Brit milah

• 1. Introduction

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  Brit milah is the Jewish ceremony of circumcision for a newborn boy, and its Hebrew name means "covenant of circumcision." Ashkenazi Jews call it a bris. The Talmud treats it as equal in weight to all the other commandments, and it reaches that judgment through gematria, the numerical value of Hebrew letters. The word brit adds up to 612. Jews understand the rite as a boy's acceptance into an ongoing covenant between God and the Jewish people. That one idea explains why families, rabbis, empires and courts have cared about it for so long. This documentary asks where the practice came from and who performs it. It asks what the ceremony requires beyond the cut itself and why a modern city's health officials ended up in court over one of its steps. And it asks what the people who keep this rite say it means.

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• 2. Roots and Scripture

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  Artistic and literary evidence from ancient Egypt shows circumcision in the ancient Near East from at least the Sixth Dynasty, roughly 2345-2181 BCE. Its true origin remains uncertain. In the New Kingdom, which ran from 1550 to 1069 BCE, Egyptians performed it as a passage from boyhood to adulthood, but only on boys who were going to become priests. The Bible extended it to every male, fitting its description of Israel as a "kingdom of priests" in Exodus 19:6. One scholarly summary says the biblical version cut the rite loose from puberty and made it "a sign of the divine covenant and ethnic belonging."

  Some scholars place the link between circumcision and covenant much later than Abraham. They point to a hypothetical J source of the Pentateuch, likely composed in the seventh century BCE. In Genesis 15, that source would not have mentioned a covenant involving circumcision. Only the P source, likely from the sixth century BCE, ties the two together in Genesis 17. On this view the connection first appeared during the Babylonian Exile. A separate scholarly argument holds that the rite began as a replacement for child sacrifice.

  Genesis 17 presents the command as coming from God to Abraham. The translation quoted in the source reads: "This is My covenant, which ye shall keep, between Me and you and thy seed after thee: every male among you shall be circumcised." Covenants in that world were often sealed by severing an animal, with the unspoken warning that a party who broke the agreement would suffer the same fate. The Hebrew verb for sealing a covenant literally means "to cut." Jewish scholars presume that the removal of the foreskin stands for that sealing.

  The Hebrew word arelim, meaning "uncircumcised," appears in the Bible as an insult aimed at the Philistines and other non-Israelites. It is used together with tameh, meaning unpure, for heathens. The Hebrew Bible calls it "a reproach" for an Israelite to be uncircumcised.

  Joshua 5:2-9 records a striking exception. Everyone who came out of Egypt had been circumcised, but those born in the wilderness afterward had not. Before the Passover celebration, Joshua had them circumcised at Gilgal, just before they entered Canaan. Abraham, too, was circumcised when he moved into Canaan. The prophet Jeremiah, in Jeremiah 9:25-26, warns that circumcised and uncircumcised will be punished alike, because "all the nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in heart."

  In biblical times, a convert had to be circumcised before taking part in the Passover offering. Genesis 17:1-14 names the penalty for deliberate neglect as kareth. Jewish theology understands kareth as the extinction of the soul and the loss of a share in the World to Come.

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• 3. The Eighth Day

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  Leviticus 12:3 states the timing plainly: "And in the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised." Jewish law counts each day from the sunset before it, and that rule shapes the calendar. A boy born on a Sunday before sunset has his brit the following Sunday. A boy born on Sunday night after sunset has it on Monday.

  The Sabbath bends around the rite. The brit goes ahead on the eighth day even if it falls on Shabbat or a holiday, and Genesis 17:1-14 is cited for allowing otherwise forbidden actions in order to carry it out. Two cases are delayed until Sunday. One is a baby born on Friday night between sunset and nightfall. The other is a baby delivered by Caesarean section. Tradition favors the morning, though any daylight hour will do. A synagogue is customary, but a home or any other suitable place is acceptable.

  The Talmud sets health limits on the rite. A boy must not be circumcised if two of his brothers died from complications of their own circumcisions. Maimonides said this did not cover paternal half-brothers. The source suggests the rule may reflect a concern about hemophilia. A baby born prematurely, or with other serious medical problems, waits until the doctors and the mohel judge him strong enough. An Israeli study found a high rate of urinary tract infections when the bandage was left on too long.

  The mohel is the trained practitioner. Under traditional law, if no grown, free Jewish male expert is present, any Jew with the required skills may act. Most non-Orthodox streams of Judaism allow women to serve as mohalot without restriction. In 1984, Deborah Cohen became the first certified Reform mohelet, certified through the Reform movement's brit milah program.

  Among Ashkenazi Jews, the kvater is the person who carries the baby from the mother to the father, who then carries him to the mohel. The honor usually goes to a couple without children, as a segula, an efficacious remedy, so that they will have children of their own. The word comes from the Middle High German gevater, meaning "godfather."

  The seudat mitzvah, a celebratory meal, follows the ceremony. In the Eastern Ashkenazic rite, the grace after the meal opens with added lines called Nodeh Leshimcha. They ask permission of God, the Torah, the Kohanim and the distinguished people present to proceed. After the four main blessings come special ha-Rachaman prayers. They request blessings for the baby's parents, for the sandek, who is the companion of the child, for the baby himself, and for the mohel. The Western Ashkenazic rite leaves out Nodeh Leshimcha and uses a different set of prayers. The final requests in the Eastern set ask God to send the Messiah speedily. They also ask for Elijah the prophet, known as "The Righteous Kohen," so that the covenant can be fulfilled with the throne of King David re-established.

