Nadene Goldfoot
It has been the custom for Jews to practice circumcision for the past 3,000 years or more, probably ever since entering Egypt or maybe even earlier when Abraham lived in Ur.
Jewish boy babies go through the ceremony on the 8th day after birth. It is most often referred to as the covenant of Abraham. Any male proselyte to Judaism must undergo circumcision. That cuts down the prospects if they're not really serious. A mohel is the man doing the surgery. A mohel is trained in the Jewish laws concerning circumcision, as well as in modern surgical hygiene, or he could even be a doctor! The father is there to say a special blessing and the sandak (godfather who holds the child in his lap during the operation. A chair on which the child is placed before being circumcised is known as the Chair of Elijah. special blessings follow the operation, being recited over a cup of whine while the child is given his name. Then it's party-time for the family to celebrate. Yes, there are many bris customs, including the Shalom Zakhar, a festive meal the Friday night before the bris, having a minyan (a quorum of 10 adult Jews) present and setting aside a chair for the prophet Elijah.
In Islam there is no fixed age for circumcision. The age at which it is performed varies depending on family, region and country. The preferred age is often seven although some Muslims are circumcised as early as the seventh day after birth and as late as puberty. There is no equivalent of a Jewish 'mohel' in Islam.
In biblical times and later, male slaves were also circumcised. An uncircumcised person was excluded from participation in important Jewish rites, such as eating the paschal lamb. it's become a symbol distinguishing the Jews from the idolator.
Herodotus, writing in the 5th century BCE, wrote that the Egyptians "practice circumcision for the sake of cleanliness, considering it better to be cleanly than comely." David Gollaher considered circumcision in ancient Egypt to be a mark of passage from childhood to adulthood. He mentions that the alteration of the body and ritual of circumcision were supposed to give access to ancient mysteries reserved solely for the initiated. (See also Clement of Alexandria, Stromateis 1.15) The content of those mysteries are unclear but are likely to be myths, prayers, and incantations central to Egyptian religion. The Egyptian Book of the Dead, for example, tells of the sun god Ra cutting himself, the blood creating two minor guardian deities. The Egyptologist Emmanuel vicomte de Rougé interpreted this as an act of circumcision. Circumcisions were performed by priests in a public ceremony, using a stone blade. It is thought to have been more popular among the upper echelons of the society, although it was not universal and those lower down the social order are known to have had the procedure done. The Egyptian hieroglyph for "penis" depicts either a circumcised or an erect organ.
Circumcision was also adopted by some Semitic peoples living in or around Egypt. Herodotus reported that circumcision is only practiced by the Egyptians, Colchians, Ethiopians, Phoenicians, the 'Syrians of Palestine', and "the Syrians who dwell about the rivers Thermodon and Parthenius, as well as their neighbours the Macronians and Macrones". He also reports, however, that "the Phoenicians, when they come to have commerce with the Greeks, cease to follow the Egyptians in this custom, and allow their children to remain uncircumcised."
According to Genesis, God told Abraham (b:1948 BCE) to circumcise himself, his household and his slaves as an everlasting covenant in their flesh, see also Abrahamic Covenant. Those who were not circumcised were to be "cut off" from their people. [Genesis 17:10–14] In the Torah, God commands Abraham to undergo circumcision at age 99, as part of a covenant between Him and generations of Jews to come. "This is My covenant which you shall keep, between Me and you and thy descendants after thee, every male among you shall be circumcised. And ye shall be circumcised on the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you. And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every male throughout your generations" (Genesis 17:10-12).
Covenants in biblical times were often sealed by severing an animal, with the implication that the party who breaks the covenant will suffer a similar fate. In Hebrew, kārat berît meaning to seal a covenant translates literally as "cut a covenant". It is presumed by Jewish scholars that the removal of the foreskin symbolically represents such a sealing of the covenant.
Moses (b:1391 BCE) might not have been circumcised, some people think. Personally, I believe he had been, coming from being raised from birth by the daughter of the Pharaoh. Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised, Both Abraham and his son, Ishmael, were circumcised on that same day, along with all the other men and boys of the household, whether they were born there or bought as servants. All were circumcised with him.
