{"id":915,"date":"2014-02-15T20:47:45","date_gmt":"2014-02-15T20:47:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/circinfosite.com\/?p=915"},"modified":"2014-02-15T21:15:50","modified_gmt":"2014-02-15T21:15:50","slug":"choosing-not-to-circumcise-last-frontier-of-jewish-inclusion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/circinfosite.com\/index.php\/news\/choosing-not-to-circumcise-last-frontier-of-jewish-inclusion\/","title":{"rendered":"Choosing not to circumcise \u2014 last frontier of Jewish inclusion?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Thursday, February 13, 2014 | return to:\u00a0views<\/span><\/a>,\u00a0opinions<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n
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by lisa braver moss\u00a0<\/span><\/h1>\n\n\n\n
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How can synagogues make their members \u2014 and prospective members \u2014 feel more welcome?<\/p>\n

\"9_Vmoss_avatar_withname\"<\/p>\n

Some synagogues send a message of inclusion, stating on their websites that they welcome gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Jews, Jews of color, disabled Jews and interfaith families. But there\u2019s one Jewish minority that\u2019s rarely, if ever, mentioned: the growing number of Jewish parents who choose not to circumcise their newborn sons.<\/p>\n

Although circumcision is but one ritual choice, it would be easy for a family to get the idea that congregational Judaism expects \u2014 or demands \u2014 circumcision. Even the most liberal synagogues don\u2019t say on their websites that keeping one\u2019s baby boy intact (not circumcised) is a valid option.<\/p>\n

Yet my research indicates that noncircumcising families are welcome in many synagogue communities. I asked senior Rabbi Yoel Kahn at Congregation Beth El, a large Reform congregation in Berkeley, whether such families are welcome at his synagogue. \u201cCertainly,\u201d he said. Rabbis also answered \u201cyes\u201d to that question at Temple Sinai in Oakland, Congregation Sherith Israel in San Francisco and Congregation Beth Am in Los Altos Hills. In fact, every local Reform synagogue that responded to my questionnaire said yes.<\/p>\n

But might this be a reflection of life in the bubble of Bay Area liberalism? I checked with rabbis around the country to find out whether they, too, welcome families opting out of circumcision.<\/p>\n

Ronne Friedman, senior rabbi of Temple Israel of Boston, a large Reform congregation, affirmed the inclusion of such families. \u201cYes, [they\u2019re] welcome to join \u2026 we would only address the question with a family if they raised it with us.\u201d<\/p>\n

At Central Reform Congregation in St. Louis, founding Rabbi Susan Talve said such families are welcome. So did senior rabbi Ron Segal of Atlanta\u2019s Temple Sinai, a Reform congregation whose website says it leans toward the traditional.<\/p>\n

Not only are noncircumcising families welcome in much of the Jewish community, many congregational rabbis are quietly performing brit shalom naming ceremonies for intact baby boys.<\/p>\n

What congregational rabbis may not realize is how many circumcision-averse Jewish families they aren\u2019t serving, prospective synagogue members at a perfect moment of their lives in which to consider affiliation. The opportunity is lost because parents questioning circumcision would rather not brave a conversation with someone they believe may give them a hard time about their decision.<\/p>\n

\u201cJewish parents deciding against circumcision frequently will not call their local rabbi for a brit shalom ceremony,\u201d said Dr. Mark Reiss of San Francisco, a well-known proponent of brit shalom. \u201cThey will intuitively feel that they probably will get an argument.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reiss is the originator of Brit Shalom Celebrants, a Web page that lists more than 150 rabbis, cantors and lay leaders who openly perform brit shalom ceremonies (http:\/\/www.tinyurl.com\/britshalom<\/span><\/a>). The officiants operate on a fee-for-service basis.<\/p>\n

Not all rabbis who do brit shalom ceremonies want to be openly associated with it. Although the page makes it clear that many of the listed officiants also do traditional\u00a0 circumcisions, the page is perceived by some as an \u201canti-circumcision\u201d list.<\/p>\n

If noncircumcising families are welcome in Jewish congregational life \u2014 indeed, if rabbis are already performing alternative ceremonies when asked \u2014 why not let parents know this? I invite congregations everywhere to adopt the win-win policy of openly welcoming brit shalom families.
\nLisa Braver Moss<\/strong>\u00a0is the author of the novel \u201cThe Measure of His Grief\u201d and has published in the Huffington Post, Tikkun and Parents, among other outlets. She lives in Piedmont.http:\/\/www.lisabravermoss.com<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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http:\/\/www.jweekly.com\/article\/full\/70838\/choosing-not-to-circumcise-last-frontier-of-jewish-inclusion\/<\/a><\/div>\n
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Jewish Intactivism – A Male Human Rights Movement!”All truth passes through three stages.
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Thursday, February 13, 2014 | return to:\u00a0views,\u00a0opinions TweetShare \u00a0 by lisa braver moss\u00a0 Follow j. on\u00a0 \u00a0and   How can synagogues make their members \u2014 and prospective members \u2014 feel more welcome? Some synagogues send a message of inclusion, stating… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,13,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-915","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-human-rights","category-jewish-intactivism","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/circinfosite.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/915","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/circinfosite.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/circinfosite.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"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=915"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/circinfosite.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/915\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":920,"href":"http:\/\/circinfosite.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/915\/revisions\/920"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/circinfosite.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=915"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/circinfosite.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=915"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/circinfosite.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=915"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}