{"id":776,"date":"2013-07-29T02:00:16","date_gmt":"2013-07-29T02:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/circinfosite.com\/?page_id=776"},"modified":"2014-08-14T22:44:07","modified_gmt":"2014-08-14T22:44:07","slug":"jewish-intactivism-a-male-human-rights-movement","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/circinfosite.com\/index.php\/resources-and-links-for-jews\/jewish-intactivism-a-male-human-rights-movement\/","title":{"rendered":"Jewish Intactivism – A Male Human Rights Movement!"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Jewish Celebrities Make\u00a0A\u00a0Vocal\u00a0Case for Intactivism<\/h3>\n

Famous celebrities such as Rosanne Barr,<\/i><\/strong>\u00a0Howard Stern, and<\/strong>\u00a0Alicia Silverstone are breaking the mold as a new kind of Jewish Intactivist.<\/strong><\/i><\/span><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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Alicia Silverstone, a\u00a0Holistic and Jewish Intactivist.
\n<\/span><\/b>Actress Alicia Silverstone is Jewish. She had a usual Jewish childhood going to Hebrew school three times a week and celebrated her Bat Mitzvah. Her family lit candles\u00a0on Friday<\/span>\u00a0nights and celebrated important Jewish holidays. As a child she went to Temple Beth Jacob, a Reform synagogue in San Mateo, California. But she broke with tradition in an important way. She chose not to circumcise her son, Bear, who remains intact at three years of age.<\/p>\n

\nCelebrities are not the only Jews to begin questioning circumcision. These days more and more young Jewish parents are keeping their sons intact. This phenomenon has gained the attention of the\u00a0<\/span>New York Times<\/span><\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span>Jewish press<\/span><\/a>. Jewish Intactivists are\u00a0<\/span>blogging<\/span><\/a>,\u00a0<\/span>making religious cases<\/span><\/a>\u00a0for a shift in tradition, and are\u00a0<\/span>holding their own peaceful covenant blessings<\/span><\/a>. Almost\u00a0<\/span>200 Jewish leaders<\/span><\/a>, mostly Rabbis and Cantors in the Reform and other progressive Jewish movements, are performing and\u00a0<\/span>celebrating such covenants<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Read real accounts of Brit Shalom:\u00a0<\/span>Natalie Bivas<\/span><\/a>\u00a0(performed by two Rabbis),\u00a0<\/span>Shawn Stark\u2019s son\u2019 Brit Shalom led by Rabbi David Mivisair<\/span><\/a>,\u00a0<\/span>Stephari<\/span><\/a>\u00a0(with photos),\u00a0<\/span>Moshe Rothenberg<\/span><\/a>,\u00a0<\/span>Michael S. Kimmel<\/span><\/a>\u00a0(in Tikkun magazine),\u00a0<\/span>Diane Targovnik<\/span><\/a>,\u00a0<\/span>Sara Rockwell<\/span><\/a>,<\/span>Rabbi Steven Blane<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Jewish Intactivists are\u00a0<\/span>active in Israel<\/span><\/a>, where they are\u00a0<\/span>making their case in the mainstream media<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span>Kahal<\/span><\/a>\u00a0is a community group for parents of intact sons in Israel. In the ten years since its founding more than 1,000, mostly Jewish parents have been members.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n

