By MARK MORRIS Author, Mark Morris, with his partner Jude and their son Lev. I always thought that if I had a son I would not circumcise him. I felt the need to challenge this Jewish tradition. It felt like quite a brutal decision to take on behalf of my newborn son, for a covenant…
A beachside brit shalom in Vancouver, Canada. By SHAWN STARKMy wife, Amari, was seven months pregnant and we were at our midwife appointment. At this point we knew we would be having a boy. Near the end of our visit, the midwife asked us what we were planning to do about circumcision.Amari and I are…
By Lisa Braver MossSpecial to Beyond the Bris If you follow circumcision in the news, you’ve been busy lately. And if you happen to like journalism that’s baffling—well, there’s been plenty to enjoy. The Atlantic, for example, recently ran a piece about a married couple facing the circumcision decision. Like so many publications, the magazine…
By REBECCA WALDThe video has been published by photographer and videographer James Loewen. Loewen has been capturing emotionally gripping images and videos from inside the anti-circumcision movement. Many of his videos have been uploaded to his YouTube Channel, Bonobo3D. Loewen began uploading the videos four years ago and they comprise some of the most important…
The author’s husband, James, and their son Etani. By JENNIFER MARGULIS The baby, who had been so quiet, peaceful, and trusting just moments before, opened his mouth in shock, a look of utter bewilderment on his face, and then started to scream. He screamed shrilly, like a wounded animal. “I hate this part,” his grandmother…
By FRANCELLE WAX Photo/James Loewen I was born and raised a Reconstructionist Jew in Scarsdale, NY. I wish I could say that growing up, with every cousin’s bris, I struggled mightily to comprehend such brutality. The truth is that, like virtually all children, I trusted the adults who told me that foreskin removal was in…
By RICHARD SCHWARTZMAN, D.O.The American Academy of Pediatrics announced in 2012 a change in its policy regarding infant male circumcision. Whereas previously they held “the procedure is not essential to the childʼs current well-being,” now in their carefully worded statement they say “the benefits outweigh the risks.” This reversal comes at a time when circumcision…
By REBECCA WALDI have a friend, an educated man, who insists that circumcision during a bris involves nothing more than pulling the foreskin forward over the glans and snipping off the “excess” skin with a single cut. He is a grandfather who served as a sandak and held his grandsons during their ritual circumcision procedures.…
By MOLLY MCFLY As a nineteen-year-old woman, I only have one friend who is already a parent. She is an incredible mother to her young daughter, whose sex protected her from the circumcision debate. The rest of my peers are college-aged adults who spend an appropriately smaller amount of their free time than I do…
By REBECCA WALD Back in the days when I was dating, before I met my wonderful husband, I would mention my views about circumcision early in a relationship, namely that I was against it and had no plans to circumcise any future sons. I figured I could marry someone with different interests or even political…
By ELIYAHU UNGAR-SARGON The AAP, who as recently as 2010 embarrassed themselves by recommending that physicians offer their patients a form of female genital cutting, find themselves on the wrong side of history once again. Their task force report is an insult to both reason and science and has destroyed what little credibility they may…
By REBECCA WALDThe Circumcision Resource Center, headed by Ronald Goldman, Ph.D., has issued a response to the American Academy of Pediatric’s revised policy on circumcision. The AAP pronouncement, issued today, strengthens the organization’s stance in favor of circumcision, but stops short of recommending the procedure for all male infants. The CRC’s response outlines eighteen deficiencies…
By AMY SOULE Then God said to Abraham, “You must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come. This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised. You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be…
By ERAN SADEH Shalom. I’m Israeli, I’m Jewish and I’m an Intactivist, which means I strive to end male circumcision performed on infants and children in Israel and around the world. My journey to Intactivism began seven years ago when my son was born. My wife and I had no doubts about circumcision. Although I…
By RONALD GOLDMAN A German court in Cologne recently ruled that circumcising young boys represents grievous bodily harm. The court found the childs “fundamental right to bodily integrity” was more important than the parents rights. According to the court, the religious freedom “would not be unduly impaired” because the child could later decide whether to…