my father about circumcision, that I discovered he would not have wanted to cut a son of his own. He said to me, 'There is enough pain in this world, why would anyone want to inflict pain on a newborn baby so that pain is all he knows of life?'
- Sarah Rockwell


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Dr. Mark D. Reiss, M.D., executive vice-president of Doctors Opposing Circumcision's talk to Rabbi Nathan Segal's Orthodox Congregation (Shul of Marin County) on Kol Nidre eve.

'When medical circumcision disappears in the United States, I think that many American Jews will follow the lead and stop circumcising. This has certainly occurred in other countries where circumcision is frowned upon, such as Sweden, where only 40% of the newborn Jewish boys are circumcised.

A man does not need to be circumcised to be Jewish any more than he needs to follow other laws, such as keeping kosher, or observing the multiple restrictions of Shabbat.

Today, there are newborn Jewish boys the world over who are not being circumcised. These intact boys are being brought up Jewish, having Bar Mitzvahs, and ultimately taking their place in the Jewish community.
A few years ago I learned about the alternative naming ceremonies that some Jewish families choose, to peacefully and non-surgically bring their baby boys into the covenant. This is similar to the naming ceremony used for baby girls. Rather than Brit Milah, how about Brit Shalom? This name has caught on, and I now have a web page listing rabbis and other lay leaders who will help officiate at such ceremonies.
I call the page “Celebrants of Brit Shalom” and it can be found at > http://www.circumstitions.com/Jewish-shalom.html Jews Opposing Circumcision: Conservative, Orthodox, Reform and More (Israel, UK, USA, International) <
> http://www.jewsagainstcircumcision.org <

> Ending Circumcision In The Jewish Community By Moshe Rothenberg, CSW. (International) <
> http://www.nocirc.org/symposia/second/rothenberg.html <

> A Jewish, Conservative Rabbi Speaks Out Against Circumcision, 2007 (Israel, UK, CA, International) <
> http://www.rabbinathan.com/writings/circum.shtml <

> Brit Shalom - A Jewish Covenant of Wholeness Text (Israel, UK) <
> http://www.nocirc.org/religion/Naming_ceremony.php <

> Bris B'lee Milah & Bris Shalom Ceremony Text (International) <
> http://www.noharmm.org/nontrad.htm <

> Brit B'lee Milah & Bris Shalom Ceremony Text (Israel, UK, USA, International) <
> http://www.cirp.org/pages/cultural/bris_shalom.html <

> List of Brit B'lee Milah & Bris Shalom Rabbis by Dr. Mark D. Reiss, M.D. (International) <
> http://www.circumstitions.com/Jewish-shalom.html <

> Women's Perspectives: Dr. Ron Goldman's Website (Israel, UK, USA) <
> http://www.jewishcircumcision.org/women.htm <

> The Case Against Circumcision by Dr. Paul M. Fleiss, MD. (USA, UK, International) <
> http://www.mothersagainstcirc.org/fleiss.html <

> Jewish Roots of Anti-Circumcision Arguments by Lisa Braver Moss (UK, USA, International)<
> http://www.nocirc.org/symposia/second/moss.html <

> A Jewish Woman Denounces Circumcision by Laura Shanley. (Israel, UK, International) <

> Dr. Ron Goldman's Site <
> http://www.circumcision.org <

> Jewish Women Speak Out: Miriam Pollack (UK) <
> http://www.noharmm.org/pollack.htm <
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'a form of ritual that is truly welcoming and that is truly purely symbolic.'

'...support can be found from many Jewish sources for the view that circumcision of infants is unethical and should therefore be abandoned...in the final analysis, circumcision is not symbolic for the baby: it is horribly real. Now is the time to lay the knife aside and to move forward into the 21st century with a form of ritual that is truly welcoming and that is truly purely symbolic.'

- Dr. Jenny Goodman
Jewish circumcision: an alternative perspective. BJU Int 1999; 83 Suppl 1:22-27.
http://www.cirp.org/library/cultural/goodman1999/

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* 'I don't see any reason why I should cut my son's genitals. There is no reason and I don't think I have the right, even as a parent, to cut a normal part of his body....Eventually I think religious people, too, will stop doing it.'
- Kasher, co-founder of one of the largest Intactivist groups in Israel.

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'Any child born of a Jewish mother is a Jew, whether circumcised or not.'

'As stated in the Encyclopedia Judaica, 'Any child born of a Jewish mother is a Jew, whether circumcised or not.'...'the Torah prohibits the torture or causing of pain to any living creature.' ...considering Hillel's encapsulation of Judaism: 'What is hateful to you, do not to your fellow-creature' (Sab. 31a), should we force circumcision on another? It is a violation of Torah law to physically assault or harm another person (Exodus 21:18-27)....according to Jewish law, the human body must not be cut or marked (Lev. 19:28). '
- Dr. Ronald Goldman, Jewish Spectator Magazine


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Perhaps I’m too optimistic, but I think in coming years, thanks to the widespread dissemination of information made possible through the Internet, we are going to see circumcision becoming increasingly recognized as human rights violation.
- Rebecca Wald, JD.