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\nRosanne Barr, Jewish Grandmother and Intactivist<\/span><\/b><\/div>\n
Talking about the state of someone\u2019s foreskin is a delicate issue for some, but not for Rosanne Barr. The Jewish grandmother, comedian, and actress is known for being ahead of her time. From her\u00a0<\/span>bold feminism<\/span><\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0advocacy for gay and lesbian rights<\/a>, to running for president on the Peace and Freedom party, Barr is used to being on the forefront of social movements.<\/span><\/div>\n
Rosanne has taught\u00a0<\/span>Kabbalah at Jewish women’s retreats<\/span><\/a>,<\/span>\u00a0and is active in many progressive Jewish activities.\u00a0<\/span>The actress is not known for subtlety. She has argued against circumcision with Rabbi Boteach on the radio. In 2012, Rosanne tweeted the following about circumcision: \u201cIt is a barbaric & backward cult mind control technique that produces ill effects in adults.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
Candid Intactivist: Jewish Shock Jock Howard Stern<\/span><\/b><\/div>\n
Controversial shock jock Howard Stern is used to generating big attention with his frank talk about sexual body parts.\u00a0<\/span>Stern is Jewish and is an adamant Intactivist<\/span><\/a>. As reported on\u00a0BeyondtheBris<\/a>, while talking with a leading Intactivist on his Sirus radio show, Stern said that \u201cmen should not be circumcised\u2026 I don\u2019t know where this circumcision came from, some people feel it\u2019s a religious thing, it\u2019s about health, it\u2019s about cutting off the foreskin makes your penis less likely to get cancer. There\u2019s been all kinds of myths. I think it\u2019s nonsense. That if you\u2019re born that way [with a foreskin], it seems to me it\u2019s a mutilation to cut it off.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
The Jewish radio host compared the circumcision of men and women and asserts that both are mutilation. \u201cThe same way in Africa they sometimes cut off a woman\u2019s clitoris and they think that\u2019s justified. I think our foreskins were cut off in order to desensitize us, and I think it was a bunch of religious nudnicks who decided they didn\u2019t want us going around fornicating so they cut off some of our penis skin.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
Intactivism among Jewish\u00a0<\/strong>Artists,\u00a0<\/strong>Scholars, and Intellectuals<\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/a><\/a>Howard Stern isn’t the only Jew who thinks that circumcision should be outlawed. A variety of Jewish writers and scholars have argued that surgical\u00a0<\/span>circumcision should be against both Jewish and\u00a0<\/span><\/a>secular law<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/div>\n
There is a long record of Jewish intellectuals who’ve used ethical and psychological reasoning to urge for a shift in practice. Jewish thinkers including writer Franz Kafka and psychologist\u00a0<\/span>Wilhelm Reich\u00a0<\/span>and were critical of circumcision. Jewish intellectuals including Sigmund Freud and French philosopher Jacques<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Derrida deliberately kept their sons intact for such reasons.<\/span><\/div>\n
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Jewish Rabbis and Cantors Advocate Peaceful Naming Ceremonies<\/span><\/b><\/div>\n
Some Rabbis<\/span><\/a>\u00a0think that it is time for the covenant to be interpreted in a symbolic way, as Judaism already treats many other biblical commandments. The Jewish Humanistic movement is the\u00a0<\/span>most advanced in this regard<\/span><\/a>, but Reform Judaism also welcomes intact male babies into the Jewish covenant.<\/span><\/div>\n
Increasingly more young Jewish parents are choosing to keep their new sons intact. Instead of a traditional circumcision, families who wish to keep their Jewish sons intact are choosing to celebrate with a covenant blessing called a\u00a0<\/span>Brit Shalom or Brit B’lee Milah<\/span><\/a>\u00a0(peaceful covenant without cutting). The\u00a0<\/span>Brit Shalom Celebrants lis<\/span><\/a>t<\/span><\/span>\u00a0is a worldwide resource for families listing almost two hundred Jewish Rabbis, Cantors and leaders available to lead these blessings. Run by\u00a0<\/span>Dr. Mark Reiss<\/span><\/a>, a Jewish doctor, the list has increased by more than 100% in the previous two years.<\/span><\/div>\n
Influential Jewish studies scholar Rabbi Howard Schwartz has long held this view. In an\u00a0<\/span>article for the influential journal Tikkun<\/span><\/a>, he wrote \u201cThe issue of circumcision, in my view, is whether we want submission and wounding, as a symbolic act, to mark a man’s relationship to God and to the community in general. I no longer believe such a wounding is defensible.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
\u201cThere is more emotion about\u00a0<\/span>eliminating circumcision\u00a0<\/span>than perhaps any other traditional practice. But it is time to find a different symbol of a boy’s entrance into the community. Instead of cutting our sons, we might celebrate their masculinity. A more appropriate symbol would be a nurturing act, one that would affirm a boy’s relationship to a loving father, both his own and that of his God. We might, for example, feed our sons, since a meal is also a traditional symbol of covenant. Indeed, in one text, Moses and Aaron and the elders go up to the top of the mountain, and when they see God, they eat and drink. Feeding our sons, rather than wounding them, would be a symbol of our nurturing relationship to them.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
Other vocal Jewish Intactivists include psychologist and writer\u00a0<\/span>Ron Goldman, PhD<\/span><\/a>., and novelist\u00a0<\/span>Lisa Braver Moss<\/span><\/a>.<\/span>Orthodox-raised, Intactivist Jonathan Friedman<\/span><\/a>\u00a0is involved year-round in protests and activism on the subject.<\/span><\/div>\n

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If these prominent Jewish Intactivists are a sign of where popular opinion is heading, then many members of the next generation of Jews can look forward to remaining intact!<\/span><\/div>\n

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More than 200 Jewish Leaders Lead \u2018Brit Shalom\u2019 Ceremony for Intact Jewish Boys<\/h1>\n
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Many Rabbis and Cantors are Leading New Covenant Rituals<\/div>\n
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At this Brit Shalom, the parents washed their son\u2019s feet (Brit Rechitzah) as a symbolic sign of Jewish covenant and welcoming, rather than circumcising him. Other aspects of the service involved honoring of the parents and grandparents and giving the son his Hebrew name.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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The movement to welcome newborn Jewish boys into Jewish life without the surgery of circumcision has reached a milestone\u2014over 200 officiants are now available to perform thepeaceful welcoming ceremony<\/a>. Over 120 of these are rabbis. Many of these officiants are members of the Reform,\u00a0Humanistic<\/a>, Renewal, and Reconstructionist Jewish movements. Not all of the officiants on the list are opposed to circumcision, but\u00a0some are<\/a>. Several Rabbis on the list have intact grandsons, some have intact adopted sons.<\/p>\n

While most celebrants are Rabbis and Cantors a variety of other Jewish Leaders are available to lead these rituals. Other celebrants include professors of Jewish Studies, Synagogue leaders, leaders of Jewish retreats, and Rabbinical students in a variety of Jewish movements.<\/p>\n

Called brit shalom\u00a0 (Hebrew for\u00a0covenant of peace<\/a>), this alternative naming ceremony corresponds with traditional brit milah welcoming ceremony, except that there is no cutting of the baby.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re especially happy ceremonies, for that reason,\u201d says Mark Reiss, M.D.<\/p>\n

