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Eradicating Circumcision: Judaism, Intactivism, & Human Rights

by Guest Blogger on October 10, 2011 Bookmark and Share

Jews against CircumcisionJewish Star of David“Although uncircumcised, I am a very proud Jew, with a very strong sense of Jewish identity, and never hesitate to affirm my Jewish identity, to Jew and non-Jew alike, but particularly to myself. I can assure you that having a foreskin has not made me less of a Jew than those without one…”
- Alan Altmann, Circumcision Questions, California Jewish Bulletin, May 31, 1985.

"It's not a parental choice. There's an ethical problem with making this a parental choice, namely that you're not taking into account the wishes upon whom the surgery is being performed."
- Eliyahu Ungar-Sargon, Georgetown University, September 22, 2011.
The Cut Tour: Washington DC Q&A with Ryan McAllister & Rabbi Binyamin Biber Podcast
 

Jewish Intactivism, the Foreskin and Human RightsIntactNews is a news-media organization connecting all facets of the genital integrity movement.

  • Jewish Intactivists, the Foreskin, and Human Rights Part 1.
  • Jewish Intactivists, the Foreskin, and Human Rights Part 2.
  • Jewish Intactivists, the Foreskin, and Human Rights Part 3.

“There are tens of thousands of intact Jewish boys and men around the world who thank their lucky stars they were not circumcised.”
- Brian Levitt, Jewish Intactivist, co-founder of
Jews for the Rights of the Child
Testimony at the California Senate Judiciary Committee Public Hearing on Circumcision.
 

The Ethical and Moral Problems of Circumcision: Jewish Arguments for Intactivism

  • Manhattan Jewish Experience: Eli Ungar-Sargon & Rabbi Shmuley Boteach on the Ethical Problems of Circumcision
  • Northern California Jewish Bulletin: Circumcision Questions (letter from an uncircumcised Jew)
  • Jewish Women Speak Out: Miriam Pollack: Circumcision: A Jewish Feminist Perspective
  • Jewish Daily Forward: Eli Ungar-Sargon Outlawing Circumcision Good for the Jews?
  • Tikkun: Michael S. Kimmel: The Kindest Un-Cut: Feminism, Judaism, and My Son's Foreskin
  • Mothering Magazine: Stacey Greenberg: My Son: The Little Jew with a Foreskin
  • Beyond the Bris: Howard Stern: Jewish Intactivist
  • Beyond the Bris: Defying Convention: An Interview With Miriam Pollack
  • Beyond the Bris: Lisa Braver Moss: Evolving Jewish Practices

“When all is said and done, circumcision is really a human rights issue. What right do any of us have to permanently remove a normal, healthy, sensitive part of another person's body without their consent? I have no problem with an adult male who chooses to be circumcised. I do have a problem with an adult who makes that decision for a child. I have known too many men, both Jewish and Christian, who resent the fact that they were circumcised." 
- Laura Shanley, Childbirth Instructor, A Jewish Woman Denounces Circumcision
 

# Jews Against Circumcision describes Brit Shalom, Convenent of PeaceExample Peaceful Covenant Texts for New Parents

  • Worldwide list of Rabbis & Moyels who lead covenant without cutting ceremonies
  • Jews Against Circumcision describes Brit Shalom, Convenent of Peace
  • A Brit Shalom (Intact Jewish Baby Welcoming) Ceremony
  • Song for an Intact Jewish Boy’s Welcoming Ceremony
  • Brit B'lee Milah (Covenant Without Cutting) Ceremony
  • Norm Cohen: A Brit B’lee Milah (Intact Jewish Baby Welcoming) Ceremony

"According to modern scholars, circumcision is not even mentioned in 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.
 

Examples of Young Jewish Parents who Choose Peaceful Covenant Ceremonies

  • Peaceful Parenting: Dear Elijah: A Conservative Jewish Father's Letter to His Intact Son
  • Beyond the Bris: Diane Targovnik: How "Cut" Saved My Son's Foreskin : A Movie Review
  • Very, Very Fine: The Naming
  • Natural Parents Network: Intact and Jewish
  • Beyond the Bris: Sarah Rockwell: Lucking Into Bris Shalom
  • Moshe Rothenberg: Being Rational About Circumcision and Jewish Observance
  • Lisa Braver Moss: The Jewish Roots of Anti-Circumcision Arguments
  • Jenny Goodman, MD: An Alternative Perspective A Jewish doctor in the UK chooses intact.
  • Hebrew Scholar Vadim Cherny: How Judaic is circumcision?  It’s not at all, he finds.
  • Profile of Orthodox Intactivist Eliyahu Ungar-Sargon
  • Brit Milah: Inconsistent with Jewish Ethics? Written by a Jewish parent.
  • Laura Shanley: A Jewish Woman Denounces Circumcision A Childbirth educator chooses intact.
  • Jewish Mamma: Today’s Jews Reject Circumcision and Choose Peaceful Welcoming Covenants An Intactivist Midwife.
  • Moshe Rothenberg: Ending Circumcision in the Jewish Community? Envisioning an Intactivist Judaism.