Genesis 17:23-24, 26-27. With out going through all the lineage know Moses was of the house of Levi he would according to the Abrahamic Covenant be circumcised. One of his sons was not, nor were some of his followers while traveling through the desert. Anyone born in the Wilderness had not been circumcised. [Joshua 5:4–7] Joshua was to circumcise the men a 2nd time aftercrossing the sea. This was the next generation and hadn't been circumcised before. Moses's wife Zipporah circumcised their son when God threatened to kill Moses.[Exodus 4:24–26] Moses had a decision to make. Should he circumcise his son and
put him in danger by taking him immediately on the journey during the first 3 days after
the cutting. He had to leave, but when he got to the inn, he didn't perform the circum-
cision then but made the arrangements for their lodging instead. The short trip would
not endanger the child's health.
In Egypt, only the priestly caste retained circumcision, and by the 2nd century, the only circumcising groups in the Roman Empire were Jews, Samaritans, Jewish Christians, Egyptian priests, and the Nabatean Arabs. Circumcision was sufficiently rare among non-Jews that being circumcised was considered conclusive evidence of Judaism (or Early Christianity and others derogatorily called Judaizers) in Roman courts—Suetonius in Domitian 12.2 described a court proceeding (from "my youth") in which a ninety-year-old man was stripped naked before the court to determine whether he was evading the head tax placed on Jews and Judaizers.
Cultural pressures to circumcise operated throughout the Hellenistic world: when the Judean king John Hyrcanus conquered the Idumeans, he forced them to become circumcised and convert to Judaism, but their ancestors the Edomites had practiced circumcision in pre-Hellenistic times. They were Semites, descendants of Esau and were hunters.
Some Jews tried to hide their circumcision status, as told in 1 Maccabees. Those that do, are thinking of their social status with others and exposure of being Jewish.
This was mainly for social and economic benefits and also so that they could exercise in gymnasiums and compete in sporting events. Techniques for restoring the appearance of an uncircumcised penis were known by the 2nd century BCE. In one such technique, a copper weight (called the Judeum pondum) was hung from the remnants of the circumcised foreskin until, in time, they became sufficiently stretched to cover the glans.
First Maccabees tells us that the Seleucids forbade the practice of circumcision (brit milah), and punished those who performed it – as well as the infants who underwent it – with death. The Seleucid Empire was a Greek state in Western Asia, during the Hellenistic Period, that existed from 312 BC to 63 BC. The Seleucid Empire was founded by Seleucus I Nicator, following the division of the Macedonian Empire that existed previously, which had been founded by Alexander the Great.
The 1st-century Jewish author Philo Judaeus (20 BCE - 50 CE) defended Jewish circumcision on several grounds, including health, cleanliness and fertility. He also thought that circumcision should be done as early as possible as it would not be as likely to be done by someone's own free will. He claimed that the foreskin prevented semen from reaching the vagina and so should be done as a way to increase the nation's population. He also noted that circumcision should be performed as an effective means to reduce sexual pleasure: "The legislators thought good to dock the organ which ministers to such intercourse thus making circumcision the symbol of excision of excessive and superfluous pleasure." There was also division in Pharisaic Judaism between Hillel the Elder and Shammai on the issue of circumcision of proselytes.
The Jewish philosopher Maimonides (1135–1204) insisted that faith should be the only reason for circumcision. He recognized that it was "a very hard thing" to have done to oneself but that it was done to "quell all the impulses of matter" and "perfect what is defective morally." Sages at the time had recognized that the foreskin heightened sexual pleasure. Maimonides reasoned that the bleeding and loss of protective covering rendered the penis weakened and in so doing had the effect of reducing a man's lustful thoughts and making sex less pleasurable. He also warned that it is "hard for a woman with whom an uncircumcised man has had sexual intercourse to separate from him." Did he really think this was a good selling point?
