By MARK REISS, M.D. The bris (Yiddish) or brit (Hebrew) is nothing more than a covenantal naming ceremony for baby Jewish boys. Traditionally done on the eighth day of life, the baby is given his Jewish or Hebrew name, he is ushered into the community of Judaism, and his foreskin is removed. Until relatively recently, this…
Talking genital integrity: performer Jason Paige sits down for an interview with Beyond the Bris. By REBECCA WALD Los Angeles performer Jason Paige wants the audience of his one-man comedy show to realize his song about his botched bris isn’t a joke. So he calls a few audience members to the stage and has them face him. The…
By REBECCA WALD As the legal maneuvering begins in San Francisco over a ballot initiative that seeks to prohibit the non-medically necessary circumcision of minors there, a number of Jewish people opposed to the practice are stepping forward to weigh in on the circumcision question. Earlier this week, the Jewish Circumcision Resource Center of Boston,…
The Jewish Circumcision Resource Center of Boston, Mass. has issued a joint statement which in part addresses issues of ethnic insensitivity within the larger genital integrity movement. The Center was founded in the 1990s by Ronald Goldman, Ph.D. with the message that Jewish Americans have a choice about circumcision. Goldman is the author of two…
By JONATHAN FRIEDMAN The practice of circumcision is something I’ve been aware of from a very young age. I grew up in Brooklyn, New York, and my family is Orthodox. I’ve witnessed many brisim. The blood-curdling screams. The actual blood. The pacifier dipped in wine to calm the baby. I never picked up on metzizah…
By LISA BRAVER MOSS I’m Jewish, affiliated and opposed to circumcision. I can understand the thinking behind the proposed ban in San Francisco even though I believe such legislation would be a bad idea. We now have clinical evidence that infants feel pain and are affected by it, and that the foreskin has a significant…
Francis Kissling Francis Kissling has written an excellent piece, “Circumcision and Change,” in her blog “On Faith,” that is part The Washington Post online. She states in part: “It may be time for Jews to look more closely at circumcision in the context of their own modern view of sexuality, gender and reproduction. Just as…
By SHEA LEVY This is an email I sent to the mohel who performed my circumcision 21 years ago. My goal in sending this was to show him the perspective of someone who wished he hadn’t been circumcised, so that he would understand what his profession could do and maybe so he would question his…
By DIANE TARGOVNIK I have to admit I am biased about the film “Cut: Slicing Through the Myths of Circumcision.” It is this film that saved my little boy’s foreskin from myself and my Jewish religion and culture. Because on one level, this film is so basic that it was the education as a Jew…
By REBECCA WALD It has just been announced that Joan Arntz, Director of Elections for the City and County of San Francisco, has certified that the San Francisco MGMbill (male genital mutilation bill) has successfully gathered more than enough signatures to be placed on the ballot in November. Should the initiative become law it will…
At age 28, Kevin (AKA the Barefoot Intactivist) is one of the most compelling emerging figures in the current anti-circumcision movement. He is a thoughtful and well spoken University of Florida graduate with a great idea. He trains and runs races barefoot to raise awareness about why it’s so important to leave baby boys whole.…
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…
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…
Satellite radio talk show host Howard Stern told millions of listeners this Tuesday that he felt male infant circumcision should be illegal in the United States, declaring it a “mutilation.” Stern’s statements coincide with Genital Integrity Awareness Week, during which opponents of circumcision will be rallying at the Capitol in Washington, D.C. and across several…
Also click here for my recent post on Mayim Bialik’s new attachment parenting book Beyond the Sling.By REBECCA WALD Mayim Bialik “wearing” her son. More than twenty years ago, actress Mayim Bialik changed the direction of my life forever (and I hers) in a big way. So, when I learned of a recent brouhaha raised…