Jewish parents including\u00a0Natalie Bivas<\/a>,\u00a0Moshe Rothenberg<\/a>,\u00a0Diane Targovnik<\/a>,\u00a0Michael S. Kimmel<\/a>,Sara Rockwell<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Shawn Stark<\/a>\u00a0have written about their experiences holding a Brit Shalom and raising intact Jewish sons.<\/p>\n

For 14 years, Dr. Reiss, has been recruiting\u00a0celebrants of\u00a0<\/a>brit shalom<\/a>\u00a0for his\u00a0web page<\/a>. He estimates that an annual 300-500 boys are welcomed into the Jewish community with brit shalom ceremonies in the United States. Most U.S. states, several Canadian provinces, and other countries are represented on Dr. Reiss\u2019 celebrants list. Many celebrants are in\u00a0Israel<\/a>, where\u00a0a young Jewish Intactivist movement is budding<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe celebrants include rabbis, cantors and other lay leaders, who need not reject circumcision themselves, but want to accommodate parents who do. New celebrants are always welcome,\u201d says Dr. Reiss.<\/p>\n

Those who wish to contact Dr. Reiss to request an officiant, to add their name to the list of celebrants, or to learn more about brit shalom may do so by phone (415) 647-2687 or by email at mdreissmd@gmail.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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http:\/\/www.haaretz.com\/jewish-world\/the-jewish-thinker\/.premium-1.560244<\/p>\n

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It cuts both ways: A Jew argues for child rights over religious circumcision<\/h1>\n

Censuring circumcision in Europe is about child protection, not anti-Semitism.<\/h2>\n
By\u00a0Dr. Rebecca Steinfeld \/ Jewish World blogger<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Nov. 26, 2013 | 12:45 PM\u00a0|\u00a0\"\"\u00a048<\/div>\n
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Circumcision without consent violates a person\u2019s right to bodily integrity, a cornerstone of post-Holocaust human rights law. \u00a0 \u00a0Photo by Dreamstime<\/div>\n

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Two years ago, in response to an\u00a0article<\/a>\u00a0I wrote questioning circumcision, the British historian Geoffrey Alderman dedicated his\u00a0column<\/a>\u00a0to my character assassination, describing me as \u201ca leading anti-Jewish Jew of the younger generation.\u201d Though I appreciated the attention, I was disappointed \u2013 why not \u201cthe\u201d leading anti-Jewish Jew? It would have brought my parents such\u00a0nachas<\/em>.<\/div>\n

Still, I was luckier than the Council of Europe: After it passed a\u00a0motion<\/a>\u00a0declaring the circumcision of young boys for religious reasons \u201ca violation of the physical integrity of children,\u201d Israel\u2019s Foreign Ministry accused it of fostering \u201chate and racist trends in Europe.\u201d With accusations flying, the Council\u2019s special rapporteur, Marlene Rupprecht,\u00a0countered<\/a>\u00a0that the \u201cvote does not intend to stigmatize any religious community or its practices,\u201d but to reach \u201ca wide consensus on the rights of children.\u201d<\/p>\n

So, who\u2019s right? Those who say censuring circumcision is a manifestation of anti-Semitism, or those who say it\u2019s a necessary step in child protection?<\/p>\n

I think the latter are right, but I also understand why some think it\u2019s anti-Semitic: Circumcision is a profoundly meaningful Jewish practice imbued with great cultural value. Consequently, attempts to limit it have sometimes been part of broader efforts to suppress Jewish practice. Antiochus Epiphanes, the draconian ruler of Judea in the second century B.C.E., imposed severe penalties on circumcision as part of his attack on Judaism. The Spanish Inquisition and Nazism were both accompanied by restrictions on circumcision. In 2011, an attempt to ban infant circumcision in\u00a0San Francisco<\/a>coincided with the publication of a cartoon calledForeskin Man<\/a>, replete with anti-Semitic imagery.<\/p>\n

Understandably, this has left its imprint on Jews\u2019 collective memory. It makes sense that the journalist Tanya Gold\u00a0asked<\/a>\u00a0whether the recent motion is \u201can attempt to achieve with paper what other methods could not \u2013 the removal of Jews from Europe?\u201d<\/p>\n

These are grave concerns. But do they stand up to scrutiny? It seems ethnocentric given that two thirds ofthe world\u2019s circumcised males<\/a>\u00a0are actually Muslims and only 0.8 percent are Jewish. If anything, in Europe, hostility toward Muslims is a more likely motivator, as the anti-circumcision\u00a0bill<\/a>\u00a0recently introduced by the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats party could suggest.<\/p>\n

Rather than prejudice against religion, I think it makes more sense to interpret criticism of circumcision as theconsistent application<\/a>\u00a0of human rights to both boys and girls. This is clear in the special rapporteur\u2019sExplanatory Memorandum<\/a>. Concern about the genital cutting of children is best understood within thecontext<\/a>\u00a0of Europe\u2019s, especially Germany\u2019s, focus on human rights and medical ethics following the atrocities of the Holocaust.<\/p>\n