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JEWISH AND ISRAELI MOVEMENTS TO STOP CIRCUMCISION

'Eventually I think religious people, too, will stop doing it.'

From the JERUSALEM POST:

Kasher says, 'I don't see any reason why I should cut my son's genitals. There is no reason and I don't think I have the right, even as a parent, to cut a normal part of his body just because other people do it.'

Kasher thinks that's only just the beginning, even though right now his movement is a fringe one. He foresees a time when the practice will be relegated to history books. 'Eventually I think religious people, too, will stop doing it. But it will take years.'

'Hopefully they will succeed and they will be the first nation in the world to recognize circumcision for what it is - a crime,' enthuses Avshalom Zoossmann-Diskin, who leads the Israeli Association Against Genital Mutilation < http://www.britmila.org.il >.

'There's a very strong feeling in Sweden that the Swedish people and government should be at the forefront of [protecting] rights, especially children's rights,' he says. The law passed after a local Muslim boy died from complications from medication administered in connection with a circumcision.

The issue, according to opponents of circumcision, includes the moral ramifications of cutting one's child and the psychological impacts stemming from the trauma. They claim that the level of discomfort experienced by the child increases his later response to pain and hurts the bond between the baby and his mother. They also maintain that circumcision diminishes sexual pleasure and that there is no medical reason to remove the foreskin.

Ben-Yami counters that 'Jewish identity can survive without circumcision, in fact, even better without it because more and more non-religious Jews have an aversion [to the religion] because of some of the things it contains, like circumcision. Judaism has enough content in it to survive without circumcision.'

'It's something that came into Judaism from other religions and other tribal [customs] and it will pass from Judaism [too],' Udi says.

Kasher of Af-Mila agrees. Though he acknowledges that his opinions are minority ones, he points to growing interest in his publication and awareness of the subject in the media, as well as the quick increase from four founding families in Kahal to its current size.

'It's going to vanish by itself, from the people,' he says.

A group of 35 American Jews that claims members from secular to Orthodox tries to find ways of reconciling Judaism to a circumcision-free life. The organization, Jews Against Circumcision > http://www.jewsagainstcircumcision.org Kahal / Jewish Intact Israelis' Parents' Rights Group (Israel, International, in Hebrew) <
> http://www.kahal.org <

> Israeli/Jewish Association Against Genital Mutilation (Israel, International, in Hebrew) <
> http://www.britmila.org.il <

> Gonen Al Hayeled / Israel's Protect the Child (Israel, International, in Hebrew) <
> http://www.gonen.us <

> Af-Milah - Second Thoughts on Brit Milah <
> The Israeli Journal Against Circumcision (in Hebrew) P.O. Box 207, Rosh-Pinah 12000, Israel (Israel, International, in Hebrew) <

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Related Links: (In English)
Hassidic, Conservative, Orthodox, Israeli, Traditional, International Reform Jews and more...
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> Jews Opposing Circumcision: Conservative, Orthodox, Reform and More (Israel, UK, USA, International) <
> http://www.jewsagainstcircumcision.org <

> Ending Circumcision In The Jewish Community By Moshe Rothenberg, CSW. (International) <
> http://www.nocirc.org/symposia/second/rothenberg.html <

> A Jewish, Conservative Rabbi Speaks Out Against Circumcision, 2007 (Israel, UK, CA, International) <
> http://www.rabbinathan.com/writings/circum.shtml <

> Brit Shalom - A Jewish Covenant of Wholeness Text (Israel, UK) <
> http://www.nocirc.org/religion/Naming_ceremony.php <

> Bris B'lee Milah & Bris Shalom Ceremony Text (International) <
> http://www.noharmm.org/nontrad.htm <

> Brit B'lee Milah & Bris Shalom Ceremony Text (Israel, UK, USA, International) <
> http://www.cirp.org/pages/cultural/bris_shalom.html <

> List of Brit B'lee Milah & Bris Shalom Rabbis by Dr. Mark D. Reiss, M.D. (International) <
> http://www.circumstitions.com/Jewish-shalom.html <

> Women's Perspectives: Dr. Ron Goldman's Website (Israel, UK, USA) <
> http://www.jewishcircumcision.org/women.htm <

> The Case Against Circumcision by Dr. Paul M. Fleiss, MD. (USA, UK, International) <
> http://www.mothersagainstcirc.org/fleiss.html <

> Jewish Roots of Anti-Circumcision Arguments by Lisa Braver Moss (UK, USA, International)<
> http://www.nocirc.org/symposia/second/moss.html <

> A Jewish Woman Denounces Circumcision by Laura Shanley. (Israel, UK, International) <

> Dr. Ron Goldman's Site <
> http://www.circumcision.org <

> Jewish Women Speak Out: Miriam Pollack (UK) <
> http://www.noharmm.org/pollack.htm <
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