These Jews want to normalize not circumcising with the synagogue’s help – The Jerusalem Post
Posted By admin on October 9, 2021
When Elana Johnson was shopping for a synagogue three years ago, the mother of four approached a Conservative congregation in Lincoln, Nebraska, to ask about joining.
For most synagogues, such an inquiry would have been a no-brainer. But Johnson had elected not to circumcise her three sons, departing from one of Judaisms most widely practiced traditions, and she was concerned about whether that would be a problem.
cnxps.cmd.push(function () { cnxps({ playerId: '36af7c51-0caf-4741-9824-2c941fc6c17b' }).render('4c4d856e0e6f4e3d808bbc1715e132f6'); });
Johnson didnt feel included: Her family joined a nearby Reform synagogue instead.
I want to be more observant and in a more observant community, she said. But I also just want my kids to be happy and welcome and feel as little judgment as possible no matter where we go.
A new organization launching this week aims to make that more likely. The group, called Bruchim (Hebrew for welcome), is seeking to normalize the decision not to circumcise Jewish boys, a venerable religious rite that goes back to the Bible and which is widely practiced across the spectrum of Jewish observance, even by otherwise non-observant Jewish families.
Families who are making this decision shouldnt feel marginalized and they shouldnt feel like they have to be secret about it, said Lisa Braver Moss, Bruchims co-founder and president.
The group is an outgrowth of advocacy that Moss and Bruchim co-founder and executive director, Rebecca Wald, have been doing for decades. Moss first argued against Jewish circumcision in a 1990 essay, and together they outlined an alternative ceremony, brit shalom (literally covenant of peace) in a 2015 book and distributed flyers at that years Reform movement convention outlining ways for synagogues to be more welcoming for families that had opted out of circumcision.
Now, in Bruchim, they have a volunteer staff, including Johnson as social media strategist, as well as a four-member rabbinical advisory board. The team includes people with professional backgrounds in all of Judaisms non-Orthodox movements, as well as several people who grew up Orthodox.
Among its objectives, Bruchim wants to see synagogues make proactive statements of welcome for non-circumcising families similar to those that have become common toward Jews of color and LGBT+ Jews. They also hope rabbis will offer one of several alternative welcome ceremonies for newborns in place of the traditional bris.
I see circumcision its described as a sign, a sign of the covenant and there are many options for signs, said Rabbi Elyse Wechterman, executive director of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association and a member of Bruchims rabbinic advisory board. I actually dont think that it is an option [not] to bring your child into the covenant. I think you must bring your child into the covenant, or you should bring your child into the covenant. I want to push that as an expectation. How its done there are many equally valid options.
Whether Bruchims requests will find a ready reception within American Jewish communities is uncertain.
As one of the oldest rituals in the Jewish faith, we will always advocate and educate our community about the beauty and meaning of brit milah, Jacobs said. But he added, Connecting oneself to the Jewish community may take many forms, and we understand that some families and individuals are making the choice to not circumcise as part of the brit ceremony. There will always be a place for everyone in the Reform community, regardless of how they or their family choose to express their faith.
Rabbi Elliot Dorff, the leading bioethicist in the Conservative movement and the chair of its top Jewish law authority, said there is no basis in Jewish law for denying an uncircumcised man access to religious life, including bar-mitzvah. But his movement has not made any formal statements since the 1981 opinion taking bar mitzvah off the table for uncircumcised children.
And Dorff said that advertising openness to non-circumcising families, one of Bruchims main asks, is not something that he would endorse.
Do I want to say publicly, even though its certainly true, that people who violate Shabbat publicly are welcome in our community? Dorff said. Of course theyre welcome in our community. But I dont want to say publicly that its wonderful that you violate Shabbat.
One Bay Area Conservative rabbi who asked not to be named out of fear he would become the target of hate mail, said he has turned away about a half-dozen non-circumcising families in 20 years leading his synagogue.