Hard though it may be to hear, irreversibly removing a healthy body part \u2013 in this case, part of a boy\u2019s genitals \u2013 without consent, violates a person\u2019s\u00a0right to bodily integrity<\/a>, a cornerstone of post-Holocaust human rights law. It also undermines that child\u2019s\u00a0right to an open future<\/a>, since a boy who has been circumcised must live forever with his parents\u2019 choice.<\/p>\n

Supporters of circumcision counter that parents\u2019 rights to religious freedom, and the significant cultural value they ascribe to the practice, must take priority. They argue that even if the\u00a0intention\u00a0<\/em>behind those censuring circumcision in Europe is not to harm Jews, harm to Jewish life and traditions will be the\u00a0outcome<\/em>.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s true that censuring circumcision could curtail the expression of an until-now definitional Jewish practice. But the right to\u00a0manifest\u00a0<\/em>one\u2019s religion is not absolute \u2013 it is limited by the harm caused to others. In 2011, 11 boys under the age of one were\u00a0treated<\/a>\u00a0for life-threatening hemorrhage, shock or sepsis relating to circumcision in Birmingham Children\u2019s Hospital in the United Kingdom. In the United States, it\u2019sestimated<\/a>\u00a0that 100 boys die as a result of circumcisions every year. Can religion per se justify this?<\/p>\n

Supporters of circumcision also say it\u2019s an ancient, meaningful practice. But\u00a0neither longevity nor meaning<\/a>\u00a0is usually accepted as sufficient moral justification to override individual rights. As one Orthodox Jewish father, Elie Jesner,\u00a0puts it<\/a>, \u201cMankind has been doing horrendous things for thousands of years: slavery, capital punishment, condemning homosexuals, oppressing women. That is not a club of actions I want to be part of.\u201d<\/p>\n

From a Jewish perspective, there are other issues. First, circumcision does not confer Jewish status. As Shaye Cohen, professor of Hebrew literature and philosophy at Harvard University,\u00a0explains<\/a>, \u201cMale and female offspring of a Jewish mother are Jewish by birth under Jewish law; the male offspring are Jewish by birth even if they are left uncircumcised.\u201d Second, biblical circumcision was\u00a0not as extensive<\/a>\u00a0as today\u2019s variant, which is actually an innovation of rabbis in the Hellenic period trying to stop Jewish men from restoring their foreskins. Evidently, definitional Jewish practices can and have evolved.<\/p>\n

Given all of this, it\u2019s not surprising that some Jews are questioning the practice. A 2006 online survey reported in Haaretz\u00a0found<\/a>\u00a0that nearly a third of parents of boys would prefer to forgo circumcision, but have it done primarily for social reasons. Israel is now home to the intact support group\u00a0Kahal<\/a>, while in the United States,\u00a0Beyond the Bris<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Jews Against Circumcision<\/a>\u00a0have sprung up.<\/p>\n

Jews who question circumcision from the point of view of human rights and medical ethics should be respected, not demonized. But all critics of circumcision must be vigilant about the company they keep, distancing themselves from anyone not exclusively motivated by child protection. There is no place for anti-Semitic arguments or imagery.<\/p>\n

Equally, well-intentioned Jews who continue to circumcise their sons should not be maligned. The significant religious and cultural value they ascribe to circumcision must be appreciated and understood. But reconsidering the practice in light of its human rights and ethical implications should be encouraged, as should non-surgical rituals, such asbrit shalom<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I know this isn\u2019t easy \u2013 the weight of God, history and human rights hangs in the balance \u2013 but what we need in Jewish communities is debate, not denunciations.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the Council of Europe should stand firm. If it backs down and denies some children their rights because their parents adhere to the Jewish tradition, it would single out only those children for lack of protection. Now that really would be anti-Semitic.<\/p>\n

Dr Rebecca Steinfeld is a political scientist at SOAS, University of London. She tweets\u00a0@beccasteinfeld<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

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By Larry Derfner<\/h3>\n

|Published June 29, 2012<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Stand up for your son: Say ‘no’ to ritual circumcision<\/h1>\n

Even if criminalization is impractical, this week\u2019s\u00a0German court ruling against circumcision\u00a0on children, except for medical purposes,\u00a0sent a much-needed message.\u00a0<\/em><\/h4>\n
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I\u2019ve been an atheist since adolescence, but being a Jew has always been a vital element of my identity, something I can\u2019t\u00a0imagine not being, and for this reason, above all others, I knew as a matter of course that I would have my two sons circumcized. It was only after going through it, with the blood and the boys\u2019 wailing\u00a0and our\u00a0anguish and worry –\u00a0with the realization that this\u00a0mohel<\/em>\u00a0was actually taking a knife to the foreskins of our\u00a0eight-day-old sons\u2019 penises\u00a0– that I began to\u00a0think about it.<\/p>\n

And what I arrived at\u00a0was this \u2013 I am\u00a0somewhat\u00a0ashamed that I was willing to put my infant boys at risk, that I was willing to put them through such severe pain, for fear that if I didn\u2019t, it would mean they weren\u2019t Jewish and it would be my responsibility.<\/p>\n

