When I was studying to be a mohel in Israel, one kind of experience was repeated at many brisses.
As my teacher, Rabbi Mordechai Sasson, is a Sephardic mohel, most of the brisses he'd perform would be for Sephardic Jews, who have a rich cultural heritage which brings the entire family and community into every bris. (or should I say "brit"?)
Typically, after the ceremony was over and Rabbi Sasson was doing his post-op examination, some old-school grandmother or great-aunt would smilingly look upon the now circumcised baby and say עכשיו נהיית יהודי (akhshav nih'yayta yehudi) - "Now you have become a Jew."
Huh?
This concept may be true in other religions (e.g. before baptism, a Christian child is not a Christian), but in Judaism, one's Jewishness stems from one's birth mother. If the mother is a Jew, the child that emerges is a Jew. Consider girls, who are thankfully not circumcised. How are they to "become" Jews if circumcision is what makes a Jew?
Circumcision does not make a person a Jew.
While this blog is not the forum for discussing the rules surrounding conversion and the Reform practice of accepting people as Jews based on patrilineal descent, I am here to discuss the role of circumcision in all of these procedures.
Judaism manifests itself in Jews in two ways - nationally and religiously - and both are meant to be informed and enlightened by the totality of what we call "Torah" (not just the Five Books of Moses). According to Jewish law, the national element is given to a person at birth and can never be revoked (except in very extreme cases of apostasy). The religious component has always been a question of individual practice - there have always been Jews who were more observant of the law and the Torah's guidelines and Jews who were less observant of the law and the Torah's guidelines.
Religion
In the last few hundred years, there have been different movements in Judaism who defined new ways to experience the "religious" element of their Judaism (in no particular order): Hassidim (and all its branches and extremes), Maskilim, Reform (and all its branches and extremes), Conservative (and all its branches and extremes), Orthodox (and all its branches and extremes), Reconstructionist, BILU, New-wave, Humanist, Traditional, Cultural, non-affiliated (the list is surely not exhaustive).
Most continue to circumcise their sons. Some do not.
National
On the national level, a Jew should ideally feel a sense of camaraderie with other Jews. (Yesterday was Yom HaShoah - I have long advocated that if Hitler did not distinguish between Jews, why should we treat other Jews in any manner other than respectfully?) Some people express this through their family name, through a "Jewish feeling," culturally, identifying with other Jews ('some of my best friends are Jews!'), identifying with the land of Israel, the State of Israel, the people of Israel, Yiddish theater, eating "Jewish food," etc.
Most continue to circumcise their sons. Some do not.
Bottom Line
According to all Jewish approaches, if a child is born to a direct maternal-line of Jews, the child is Jewish, regardless of levels of observance. (The questions arise when a conversion took place in that maternal line, as to what were the circumstances of the conversion.)
The circumcision the boys undergo puts a mark on the flesh that is the symbol of the covenant God made with Abraham in Genesis 17.
When a male non-Jew decides to go through the process of conversion, he may undergo circumcision (if he was not circumcised as a child) or an equivalent procedure significance-wise (if he is already circumcised), but the circumcision is not what makes him a Jew, though it is part of the process and his conversion would be incomplete without it.
Any person who converts undergoes a program of study, and is dutifully tested for sincerity and commitment to the Jewish faith, and subsequently immerses in a mikveh, under the auspices of a Bet Din to complete the conversion.
Showing posts with label Abraham. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Abraham. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Monday, November 2, 2009
When The Mohel's Wife Gives Birth to a Boy
My wife gave birth to a little boy on Shabbos morning! Really!
We are so excited and so blessed.
When our oldest was born, a girl, people asked me if I was disappointed. Of course I wasn't disappointed. (In the fifty percent chance of the child being a boy, I was excited about the prospect of a bris until the doctor said "It's a girl," and she was (and is) beautiful, healthy, and the joy of our lives.) Becoming a father is one of the most altering moments in a man's life. Any remaining ego in one's marriage disappears as your life becomes one of complete focus on doing everything for the sake of the child.
At the same time, I called my mohel teacher, Rabbi Sasson, to tell him my wife gave birth to a girl and he said, ".תמיד זה כחה. למוהלים נולדות בנות" - "It's always that way. Mohels always have daughters."
Two Things Everyone is Saying
1. Everyone's a comedian. "I can recommend a good mohel." "Who's going to be doing the bris?" "Have you called the mohel yet?" "We had a great experience with so-and-so. You might want to call him." "I guess we all know who the mohel is!"
Do people make such a fuss over the identity of the mohel before their other friends' brisses?
2. Many people ask: "Will you be doing the bris yourself?" I don't know what the source of this question is... unless people are thinking that doctors don't operate on their kids or immediate family.
To answer the question - Yes. I will be doing the bris.
The Ideal Mitzvah of Bris
The reason I will be doing the bris is because that is the ideal mitzvah. Every father is supposed to do the bris himself. (Genesis 17:10-12: It's worth reading the whole chapter) But since most fathers are not trained to do it, it is much safer to have a mohel do it.
In this case, since the father is a mohel, the father will do the bris.
The first baby to be circumcised in the Jewish tradition was Yitzchak, who was circumcised by his father Abraham on the eighth day of his life. (See chapter 21, verse 4)
In an ironic twist, our son was born on the day we read the Torah portion describing the origin of the covenant - the Bris Milah (Genesis 17), and his bris will, please God, take place on the morning when we read the Torah portion describing the birth and bris of Yitzchak.
Pretty cool, no?
A number of years ago, my wife wrote an article about being the mohel's wife, and her impressions of anticipating the birth of our first child.
