The real answer as to why circumcision is an “absolute give-in” among Jews
August 31, 2009 Circumcision, Feminism, Feminist, Gender Sensitivity Dana Goldstein
Dana Goldstein asks,
Why is it that even as Jews have assimilated and rejected many religious practices, such as strict Kashrut, we continue, as a community, to cling to circumcision?
Does Dana accept any other male-only ritual? Or just the one that involves penis slicing? Like most other Liberal Jewish feminists?
Keep in mind, these are the responses of a woman whose “endorsed” section includes such oh-so-gender-sensitive publications as Feminist Law Professors, Feministe, and Feministing.
Goldstein gives some typical responses.
But there’s also a deep emotional tie to circumcision; a feeling of pride that Jews are physically marked as such — that a Jewish man can never totally escape his Jewishness, because it is inscribed on his body through circumcision. During the Holocaust, this was one way in which Jews were identified by the Nazis. We Jews are rightfully attached to that history. One of my friends, who is studying to become a rabbi, recently told me he considers circumcision the single most important Jewish religious obligation.
Her answers don’t reflect the true answer. The true answer is quite simple.
Jews continue to “cling” to circumcision in such large numbers because the kid can’t refuse. That is the only reason. There is no other reason. If Jewish circumcision were done at age 18 or 21, the circumcision rate for Jews would drop dramatically.
10 comments
Ummm at the risk of stating the obvious…it is the parents who decide to cling to the ritual. It is they who could refuse to perform it on their babies.
Many irreligious fathers do have a genuine dilemma about it. Very often they do it in the end out of strong emotional pulls to do so.
Right, Avi. Except that unlike kashrut, strict sabbath observance, etc., the kid has no say in it. Why did all these rituals fall away from observance anyway among most Jews? Because the kid at some rejected them. Think about it.
But there’s also a deep emotional tie to circumcision; a feeling of pride that Jews are physically marked as such
Couldn’t we just substitute a really snappy haircut?
Tattoos would work.
How about defiantly facing bigoted stereotypes. Nasal enhancement now!
Kashrut and shabbat are things you do on a daily and weekly basis, respectively. They are not proper comparators.
I think circumcision has survived because many Jews view it as pivotal to Jewish identification and identity.
dk,
you are right on this one. if the bris was done at 13, 18 or 21 it would fade into obscurity even among the religious.
[...] really is a dreadful periodical. Oh, Dana Goldstein writes for them. [...]
how the fuck is circumcision “inscribing Jewishness”? Don’t they know that goyim get them, too? Or that circumcision wasn’t invented by us, but common among many near eastern peoples. it was only during the time of the babylonian exile that it became a mark of difference, which is also the same time that the torah was written/compiled.
Miss Goldstein, many European Jews have given up bris along with kashrut and the rest.
Why does bris persist elsewhere? A bris is 5 minutes of minor surgery, whose result is visible for life. All other aspects of frum require a lifetime of repeat effort, weekly or annually.
Many Israelis are notoriously secular. They circumcise so a boy won’t be made fun of in day care, school, and the army. So that he won’t need to have a very embarrassing conversation with his eventual sabra fiance.
Bris persisted because it made intermarriage with European Christians very awkward. The denuded penis made it impossible for a handsome blond Jewish boy from leaving his shtetl, going to a city, taking up a trade, and marrying a shiksa. He would be found out the first time she did foreplay on him. A beautiful Jewish girl who left her shtetl, walked to town, and tried to marry a goy, would be reminded of her disloyalty to Israel every time she made love to her goy husband. This is the sense in which Spinoza was right: bris saved the people of Israel from assimilation.
This salvific role of bris has broken down. Intermarriage is very high regardless. The English speaking goyim adopted routine circ for several generations. Most Jews insist on sending their sons to public schools.
If bris were done after the 18th birthday, it would be a good deal less common, but not nonexistent. And its existential value would soar.
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