How ridiculous.\u00a0I never\u00a0believed<\/em>\u00a0in\u00a0ritual circumcision, if I\u2019d ever thought about it I\u2019d have said it was\u00a0barbaric,\u00a0risky and\u00a0fairly insane to inflict\u00a0on infants \u2013 but I never thought\u00a0about it. What I did was accept it \u00a0– as the absolute minimum requirement for being a Jew. I don\u2019t\u00a0fast on Yom Kippur, I\u2019ve lived very happily without a\u00a0mezuzah<\/em>\u00a0at my front door, but I\u2019m am so\u00a0glad my atheist father had me circumcized, and I would never have dreamed of not having it done on\u00a0my sons \u2013 because otherwise, according to my unconscious belief (and no doubt my father\u2019s, too), we\u2019re not Jewish.<\/p>\n

So I put my boys\u00a0through it, 12 and 16 years ago.\u00a0\u00a0And\u00a0since then, although the bleeding and crying stopped and everything turned out alright,\u00a0I realize\u00a0that this Jewish (and Muslim)\u00a0tradition is a bad one. It should be replaced, like some of the Torah\u2019s other horrific\u00a0injunctions, and instead of cutting off the foreskin, a few strands of hair should be removed,\u00a0or a fingernail should be dyed, or the boy\u00a0should get a little\u00a0tattoo\u00a0at age nine\u00a0or something.\u00a0I very much like\u00a0being a member of the Jewish\u00a0tribe, and I don\u2019t have a problem with\u00a0parents harmlessly \u201cmarking\u201d their infant sons (or\u00a0daughters)\u00a0as members of their tribe. But ritual circumcision for an eight-day-old boy, as the absolute mandatory condition of his being a Jew, is barbaric, risky and fairly insane.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, a district\u00a0court in Cologne, Germany outlawed circumcision on children except for\u00a0medical purposes.\u00a0\u00a0From The Guardian:<\/a><\/p>\n

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The court weighed up three articles from the basic law: the rights of parents, the freedom of religious practice and the right of the child to physical integrity, before coming to the conclusion that the procedure was not in the interests of the child.<\/p>\n

It rejected the defence that circumcision is considered hygienic in many cultures, one of the main reasons it is carried out in the US, Britain and in Germany.<\/p>\n

After much deliberation, it concluded that a circumcision, \u201ceven when done properly by a doctor with the permission of the parents, should be considered as bodily harm if it is carried out on a boy unable to give his own consent.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

Commentators said\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0unlikely\u00a0the decision will be binding, or that circumcision will\u00a0end anywhere in Germany anytime soon,\u00a0but they also said\u00a0it would\u00a0influence future legal decisions.\u00a0I hope so. I don\u2019t think it\u2019s wise to outlaw ritual circumcision, any more than it was wise to outlaw alcohol,\u00a0abortion or drugs, because it\u2019s unenforceable and by driving it underground, you create many more problems than you solve. But the principle that ritual circumcision is harmful to infants, that\u00a0it inflicts\u00a0on them a purely elective surgery that is acutely\u00a0painful, and that while accidents are very rare, the victims are literally scarred for life \u2013 this point has to be made\u00a0loudly and repeatedly to\u00a0all Jews, Muslims and other tribal types\u00a0who feel they have no choice but to put their sons through this.<\/p>\n

There is a\u00a0small but growing movement\u00a0<\/a>of Jewish parents who reject ritual circumcision, and I think it\u2019s going to spread\u00a0fast because they\u2019re saying out loud what so many Jewish parents are thinking:\u00a0\u201dWhy?\u201d And this, I believe,\u00a0is the best answer to the problem:\u00a0Stand up for your kid and say no. If you fear and abhor the\u00a0ritual, don\u2019t let anyone perform it on him.\u00a0He\u2019ll\u00a0still be Jewish if you raise him Jewish \u2013 whatever anyone says.<\/p>\n

And if my sons one day have sons\u00a0of their own and decide not to have them circumcized,\u00a0I will be one proud father and grandfather. Herzl didn\u2019t have his sons circumcized, and if it was\u00a0Jewish enough for him, it\u2019s Jewish enough for me.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Jewish Intactivism – A Male Human Rights Movement!<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Russell: Circumcision: an unnecessary, brutal practice for those who can’t consent<\/h1>\n
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Posted:\u00a0Thursday, November 21, 2013 6:54 pm<\/div>\n
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Natalie Russell \/ Columnist\u00a0|\u00a00\u00a0comments<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

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\u201cHere\u2019s this little bundle … First let\u2019s find a sharp stone or knife and start hacking at the genitalia,\u201d\u00a0begins journalist Christopher Hitchens<\/span><\/a>, setting up a scenario that about 58 percent of male infants born in the United States went through in 2010. \u201cBecause, as it turns out,\u201d Hitchens continues, \u201cthe design isn\u2019t that great, and in a crucial feature, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

He concludes, \u201cNo morally decent person would do this if it wasn\u2019t for superstition.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Infant male circumcision is a practice not often questioned by new parents. It\u2019s either divinely warranted or it\u2019s just something that people do.\u00a0 But witnessing a ceremony like this should cause outrage in any morally normal person.<\/p>\n