Its a covenantal mitzvah, the rabbi said, referring to circumcision. Its the sign of the covenant, which is about as basic to Judaism as you can get. By not circumcising, youre saying that youre outside the covenant of Judaism. And bar-mitzvah is saying youre part of the mitzvah-observing community. Youre starting with the basic idea that youre not going to observe one of the most fundamental mitzvot of Judaism.
No reliable statistics exist on the percentage of American Jewish men who are circumcised, though the vast majority are believed to be. In part, thats because circumcision is performed on the vast majority of American boys some 90% of non-Hispanic whites, according to a 2014 study, making the US a global outlier on this issue. But that figure appears to be dropping.
Critics of circumcision object to the practice on a number of grounds, including the physical and emotional trauma inflicted on children, a conviction they lack the right to modify someones body without permission and a belief that there is no medical benefit for the child. The position of the American medical establishment is that the benefits of circumcision outweigh the risks.
The broad societal trend, coupled with the fact that 72% of American Jews who married between 2010 and 2020 chose a non-Jewish spouse, according to the 2020 Pew study, means that while the numbers of Jewish parents who choose to leave their children intact is almost certainly a tiny minority, their numbers are likely to be growing.
I looked into the medical reasoning. I thought a lot about the ethics of it all. And my conclusion was, I dont think I feel so good about this, said one Jewish mother who sits on Bruchims board but asked not to be named due to the sensitivity of the subject. Am I the only Jew that doesnt feel so good about this? And I started to realize that I wasnt, but everyone felt the need to be very quiet about it.
Some efforts to bar circumcision in San Francisco, where Moss lives, and elsewhere have been criticized as antisemitic. Bruchim is limiting involvement to Jews, advertising that anyone who is Jewish may donate and come to meetings, in an effort to make parents like the board member feel comfortable discussing their wrestling with tradition.
We need almost a safe space to have these conversations without that sort of outside interference, where people can be really negative, even hateful, or just simply not get it even with the best intentions, said Johnson. Its a conversation that Jewish people should only really be having with other Jewish people. And having Bruchim means that were able to offer that support and community in a way that has not really existed until this time.
Read more:
These Jews want to normalize not circumcising with the synagogue's help - The Jerusalem Post
- Fighting Jew-Hatred As Winners, Not Victims - Jewish Journal - May 25th, 2022
- California Jewish caucus' primary endorsements are a diverse bunch J. - The Jewish News of Northern California - May 25th, 2022
- How Jewish is the Queen? - Jewish News - May 25th, 2022
- How Jews push Jews out of the fight against antisemitism - Haaretz - May 25th, 2022
- Dispatches from the Jewish Rally for Abortion Justice | New Voices - New Voices - May 25th, 2022
- J. ARCHIVES: Bay Area Jewish delis of yore gone but not forgotten J. - The Jewish News of Northern California - May 25th, 2022
- It's not about you: Why the Forward's article on the anti-Jewish elements of the Buffalo shooter's screed was offensive - Forward - May 25th, 2022
- Antisemitic Vandalism Is a True Threat to the Jewish Community - Algemeiner - May 25th, 2022
- WATCH: Lufthansa ADMITS They Targeted Jews Who Did Nothing Wrong - VINnews - May 8th, 2022
- Jewish gangsters once took on Nazis in the streets of NYC - New York Post - May 8th, 2022