“There are many abandoned practices that are widely considered unethical nowadays, even though they are ordained in the Torah. These include slavery, polygamy, and corporal punishment for working on the Sabbath. Just like slavery, polygamy, and corporal punishment, the practice of circumcision is a cultural practice that predates Judaism. If Judaism is to survive, then we must accept circumcision for what it is, a form of torture and sexual mutilation, and stop it. There are other ways we can teach our children to respect women and sustain a happy marriage and family life.” 
- Jonathan Friedman, founder of IntactNews.org
 

Quicktime Audio: Q&A with Jewish Intactivist Leaders Including Rabbis

  • Eliyahu Ungar-Sargon with Ryan McAllister & Rabbi Binyamin Biber
  • Eliyahu Ungar-Sargon with Rabbi Steven Blane & Laurie Evans
  • The Psychological Consequences of Circumcision with Ronald Goldman Ph.D.

“…as recently as the mid-nineteenth century, in Eastern Europe and Russia there was a widespread move to stop [circumcision]… Led by women–what a surprise!–who thought the practice barbaric and patriarchal, the movement eventually even convinced Theodore Herzl, the founder of modern Zionism, who refused to allow his own son to be circumcised.” 
- Michael S. Kimmel, Professor, SUNY Stony Brook, TIKKUN, Volume 16, May/June, 2001
 

Intactivist Groups in Israel

  • Kahal Israeli Group for Parents of Intact SonsKahal
  • Gonnen
  • The Israeli Association Against Genital Mutilation
  • Af-Mila: A Hebrew Magazine for Jewish Intactivists

“I happen to agree with you that foreskin removal should be illegal. It is a mutilation… I agree with you that men should not be circumcised. . . I don’t know where this circumcision came from, some people feel it’s a religious thing, it’s about health, it’s about cutting off the foreskin makes your penis less likely to get cancer. There’s been all kinds of myths. I think it’s nonsense. That if you’re born that way, it seems to me it’s a mutilation to cut it off. The same way in Africa they sometimes cut off a woman’s clitoris and they think that’s justified. I think our foreskins were cut off in order to desensitize us, and I think it was a bunch of religious nudnicks who decided they didn’t want us going around fornicating so they cut off some of our penis skin.”
- Howard Stern, Talk Radio Host, Howard Stern, Jewish Intactivist by Rebecca Wald, J.D., BeyondTheBris.com, March 31, 2011
 

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Comments

#1 Infant circumcision video

Submitted by Norm, Georgia (not verified) on Wed, 10/12/2011 - 9:37am.

I was cut at birth and have never seen a video of a real circumcision until just a few minutes ago. I am in total SHOCK!!! I think all women that know they are having a baby boy should look at this video and decide if they really want to do this to their son. How can this be done to us and we are never given a chance to say NO!, NEVER! NOT TO ME!, but it's done  all the time. This is barbaric and needs to stop immediately. If we told all women that baby girls were going to be circumcised starting now, I bet circumcision of baby boys would stop too.

As I said, all women having a baby boy should be made to watch this video and be told that if they were having a girl that they would also be circumcised starting now. I was totally SHOCKED and in total disbelieve that we do this to boys. Why? Why is this still going on in this country, the U.S., or any where for that matter. When i think of all the nerves that were cut off of my penis when i was circumcised now i understand why guys, when we get older, have less and less feeling in our penis, ED happens, and we get to the point that we are frustrated cause we can't do what we used to do when we were younger. Penis feelings go away or get less as we get older, I know this for a fact. If I was uncircumcised I believe I would have much more feelings that I do now, this is my own believe and I think it it probably true too. I have been thinking about restoration and i'm in my early 60's. I have always felt like I was missing something sexually being cut. I am gay, but this makes no difference  sexually,  i still feel that circumcision is wrong, gay or str8, it needs to stop NOW!  Anyway, I have always been attracted to guys that are uncut from as long as I can remember and uncut is natural, that's the way all guys should be, not mutilated and cut.

Please, Please, let the boys, guys, make their own decision if they want to be cut or not, don't do this to them without their consent, it's wrong. Why cut off something we were born with that is not doing any harm to us. Would you cut off one of our fingers just because we have ten of them and we don't need all of them? Would we cut off our ears because they stick out and are in the way? Ears are there for a reason, fingers are there for a reason, our nose doesn't do anything but stick out, would we cut it off too? Think about it, our body parts are there for a reason, not to be cut off, they all have a purpose of one kind or another, be it sexual, for hearing, or for smelling.

Please, Please, leave our boys alone and let them decide if they want to be circumcised or not and I'm sure 99.9 percent of the guys would say no to circumcision because they have found that they have so much more feelings in their foreskin. Stop Infant Circumcision Now!!! I am going to restore my foreskin if it takes me years because I want to feel as much of those feelings that were taken away from me as I can get back. I know it will not be the same as being intact, but I have to do this for myself just to feel whole and not as if I am missing something in my life. This is very important to me and it may take me a long time but I have to do this for myself just to feel more like a whole man, not for any other reason, I must have as many of those feelings as I can regain. Thanks for taking the time to read this and I hope it helps to change someone's mind and not cut their baby boy's penis.

Appreciatively, Norm, Georgia, U.S.

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#2 Photo...

Submitted by Brian Levitt (not verified) on Sat, 10/15/2011 - 4:00pm.

http://news.yahoo.com/photos/anti-circumcision-activists-jonathon-conte-left-brian-levitt-photo-193530579.html

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#3 Jews for the Rights of the Child

Submitted by Tally on Sat, 10/15/2011 - 4:13pm.

Thanks for the link. It has the following picture:

Anti-circumcision activists Jonathon Conte, left, and Brian Levitt rally with about 25 protesters outside a San Francisco courthouse

Anti-circumcision activists Jonathon Conte, left, and Brian Levitt rally with about 25 protesters outside a San Francisco courthouse on Thursday, July 28, 2011.

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