Left to right: Jonathon Conte, Eli Ungar-Sargon, Lisa Braver Moss, Mark Reiss and Rebecca Wald. Photo / David Wilton By REBECCA WALDThis weekend I had the pleasure of attending a screening of Eli Ungar-Sargon’s documentary Cut: Slicing Through the Myths of Circumcision in San Francisco. The event was hosted by the Bay Area Intactivists and event…
DetailsLisa Moss: Proud to be Jewishand against circumcision. San Francisco Bay Area author Lisa Braver Moss sensed that circumcision was wrong when she first learned of the ritual as a child. Yet when Lisa’s sons were born in the 1980s she agreed to have them circumcised, adhering to Jewish tradition and widely embraced American convention.…
DetailsThe below testimony was given on Tuesday in Sacramento opposing proposed California law, AB-768, seeking to declare the benefits of male circumcision and to prevent local governments from restricting its practice in any way. By BRIAN LEVITT Levitt to legislators: I washarmed by circumcision. Good afternoon. My name is Brian Levitt and I live in San Francisco. I’ve…
DetailsWill Murray won’t cut his boy. By REBECCA WALDIt looks like Howard Stern’s denouncement of infant circumcision on his radio show over the years has left a big impression on the show’s researcher and segment producer, Will Murray. Yesterday, Murray spoke on Howard 100 News about the birth of his son, Owen. Murray was proud to…
DetailsMiriam Pollack is widely recognized within the anti-circumcision community as both a proud Jew and a dedicated opponent of genital cutting. She boldly, yet gently, speaks her mind, which has at times put her at odds with the two communities she holds most dear: the Jewish community and the community of intactivists. Miriam aligned herself…
DetailsIntroductory remarks from a July 18 debate at The Manhattan Jewish Experience a debate between documentary filmmaker Eliyahu Ungar-Sargon and Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, author of the book “Kosher Sex.” By ELI UNGAR-SARGON Good evening ladies and gentlemen. My name is Eli Ungar-Sargon and I’m an independent filmmaker. My first feature-length documentary, “Cut” is an exploration…
DetailsBy 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…
DetailsTalking 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…
DetailsBy 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,…
DetailsThe 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…
DetailsBy 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…
DetailsBy 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…
DetailsFrancis 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…
DetailsBy 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…
DetailsBy 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…
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