- Spanish Jews take the spotlight in Heirs to the Land, a Netflix series set pre-Inquisition - JTA News - Jewish Telegraphic Agency - May 8th, 2022
- The Speech President Lawrence Bacow of Harvard University Needs to Give - Algemeiner - May 8th, 2022
- The Jewish community must stand with Ukraine - The Jewish Standard - May 8th, 2022
- Israel refusing to let me immigrate, Iranian Jew says - May 4th, 2022
- Reviving the Renaissance Temples of Venices Jewish Ghetto - The New York Times - May 4th, 2022
- A Russian Jew's Insights on the War in Ukraine - jewishboston.com - May 4th, 2022
- How an observant Jew became the mother of Jesus and Christianity itself - Forward - May 4th, 2022
- The Jewish World Of Harry Potter - The Jewish Press - JewishPress.com - May 4th, 2022
- This Black Jewish filmmaker is the spouse of New Yorks new lieutenant governor - JTA News - Jewish Telegraphic Agency - May 4th, 2022
- "God of Vengeance": A Seminal Script in the Fight to Reclaim Jewish Identity | New Voices - New Voices - May 4th, 2022
- Yemeni Academic Dr. Abd Al-Wadud Muqasher: Muslims Must Exterminate The Jews; Allah Transformed Jews Into Apes And Pigs, They Are The Filthiest Of... - May 4th, 2022
- Putin wants to de-Nazify Ukraine thats ludicrous, say the countrys Jews - POLITICO Europe - April 25th, 2022
- 'It was paradise at the time': the little-known story of the Jews of Indonesia - Haaretz - April 25th, 2022
- New exhibit opens on history of Jews and cannabis - New York Post - April 25th, 2022
- Germany's Largest Newspaper: Jew-Hating Muslims Should Be Treated like Nazis - The Jewish Press - JewishPress.com - April 25th, 2022
- Remembering the only Jew on the first Freedom Ride 75 years ago - Forward - April 25th, 2022
- Report: Jewish Convert to Christianity to Lead March of the Living - The Jewish Press - JewishPress.com - April 25th, 2022
- Muna El-Kurd: Jews are Zionist Dogs, and 'Palestine' Should Be Ethnically Cleansed of Them - Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in... - April 25th, 2022
- Do you know this Jew? An actress known for her scandalous personal life and revolutionary activism - St. Louis Jewish Light - April 20th, 2022
- Arab Incitement to Violence Against Jews, Then and Now - The Wall Street Journal - April 20th, 2022
- It's time for Houston Jewish community to challenge antisemitism in the media - Jewish Herald-Voice - April 20th, 2022
- Jesus the faithful Jew: How misreadings of the Christian Gospels miss this and fuel anti-Judaism - The Conversation - April 20th, 2022
- The usefulness of Jewish amnesia - Haaretz - April 20th, 2022
- Mini-film fest to honor Gay Jewish Icon Harvey Milk this weekend in St. Louis - - St. Louis Jewish Light - April 20th, 2022
- Jew-Hater Ariyana Love Claims She Had the UN at Her Beck ... - April 11th, 2022
- German dictionary changes definition of 'Jew' after outcry ... - April 11th, 2022
- Amy Schumer is more Jewish than she thinks - Religion News Service - April 11th, 2022
- Blacks and Jews: Fifty-Five Years After James Baldwin's Negroes Are Anti-Semitic Because They're Anti-White - Literary Hub - April 11th, 2022
- Mayim Bialik assembles a very Jewish cast in her directorial debut J. - The Jewish News of Northern California - April 11th, 2022
- I am a Ukrainian Jew. I have lost my mother to Russian disinformation J. - The Jewish News of Northern California - April 11th, 2022
- Jew-Hater Captain Dan Hanley Digs Himself a Deeper Hole ... - April 7th, 2022
- For a Polish Jew Like Me, the War on Ukraine Is About Our Shared Futures - Jewish Exponent - April 7th, 2022
- How a conversion split and then strengthened Kenyas Jewish community - JTA News - Jewish Telegraphic Agency - April 7th, 2022
- Ezra Furmans new song is inspired by her experience as a Jew and as a trans woman - JTA News - Jewish Telegraphic Agency - April 7th, 2022
- Despite 10 years of promises, Jewish leaders have failed to make space for Jews of color - Forward - April 7th, 2022