Reputable\u00a0studies<\/span><\/a>\u00a0by the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control have shown that there is evidence of circumcision preventing the contraction of sexually transmitted diseases such as HPV and HIV. This is reasonable, considering there is a 44 percent lower rate of HIV infection among circumcised men.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut doesn\u2019t that contradict your point?\u201d you might ask.<\/p>\n

I would answer: no. My point isn\u2019t that male circumcision is always morally wrong, but that it\u2019s a sinister practice to inflict on non-consenting infants.<\/p>\n

These studies are likely as significant as they sound, but we can rest assured that a child is not at risk for STDs in his infancy or in childhood. A procedure that is unnecessary, painful, traumatic and even life-threatening should never be inflicted on a child\u00a0until he is able to consent<\/span><\/a>\u00a0to the operation himself.<\/p>\n

Alternatively, circumcision in the late teenage and early adult years is a relatively\u00a0simple procedure<\/span><\/a>\u00a0that affords safe administration of anesthesia, typically costs less than $1,000 and, more importantly, allows the person to give consent. According to Dr. Aaron Tobian from Johns Hopkins University, infant circumcision\u00a0typically costs<\/span><\/a>\u00a0between $250 and $300.<\/p>\n

But, let\u2019s talk about hygiene \u2014 a favorite subject of circumcision advocates. Is there any evidence to conclude that an uncircumcised penis is less hygienic? It\u2019s a popular truism, but certainly not a well-supported one.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s true that an uncircumcised penis is generally more difficult to clean compared with one that is circumcised. But it\u2019s no more difficult than proper cleaning of a woman\u2019s genitalia. If hygiene were a standalone argument for circumcision,\u00a0there would be no reason<\/span><\/a>\u00a0not to circumcise the labia on female infants.<\/p>\n

Worse than the hygiene argument is reasoning backed by social standards, such as meshing well socially in the locker room or embodying the stereotypical traditions of their fathers. No one wants their child to be uncomfortable with his body or outcast from his peers. But if the cost of fitting in is subjecting an infant to torturous levels of\u00a0pain<\/span><\/a>\u00a0and high volumes of blood loss, the better choice should be obvious.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s unlikely that an uncircumcised penis will even be all that unusual in social circumstances in the future anyway, since the rate of procedures has been steadily decreasing.<\/p>\n

Over the past three decades, the rate of circumcisions performed on newborn boys in U.S. hospitals\u00a0has dropped<\/span><\/a>\u00a0six percentage points, according to U.S. government data. The rate was 64.5 percent in 1979, with an all-time high of 64.9 percent in 1981. An all-time low was recorded in 2007 with 55.4 percent of newborns circumcised, and more recent data has shown just a slight increase at 58.3 percent in 2010.<\/p>\n

Part of this decline has to do with greater public awareness of the risks of the procedure, but another major driving force is perhaps even more telling. The federal Medicaid program has cut off funding for circumcisions in 18 states under the premise that the procedure hasn\u2019t proven to be medically necessary. Insurers have also increasingly limited coverage for infant male circumcision for the same reason.<\/p>\n

Maimonides, the canonized Jewish philosopher, argued that the primary purpose for circumcision was to reduce a man\u2019s sexual desire and pleasure. This is a likely consequence, since the foreskin can contain as many as 70,000 erogenous nerve endings, which, I might add, speaks volumes about the potential pain of circumcision. It\u2019s under this same premise that women across the world are regularly circumcised \u2014 where the clitoris, labia or both are removed \u2014 particularly in parts of Africa and the Middle East. Although it has no basis in Islamic texts, female genital mutilation is commonly performed in Islamic countries as a means of preserving the purity and chastity of women.<\/p>\n

If \u201creligious freedom\u201d gives parents the authority to subject their infant children to genital mutilation, perhaps a circumcision should be performed on this immoral bind of church and state.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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http:\/\/www.pittnews.com\/opinion\/article_37643ce2-5308-11e3-b83c-001a4bcf6878.html<\/a><\/div>\n

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The last 100 years have been marked by the declaration and protection of universal human rights, and a marked increase in the quality of life, both in America and worldwide. With these improvements, higher expectations regarding a child\u2019s right to bodily autonomy have become socially accepted and legally mandated. Many argue that since female children in the U.S. are protected by a 1996 law banning female circumcision, this law should be expanded to include the protection of male children as well. The groups\u00a0Jews Against Circumcision<\/a>,\u00a0<\/em>Jews for the Rights of the Child<\/a>\u00a0and the\u00a0Israeli Organization Against Genital Mutilation<\/a>\u00a0have all endorsed laws that would outlaw child circumcision.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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There are an increasing number of Jews who are vocal in questioning both the ethics and the legality of circumcision surgery. Jews in the Reform movement have already been advocating for an end to circumcision during the past 170 years. Influential Jews including radio personality\u00a0Howard Stern<\/a>\u00a0and filmmakerEli Ungar-Sargon<\/a>\u00a0also called for laws against circumcision. What follows is a collection of statements from Jews who question the ethics and legality of forced infant circumcision.<\/p>\n

