Jews Against Circumcision
Deuteronomy 23:1 directly forbids cutting (#3772 karath) of a human penis (#8212 shophkah).
The verses supposedly recommending penile circumcision, (such as Genesis 17:11) use different and much more vague words: #5243 namal (trim), #1320 basar (flesh), #6189 (exposed/overhanging).
These words could apply to innumerable things beside foreskins: umbilical cords, scabs, skin-tags, false-digits, other birth defects, even accumulations such as psoriasis or eczema.
See the book: โQuestioning Circumcision: A Jewish Perspectiveโ by Ronald Goldman.
Circumcision is wrong. And we need to stop!- Mark D. Reiss, M.D., executive vice-president of Doctors Opposing Circumcision, delivering a talk entitled, "American Circumcision and Brit Milah in 2003" to Rabbi Nathan Segal's Congregation (Shul of Marin County) on Kol Nidre eve
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It has been argued that the foreskin is โjust a flap of useless skin.โ Far from the truth!
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Circumcision is the most common surgical procedure done in the United States. ... we are the only country in the world routinely circumcising our newborn baby boys for non-religious reasons
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more than 20,000 newborn American boys suffered a significant postoperative [circumcision] complication in 2001.
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every year babies die as a result of circumcision.
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circumcision has risks which far outweigh any potential benefit...
No medical society in the world recommends routine infant circumcision.
The American Academy of Pediatrics... recently concluded that routine newborn infant circumcision cannot be recommended.
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There is no hygienic or medical basis for circumcision in Judaism.
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circumcision is frowned upon in other countries, such as Sweden, where only 40% of the newborn Jewish boys are circumcised.
There are some Jews who state that if circumcision is discontinued, it will threaten the very ethos of being Jewish. They are mistaken.
Circumcision is not an identity issue in Judaism.
... A man does not need to be circumcised to be Jewish...
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.
Rather than Brit Milah, some Jewish families choose alternative naming ceremonies to peacefully and non-surgically bring their baby boys into the covenant...
I now have a web page [โCelebrants of Brit Shalomโ] listing rabbis and other lay leaders who will help officiate at such ceremonies.
http://circumstitions.com/Jewish-shalom.html
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Not a week goes by that I do not receive requests by phone or email from expectant parents who cannot accept circumcision, and are looking for someone to help them with Brit Shalom.
...there is a tremendous amount of ignorance surrounding circumcision.
...this is a traumatic event for baby boys.
...Why do we persist with this harmful and potentially dangerous tradition?