Now we will joyfully bring our son through this reaffirmation of our commitment to the covenant, as we continue to celebrate his arrival and the joy he brings to us, our family, our friends, our community, and the collective nation of Israel.
We are so excited and so blessed.
When our oldest was born, a girl, people asked me if I was disappointed. Of course I wasn't disappointed. (In the fifty percent chance of the child being a boy, I was excited about the prospect of a bris until the doctor said "It's a girl," and she was (and is) beautiful, healthy, and the joy of our lives.) Becoming a father is one of the most altering moments in a man's life. Any remaining ego in one's marriage disappears as your life becomes one of complete focus on doing everything for the sake of the child.
At the same time, I called my mohel teacher, Rabbi Sasson, to tell him my wife gave birth to a girl and he said, ".תמיד זה כחה. למוהלים נולדות בנות" - "It's always that way. Mohels always have daughters."
Two Things Everyone is Saying
1. Everyone's a comedian. "I can recommend a good mohel." "Who's going to be doing the bris?" "Have you called the mohel yet?" "We had a great experience with so-and-so. You might want to call him." "I guess we all know who the mohel is!"
Do people make such a fuss over the identity of the mohel before their other friends' brisses?
2. Many people ask: "Will you be doing the bris yourself?" I don't know what the source of this question is... unless people are thinking that doctors don't operate on their kids or immediate family.
To answer the question - Yes. I will be doing the bris.
The Ideal Mitzvah of Bris
The reason I will be doing the bris is because that is the ideal mitzvah. Every father is supposed to do the bris himself. (Genesis 17:10-12: It's worth reading the whole chapter) But since most fathers are not trained to do it, it is much safer to have a mohel do it.
In this case, since the father is a mohel, the father will do the bris.
The first baby to be circumcised in the Jewish tradition was Yitzchak, who was circumcised by his father Abraham on the eighth day of his life. (See chapter 21, verse 4)
In an ironic twist, our son was born on the day we read the Torah portion describing the origin of the covenant - the Bris Milah (Genesis 17), and his bris will, please God, take place on the morning when we read the Torah portion describing the birth and bris of Yitzchak.
Pretty cool, no?
A number of years ago, my wife wrote an article about being the mohel's wife, and her impressions of anticipating the birth of our first child.
Now we will joyfully bring our son through this reaffirmation of our commitment to the covenant, as we continue to celebrate his arrival and the joy he brings to us, our family, our friends, our community, and the collective nation of Israel.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
The Inspiration of Bris
The commandment of "bris milah," to bear the mark of the covenant between God and the Jewish people, first appears in Genesis chapter 17.
In essence, Abraham seals a covenant with God, an agreement that has survived until this day. Abraham and his descendants agree that God will maintain and sustain the Jews as His "chosen people" (an oft misunderstood term) if the Jews bear the mark of the covenant, circumcising their sons on the eighth day as per God’s commandment.
The “bris,” as it is known, has its own ups and downs. Everyone is joyful over welcoming a new baby. But the milah (circumcision) causes pain during which a baby cries. Some people say to the baby, “This should be the only pain you ever know.” Others say, “It’s not easy being a Jew.”
The truth is, however, that while the baby’s health is certainly our number one concern, the bris itself is more about an affirmation for everyone in the room, than it is for the baby. By all rights, every person should stand up and protest, “How can you do this to a newborn?”
Of course we don’t do this. Because we know in our hearts that the circumcision is but a small sacrifice to make to get God to live up to His end of the deal. That a nation which has experienced downs, such as the Jewish people have experienced, can continue to experience ups – this is the hand of God as revealed as it can ever be. It is what our lives are all about, it is what our experience on this earth is all about.
We use Avraham’s model of a struggle-filled life (see Genesis chapters 12 through 16 to understand his struggles) to arrive at the unstriking conclusion that the covenant with God is what keeps us going.
In the words of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, in his “Tribute to the Rebbetzin of Talne,” we live “to feel the presence of the Almighty and the gentle pressure of His hand resting upon my frail shoulders.” It is a struggle worth living when the Comforter is so great.
In essence, Abraham seals a covenant with God, an agreement that has survived until this day. Abraham and his descendants agree that God will maintain and sustain the Jews as His "chosen people" (an oft misunderstood term) if the Jews bear the mark of the covenant, circumcising their sons on the eighth day as per God’s commandment.
The “bris,” as it is known, has its own ups and downs. Everyone is joyful over welcoming a new baby. But the milah (circumcision) causes pain during which a baby cries. Some people say to the baby, “This should be the only pain you ever know.” Others say, “It’s not easy being a Jew.”
The truth is, however, that while the baby’s health is certainly our number one concern, the bris itself is more about an affirmation for everyone in the room, than it is for the baby. By all rights, every person should stand up and protest, “How can you do this to a newborn?”
Of course we don’t do this. Because we know in our hearts that the circumcision is but a small sacrifice to make to get God to live up to His end of the deal. That a nation which has experienced downs, such as the Jewish people have experienced, can continue to experience ups – this is the hand of God as revealed as it can ever be. It is what our lives are all about, it is what our experience on this earth is all about.
We use Avraham’s model of a struggle-filled life (see Genesis chapters 12 through 16 to understand his struggles) to arrive at the unstriking conclusion that the covenant with God is what keeps us going.
In the words of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, in his “Tribute to the Rebbetzin of Talne,” we live “to feel the presence of the Almighty and the gentle pressure of His hand resting upon my frail shoulders.” It is a struggle worth living when the Comforter is so great.
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