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Brit Milah, or circumcision, is performed on a Jewish male eight days after he is born.
The procedure is performed by a mohel -- a person who has mastered the set of Jewish laws regarding circumcision and received extensive practical training.
At a Brit Milah, the mohel removes the baby's foreskin and draws blood from the reproductive organ, after which the baby is given a Jewish name.
WHY A BRIT MILAH?Brit Milah literally means "covenant of circumcision." Abraham, Judaism's founding father, was the first person in history to have a Brit Milah. In fact, he circumcised himself.
Abraham vowed that he would teach his descendents to serve God with perfect devotion. In return, God promised to guarantee the survival of Abraham's progeny -- the family of Hebrews that became the nation of Israel that have since been known as the Jews.
As long as there would be human beings in the world, God assured Abraham, there would always be Jews.
As long as there would be human beings in the world, God assured Abraham, there would always be Jews. This covenant or pact between God and Abraham was sealed through the act of circumcision.
Today, by performing the act circumcision, Jews perpetuate the covenant and make their children a part of that eternal promise.
A DEEPER MEANINGThe fact that the Brit Milah is performed on the eighth day after a boy is born hints to this idea of eternal Jewish continuity.
In the Torah, all references to the numbers have great significance.For example, the number six represent the physical world which has four directions (north, south, east and west) plus up and down. The six days of creation, the six days of the work-week, also allude to the physical world.
Seven adds a spiritual element to the physical; eight transcends the physical altogether.
Seven adds a spiritual element to the physical. The seventh day, Shabbat, adds spirituality to our lives though it is still within the realm of the physical world.Eight, on the other hand, transcends the physical altogether. For example, the eight-day miracle of Chanukah is beyond nature, surpassing the physical constraints of natural laws and standards. Eight represents a higher dimension of reality.
God's guarantee that Abraham's children would survive forever as a nation defies the laws of nature. History has proven time and again that even the most powerful nations on earth are bound eventually to vanish into extinction -- e.g., the Egyptians, Greeks and Romans. And yet the Jews, a numerically insignificant people, are still here, alive and well.
The Brit Milah, performed on the eighth day, reminds us that Jewish survival is not a natural phenomenon, but a supernatural one. Jewish survival defies the laws of nature. This explains why the mark of circumcision is made on the reproductive organ -- it symbolizes the idea that the Jewish People's seed will never be destroyed.
In addition, Brit Milah is done specifically on the site that is identified with our greatest physical desires, thus empowering us to rise above the demands of our bodies.
THE OBJECTIVE OF THE RITUAL CIRCUMCISIONTranslating Brit Milah as simply "circumcision" rather than "covenant circumcision," erroneously implies that the removal of the foreskin is the most important element of the mitzvah.
The act of circumcision must be coupled with the intention to forge a covenant between God and the Jewish people.
In truth, however, the circumcision must be coupled with the intention to forge a blood pact between God and the Jewish people.
For this reason a person who underwent a medical circumcision, without intent to fulfill this commandment, should undergo a subsequent procedure performed with specific intent to fulfill this mitzvah. This subsequent procedure is relatively painless, involving only the drawing of blood from the reproductive organ, but done in the name of Brit Milah.
PERSONAL COMMITMENTThe secret to Jewish continuity lies in the Brit Milah, which strengthens one's personal commitment to God. Once this is achieved, the communal commitment will emerge on its own.
In his covenant of circumcision, Abraham vowed to teach his descendants to serve God with perfect devotion. This is the essence of Brit Milah -- it represents the individual's personal commitment to God.One's communal identification with Judaism is indeed a positive thing.But the mitzvah of Brit Milah teaches us that unless there is also a personal commitment, it will not endure.
May we all merit to bring our children into the Covenant of Abraham and see their Jewish identity flourish and grow.
_(english).jpg "Kislev: Uniting the Colors of the Rainbow")
(6) Ruth Wagner , October 2, 2009
Look around you...
Circumcision is barbaric? How about I give you some "real" barbaric. A few days ago, an honor student was beaten to death at school with a railroad tie. How's that for barbaric? Problem as I see it, is that anything "God" has been weeded out of our society. No prayer in school, let's take the ten commandments off of federal buildings, oh yes...I know all the aruguments, however, in light of what's going on in our world today, which by the way is nothing short of "barbaric," these arguments hold no water. How about babies thrown in dumpsters? Barbaric you say? No? Not good enough for you yet? What have we become? Who are we now? Try Godless pagans who believe that this world is spinning for no reason, whirling on to a destiny of nothingness. We the people were nothing more than a single cell "thing" that climbed out of an "ooz" and began to develope. We are "fate," "luck," "an accident," nothing means anything, nothing is important, and this world needs no God to explain it. So let's leave barbarism for a moment, shall we? Let's go to the most serious lack of empathy to hit the world since Adolf Hitler found a reason to hate Jews. "Talk to the hand," is what our kids say. Thats your problem...not mine...(wisdom from our kids?) Yep, we're so smart, and cool, and hip, we've just made a mess out of our lives and our kids life. I'll tell you...someone call the Mohel, or grab me a knife...because I'm going to circumcise my boy, and raise him in the Synagogue...both against his wishes. He can do as he pleases when he grows up...but until then, make no mistake at all, I intend on giving him some training in morals and ethics, and a little foreskin is a small price to pay.
(5) Chloe Lancaster , December 3, 2008
Can see where the idea came from but ...
I can see where our ancestors got this idea from but I also believe that technology and knowledge has come a long way since this ritual was created. The Romans, the Greeks, the Egyptians, they all still exist, you can holiday there for a fair amount of money, they havent died out at all, their culture has just evolved, thats all, and what is wrong with that? I am in full agreement with Matthew Keal, it is an individuals right to choose thier own beliefs and not have them forced upon them, and that is true of all religions. I think to have the Brit Milah at the age of 13 does signify a much greater devotion as an 8day old baby cant commit to anything. It is also my understanding that you are not a true Jew unless you were born from the tummy of a Jew, if this is so then the Jewish people will never die out, so there is no need for this barbaric form of bullying. I say wait and let the poor boys decide for themselves at the age of becoming an adult.
(4) Sarah Lipstadt , August 23, 2008
Why aren't Jewish baby girls circumcised? They should be circumcised just as the males.
(3) JosephGotshall , December 1, 2006
Researching
I did some research on this topic a few years back. Why God chose this very personal covenant greatly intrigues me. It also intrigues me that some say circumcision removes 25-50% sensitivity in the head of the penis
(2) Matthew keal , August 8, 2006
Not fair
I don't think it is fair to make a decision of such magnitude for someone that cannot make the decision for themselve, the act of circumcision is as safe to perform on a 13 year old as it is on an 8 day old child, if anything it is safer to perform on the 13 year old which I believe to be the considered adult age for a Jewish child! My opinions are the same for chrisening, I believe we are in the day and age that personal religious thought should not be forced upon a child that cannot make the decision for themselves, if the child were not to have the curcumcision at the age of 8 days and made the decision to have it done at 13, surely people of the same religion would think more of their commitment to the religion. I believe that there are to many religions in the world that do as they have been taught as do think the way it has been written by someone that we cannot even prove existed, I believe that times have changed and we should also evolve with time, I believe that we should stop performing rituals based on our believes, let people gain and learn about there own believes and make there own decisions based on what they have chosen to learn and believe. I am sorry if these comments offend anyone but I believe curcumcision and chrisening besides other rituals that are performed are cruel and a form of bullying.