A 13th-century French disciple of Maimonides, Isaac ben Yediah claimed that circumcision was an effective way of reducing a woman's sexual desire. With a non-circumcised man, he said, she always orgasms first and so his sexual appetite is never fulfilled, but with a circumcised man she receives no pleasure and hardly ever orgasms "because of the great heat and fire burning in her."
Flavius Josephus in Jewish Antiquities book 20, chapter 2 records the story of King Izates who having been persuaded by a Jewish merchant named Ananias to embrace the Jewish religion, decided to get circumcised so as to follow Jewish law. Despite being reticent for fear of reprisals from his non-Jewish subjects he was eventually persuaded to do it by a Galileean Jew named Eleazar on the grounds that it was one thing to read the Law and another thing to practice it. Despite his mother Helen and Ananias's fear of the consequences, Josephus said that God looked after Izates and his reign was peaceful and blessed.
Parents who have no religious affiliation with circumcision tend to shy away from having their sons circumcised. Although there is enough evidence on the health benefits of circumcision — including reductions in both urinary tract infections (UTIs) and sexually transmissible viral infections — that most insurance companies will cover the procedure, Dr. Chen notes that the diseases for which the risk may be reduced are rare. Similarly, she adds, risks associated with circumcision are very low.
The reduced UTI risk is particularly applicable to boys with urological conditions that predispose them to infection, including posterior urethral valves and vesicoureteral reflux. “Most pediatric urologists recommend circumcision in boys who are at high UTI risk,” says Jennifer Singer, MD, a UCLA pediatric urologist. “But for boys without these predispositions, the risk of UTI during childhood is extremely low, whether they are circumcised or not.” Circumcision has been shown to reduce the risk of HIV transmission through heterosexual sex, but not for men having sex with men, Dr. Singer notes. She adds that the evidence of reduced risk is only in regions with high HIV prevalence, such as sub-Saharan Africa.
In some cases, circumcision can increase the risk of future health concerns. Circumcised boys are more prone to a condition known as meatal stenosis, in which the opening through which urine leaves the body is constricted. There is also the potential for cosmetic concerns regarding the amount of foreskin removed, as well as the very rare but serious risk of injury to the glans. The newborn circumcision procedure itself has a 0.5 percent risk of complications, most commonly minor bleeding and pain.
Santa Monica, California in June of 2011 tried to put an end in their state for circumcision. But last month, the group collected the more than 7,100 signatures needed to get a measure on the fall ballot that would make it illegal to snip the foreskin of a minor within city limits. Now a similar effort is under way in Santa Monica to get such a measure on the ballot for November 2012.
The proponent of a ballot measure to ban circumcision in a California city has dropped the effort following claims of anti-Semitic themes and imagery, including a comic book that featured a "Monster Mohel."
If the anti-circumcision activists (they prefer the term “intactivists”) have their way, cities across the country may be voting on whether to criminalize a practice that is common in many American hospitals. Activists say the measures would protect children from an unnecessary medical procedure, calling it “male genital mutilation.” “This is the furthest we’ve gotten, and it is a huge step for us,” said Matthew Hess, an activist based in San Diego who wrote both bills.
Muslim countries show that most all men get circumcised. Jewish men everywhere should show 100%. Personal preference was more common in Anglophone countries such as the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Prevalence was especially low in Latin American countries and the Caribbean Islands (less than 1%) and European countries (typically 10% or less). According to a CDC study, male circumcision rates in the United States for newborns decreased between 1979 and 2010 from 64.5% to 58.3%. It is estimated that the overall rate in the United States is about 77%. And then there's Santa Monica who wants to do away with it entirely.
| Country | Prevalence | 2021 Population | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Morocco 99.90% | 99.90% | 37,344,795 | |||||||||||||||
| Tunisia 99,80% | 99.80% | 11,935,766 | |||||||||||||||
| Afghanistan 99.80% | 99.80% | 39,835,428 | |||||||||||||||
Iran 99.70%
| 99.70% | 85,028,759 |
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