- Jews Of Iran: A Community On Borrowed Time - I24NEWS - i24NEWS - April 7th, 2022
- Remembering the Jews of Mostyska - The Jewish Standard - April 7th, 2022
- "I'm the Jew!" - Jewish News - April 7th, 2022
- 'We are that united family': Russia's war uproots Ukrainian Jews amid false Nazi claims - USA TODAY - March 28th, 2022
- THE DEFINITIVE RAP: Jew Hatred Rising Interview With Richard Cravatts, PhD - VINnews - March 28th, 2022
- Zelensky Is a Jewish Hero. Some Jews Worry the Acclaim Won't Last. - Religion & Politics - March 26th, 2022
- Jew in the City Launches Hollywood Bureau for Jewish Representation: We Want to Be Seen as Individuals - Variety - March 26th, 2022
- The Surprising, Fraught History of the Texan Jewish Experience - Texas Monthly - March 26th, 2022
- Jewish stories were excluded from a new movie museum. Is Hollywoods push for diversity leaving them behind? - JTA News - Jewish Telegraphic Agency - March 26th, 2022
- Could Ryan Turell become the first Orthodox Jew to play in the NBA? Scouts say its a long shot. - JTA News - Jewish Telegraphic Agency - March 26th, 2022
- Milwaukee Jewish Federation audit finds a near-record high of antisemitic incidents in Wisconsin - WUWM - March 26th, 2022
- The surprisingly Jewish history of the Rorschach inkblot test - Forward - March 26th, 2022
- The Forgotten Jew Who Developed The Cholera And Bubonic Plague Vaccines - The Jewish Press - JewishPress.com - March 26th, 2022
- These Messianic missionaries were at the Ukraine border, and now theyre coming to New York - JTA News - Jewish Telegraphic Agency - March 26th, 2022
- Once Victims in Southeast Europe, Jews Come to Aid Fleeing Ukrainians - The New York Times - March 8th, 2022
- Being a Jew in Ukraine: The difference eighty years makes - The Times of Israel - March 8th, 2022
- The Jew caught in the middle of the Stoli boycott - St. Louis Jewish Light - March 8th, 2022
- Do you know this Jew? His punim helped define the look of Hollywood gangsters - - St. Louis Jewish Light - March 8th, 2022
- Ukraine-born Jewish cannabis CEO raises thousands for war relief J. - The Jewish News of Northern California - March 8th, 2022
- As the fighting in Ukraine intensifies, Chicagos Jewish community rallies in support - WBEZ Chicago - March 8th, 2022
- Timeline of Ukrainian Jews in our pages over the years J. - The Jewish News of Northern California - March 8th, 2022
- Buying A Loan When A Jew Is Among The Debtors - The Jewish Press - JewishPress.com - March 8th, 2022
- Black Jew Denied Israeli Citizenship Twice - Jewish Exponent - February 28th, 2022
- How Zelensky Gave the World a Jewish Hero - The Atlantic - February 28th, 2022
- On Putin, the Jews and the Future of the World - Algemeiner - February 28th, 2022
- British Comedian: Jews Don't Count But They Should - jewishboston.com - February 28th, 2022
- Five Famous Non-Jews on the Uniqueness of the Jewish People - aish.com - Aish - February 28th, 2022
- Paul Cohen, 74, LGBTQ advocate and giant in Jewish community J. - The Jewish News of Northern California - February 28th, 2022
- Labour's war on the wrong type of Jew - Jewish News - February 11th, 2022
- I'm a Catholic friar and also a Jew; the Law of Return should work for me - The Times of Israel - February 11th, 2022
- As a South African Jew, Amnesty's 'apartheid' label for Israel is absurd J. - The Jewish News of Northern California - February 11th, 2022
- His great-grandparents found refuge in China. Now this Canadian Jew is starting for its hockey team. - Forward - February 11th, 2022
- Muslims and Jews Unite to Speak Uncomfortable Truths - Algemeiner - February 11th, 2022
- Ner Tamid in every Jewish soul - Cleveland Jewish News - February 11th, 2022
- 'A French Jew who only arrived yesterday to Israel is more of a landlord than you' - Haaretz - January 30th, 2022
Comments