Jews who Support the Circumcision Referendum and Legal Issues
\n\u2022\u00a0Jews for the Rights of the Child<\/a>
\n\u2022\u00a0Jews Speak in Favor of Banning Circumcision on Minors<\/a>
\n\u2022\u00a0The Forward: Outlawing Circumcision: Good for the Jews? by Eliyahu Ungar-Sargon<\/a>
\n\u2022\u00a0The Circumcision Referendum: A Liberal Jewish Perspective by Sandford Borins, Ph.D.<\/a>
\n\u2022\u00a0Jewish Journal: Circumcision critic has Board links<\/a>
\n__________________________________________________<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cGood afternoon. My name is Brian Levitt\u2026 I am Jewish, the eldest of 3 children and the son of a doctor\u2026 I feel deeply harmed by circumcision, and this view has only been confirmed over time. I do not feel closer to Judaism because of my circumcision. On the contrary, I deeply wish one thing had nothing to do with the other. The genital cutting of infants has driven me away from my religion, and I’m far from alone in this view. Eventually my father understood these issues, and even apologized for having allowed my brother and I to be circumcised at birth\u2026 There are hundreds of thousands of men who resent their infant circumcision. There are tens of thousands of intact Jewish boys and men around the world who thank their lucky stars they were not circumcised.\u201d
\n–\u00a0Brian Levitt, Jewish Intactivist, co-founder\u00a0<\/strong>of Jews for the Rights of the Child<\/strong><\/a>
\nTestimony at the California Senate Judiciary Committee Public Hearing on Circumcision.
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThe human right to body integrity would, in this instance, override their religious right.\u2026non-fundamentalist Jews, who constitute a very large number of Reform, Conservative, and even some Orthodox Jews, believe that human ethics are an essential element in the Jewish tradition. \u2026 This should give pause to any non-fundamentalist religious Jew, and it is\u00a0a black eye for the liberal movements<\/a>\u00a0that they have not taken this issue more seriously. Perhaps a law prohibiting circumcision is just what these Jews need to start a serious discussion about\u00a0the problem of brit milah<\/a>.\u201d
\n–\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Eli Ungar-Sargon<\/em><\/strong><\/a>,\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Outlawing Circumcision: Good for the Jews?<\/em><\/strong><\/a>, The Forward, the Jewish Daily, May 20, 2011.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI happen to agree with you that\u00a0foreskin removal should be illegal<\/a>. It is a mutilation\u2026 I agree with you that men should not be circumcised… I don\u2019t know where this circumcision came from\u2026 There\u2019s been all kinds of myths. I think it\u2019s nonsense. That if you\u2019re born that way, it seems to me it\u2019s a mutilation to cut it off. The same way in Africa they sometimes cut off a woman\u2019s clitoris and they think that\u2019s justified. I think our foreskins were cut off in order to desensitize us, and I think it was a bunch of religious\u00a0nudnicks<\/em>\u00a0who decided they didn\u2019t want us going around fornicating so they cut off some of our penis skin.\u201d
\n– Howard Stern, Talk Radio Host<\/em>
\n<\/strong>Howard Stern, Jewish Intactivist<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0<\/a>by Rebecca Wald, J.D.,\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>BeyondTheBris<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0, March 31, 2011.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

“Laurie Evans, the Jewish director of New York’s\u00a0National Organization of Circumcision Information Resource Centers<\/a>NOCIRC<\/a>), told the Committee that under Jewish law, the son of a Jewish mother is Jewish, whether circumcised or not, and that despite great pressure she had kept her son intact. She said that many Jewish mothers confide to having been horrified by their boy’s circumcision ceremony. She said that initially the ceremony involved removing only a small amount of foreskin, not all of it, and that\u00a0several<\/a>\u00a0Jewish<\/a>\u00a0organizations<\/a>\u00a0recommend\u00a0a peaceful birth ceremony<\/a>\u00a0instead. She urged the panel to watch a circumcision and raised the issue of botched circumcisions. The second Jewish mother to speak,Kathryn Mora<\/a>, testified she had been devastated that her son was taken from her in the hospital and circumcised without her consent.”
\n– Peter W. Adler, A Bird’s Eye View of the Hearing On the Massachusetts Bill to Outlaw Genital Mutilation<\/em>
\n<\/strong>Attorneys for the Rights of the Child Newsletter<\/em><\/strong><\/a>, Summer 2010.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cJewish baby boys are human and have rights too, and those rights are violently trampled by his (and my) religion,\u00a0in the case of brit milah<\/a>. We must all learn to take the blinders off and somehow stop this heinous practice — yes, by a law, if necessary.
\n– Tina Kimmel, PhD, MSW, MPH, co-founder of\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Jews for the Rights of the Child<\/em><\/strong><\/a>.
\nLetter to the Bay Citizen.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cIn Massachusetts, two Jewish mothers testified in favor of a law making circumcision illegal. Moreover, several Jews and\u00a0Jewish organizations throughout the country<\/a>\u00a0are backing a proposed national law against circumcision. Jewish groups such as\u00a0Jews Against Circumcision<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0the Israeli Association Against Genital Mutilation<\/a>\u00a0have endorsed the proposed\u00a0American MGM bill<\/a>, which would rewrite the U.S. Female Genital Mutilation Act of 1996 so that boys are also protected from genital mutilation.\u201d
\n– Questioning circumcision, by Shani McManus and Sergio Carmona, Florida Jewish Journal, June 06, 2011.
\n<\/em><\/strong>
\n<\/em>\u201cI\u2019d heard how my uncle had fainted during my bris and what a horrible event it was. This was the thing everyone would talk about at the Passover seder\u2026 The ban on circumcision that\u2019s on the ballot in San Francisco is a triumph for intactivists\u2026 I’m totally for it. San Francisco has often lead the country in elevating our consciousness. It has already helped spread awareness of this human rights crime to other states and hopefully will lead people everywhere tobe more compassionate, thoughtful and rational not only towards their own fragile newborn children<\/a>\u00a0but to other fellow men and women as well.\u201d
\n– Jason Paige, Jewish Singer<\/em>
\n<\/strong>Blood, Sweat & Tears Lead Singer Protests Infant Circumcision<\/em><\/strong><\/a>, by Rebecca Wald, J.D.,\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>BeyondTheBris<\/em><\/strong>, July 1, 2011.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Intactivist Jewish Voices – Many Jews Question Circumcision<\/strong>
\n\u2022\u00a0Jewish Voices: The Current Jewish Movement to End Circumcision: Part 1
\n<\/a>\u2022\u00a0Jewish Voices: The Current Jewish Movement to End Circumcision: Part 2<\/a>
\n\u2022\u00a0Jewish Voices: The Current Jewish Movement to End Circumcision: Part 3<\/a><\/p>\n

