Lucking Into Bris Shalom

By SARAH ROCKWELL As a Jew I grew up thinking circumcision was normal. All of my younger cousins and the sons of family friends were circumcised. All the children I babysat for were circumcised. The sound of a wailing baby at a Bris was something familiar—as was the apparently peacefully sleeping baby afterward. The first…

Circumcision Timing Sparks Debate

By REBECCA WALD Noni MacDonald, M.D. Is circumcising an infant less traumatic than circumcising an older child or an adult? According Brooklyn mohel Rabbi Yakov Werde, circumcising at an older age is “much more traumatic.” The mohel’s comment appears in an April 7 post on the blog “The Schmooze,” which is part of The Jewish…