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Some International Jews Also Favor Outlawing Child Circumcision<\/strong><\/h3>\n

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\u201cWhat about religious freedom? Certainly, the ability to freely practise one’s religion remains a vital component of any liberal democracy. But should this trump an individual’s right to their bodily integrity? And shouldn’t such a principle be extended to all those who, by virtue of their age, are too young to decide on which body parts they would or would not like to keep?…
\n“Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights outlaws the kind of “harm” that circumcision can cause; article 14 forbids the discrimination that prevents baby boys from enjoying the same protection of their genitalia as baby girls. In the 21st century, it is time to remember that men, too, can be victims of unjust hegemonic systems tolerated in the name of tradition, culture or religion. If we oppose female genital mutilation, has the time not come for us also to oppose male genital mutiliation?”
\n– Neil Howard and\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Rebecca Steinfeld<\/em><\/strong><\/a>,\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Time to ban male circumcision?<\/em><\/strong><\/a>, Guardian (UK), June 14, 2011.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Rebecca Steinfeld, is a PhD. candidate at Oxford University. She served as an under-35 director and as an associate of the Board of Deputies for New West End Synagogue.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt seems to me that for liberal Jews the choice comes down to this. Do we want to in some way circumscribe the sexual possibilities of our sons by performing a body modification when they are infants so as to bear witness to the covenant? Are there not other ways to bear witness? Are there not other ways to maintain our distinctiveness from the society around us? Despite having circumcised my two sons, the more I think about the issue, the more likely \u2013 were I a resident of San Francisco \u2013\u00a0I would support the referendum<\/a>.\u201d
\n–\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Sandford Borins, Ph.D., The Circumcision Referendum: A Liberal Jewish Perspective<\/em><\/strong><\/a>.<\/strong>
\nSandford Borins, Ph.D., is a professor of Management at the University of Toronto.<\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Jewish Religious and Historical Issues<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0Vadim Cherny: How Judaic is circumcision?<\/a>(Israel)<\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0Being rational about circumcision and Jewish observance by Moshe Rothenberg<\/a>\u00a0(NY)<\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0Eli Ungar-Sargon Debates Rabbi Shmuley Boteach on the Ethics of Circumcision<\/a>\u00a0(NY)<\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0Defying Convention: An Interview With Miriam Pollack<\/a><\/p>\n

(U.S.) \u2022\u00a0One Rabbis’ Thoughts on Circumcision by Rabbi Nathan Segal<\/a>\u00a0(CA)<\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0Jewish Parents are Trading Circumcision for Peaceful Covenant Ceremonies<\/a>\u00a0(U.S.)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  Jewish Celebrities Make\u00a0A\u00a0Vocal\u00a0Case for Intactivism Famous celebrities such as Rosanne Barr,\u00a0Howard Stern, and\u00a0Alicia Silverstone are breaking the mold as a new kind of Jewish Intactivist. \u00a0 Alicia Silverstone, a\u00a0Holistic and Jewish Intactivist. Actress Alicia Silverstone is Jewish. She had… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":682,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-776","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/circinfosite.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/776","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/circinfosite.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/circinfosite.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/circinfosite.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/circinfosite.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=776"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"http:\/\/circinfosite.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/776\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":939,"href":"http:\/\/circinfosite.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/776\/revisions\/939"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/circinfosite.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/682"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/circinfosite.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=776"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

As well as being a\u00a0<\/span>Jewish Intactivist<\/span><\/a>\u00a0and actor, Silverstone is a vegan activist, blogger, and writer on parenting issues. For Hanukkah this year, she released a vegan recipe for a Jewish holiday food on each of the eight days. The movie actress and parenting writer hasn’t said if she chose a non-cutting welcoming ceremony like\u00a0<\/span>the well-popularized Brit Shalom<\/span><\/a>, a new Jewish ceremony for Jews who choose to keep their sons intact. She has said that she chose to keep her son intact for medical, moral, and sexual reasons.<\/span><\/div>\n