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• 4. Beyond Infancy

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  In the Soviet Union, religious circumcision was banned. Many Jews who emigrated uncircumcised chose to undergo the rite as adults. The brit is scheduled for the earliest date that can be arranged. The cutting itself is private, and other parts of the ceremony, such as the meal, may be changed to suit the man's wishes.

  Halacha covers an even sadder case. A baby who dies before there was time to circumcise him must be circumcised before burial. Several reasons have been given for this rule, though some writers say the act is unnecessary.

  Conversion brings the rite to people of any age. Because the brit signifies acceptance into the covenant, most male converts, known as gerim, undergo some form of it to finalize their conversion. Orthodox and Conservative Judaism require it. A circumcision performed for this purpose is called milah l'shem giur. In Orthodox practice it is usually arranged by adoptive parents for adopted boys, or by families with young children who convert together. It is also required of adult converts who were not circumcised earlier, such as those born in countries where circumcision at birth is uncommon. It need not take place on a particular day, and it does not override Shabbat or Jewish holidays.

  A minor's conversion is valid in Orthodox and Conservative Judaism until the age of majority, which is 13 for a boy and 12 for a girl. At that point the child may renounce the conversion, and it is then considered retroactively invalid. He must be told of that right, and if he says nothing, he is accepted as halakhically Jewish. Conservative Judaism also allows the procedure for a boy whose mother has not converted, provided he is raised Jewish in a single-faith household. In that case a mikveh immersion can complete the conversion, even before the child is one year old.

  Orthodox authorities disagree about naming. Zichron Brit LeRishonim says the boy is named at the brit, using a different formula than the standard one. The more common Ashkenazic practice follows Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, with naming at immersion.

  A single drop of blood decides whether some circumcisions count. The source contrasts the Jewish rite with Islam, where circumcision is a non-ritual requirement. A brit is not complete unless blood is actually drawn. Standard medical methods that work by constriction stop the flow of blood, so they fall short of halakhic requirements. Circumcision without the ceremony does not fulfill the mitzvah either. Three kinds of cases need a fix: a Jew circumcised outside a brit, an already-circumcised convert, and an aposthetic man, who was born without a foreskin. In each, the mohel draws a symbolic drop, called hatafat dam, from the spot where the foreskin was or would have been. By 2001, the Central Conference of American Rabbis began recommending that already-circumcised male converts undergo hatafat dam brit.

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• 5. Uncovering and Pain

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  Priah, Hebrew for "uncovering," marks a real difference between ritual and medical circumcision. In a newborn, the inner lining of the foreskin is still attached to the surface of the glans. The commandment counts as carried out only when that lining is removed or permanently peeled back. Surgeons take it off together with the foreskin. A mohel usually peels it away after the foreskin has been cut. The goal is a "low and tight" circumcision, removing as much of the inner layer as possible and preventing the shaft skin from moving.

  Rabbinic interpretation holds that priah has been part of Jewish circumcision since the Israelites first settled the Land of Israel. Historians dispute that. Shaye J. D. Cohen points out that the Torah commands only milah. The Oxford Dictionary of the Jewish Religion says many Hellenistic Jews tried to restore their foreskins. It reports the same during the Hadrianic persecution, when circumcision was prohibited. Its writers guess that the stricter method began to block such restoration. David Gollaher likewise wrote that the rabbis added priah to discourage restoration, and that a mohel who failed to cut away enough tissue left an operation "deemed insufficient to comply with God's covenant."

  In the mid-2nd century CE, the Tannaim, successors of the Pharisees, made priah mandatory. Before then, the older form was a ritual nick or cut by the father to the acroposthion, the part of the foreskin that overhangs the glans. That form was known simply as milah, and it was predominant until the second century CE. The stricter form is practiced by the large majority of Jews today. It later became the basis for routine neonatal circumcisions in the United States.

  Pain is a question of its own. Most prominent acharonim, the later rabbinic authorities, rule that the mitzvah lies in the pain it causes. They hold that anesthetic, sedation or ointment should generally not be used. Eliezer Waldenberg, Yechiel Yaakov Weinberg, Shmuel Wosner and Moshe Feinstein agree that the child should not be sedated. Pain-relieving ointment may be allowed under certain conditions. Wosner argues that the act ought to be painful, citing Psalm 44:23. Tradition does offer the infant a drop of wine or another sweet liquid to soothe him.

  Rabbi Moshe David Tendler dissented in a letter published in The New York Times on the 3rd of January 1998. He wrote, "It is a biblical prohibition to cause anyone unnecessary pain." He recommended an analgesic cream. He warned against lidocaine, which has been linked to several pediatric near-death episodes.

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• 6. The Oral Suction Dispute

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  Mishnah Shabbat 19:2 names metzitzah, translated as suction, as one of the steps of the rite. The Talmud warns that a mohel who skips it "creates a danger, and should be dismissed from practice." Rashi explains that the step draws some blood from deep inside the wound to prevent danger to the baby. The Kabbalists Rabbi Shalom Sharabi and Rabbi Isaac Luria wrote that whoever performs it should consciously try to draw away the "evil inclination" lying within the blood. Many say modern antiseptic and antibiotic techniques serve the same purpose. Orthodox Jews still keep metzitzah because it is one of the steps. Traditional Karaites and the Beta Israel never practiced it, since they never adopted the Talmud.

  Metzitzah b'peh, oral suction, is the version at the center of the dispute. The mohel places his mouth directly on the infant's wound. Leading rabbinical authorities ruled in the mid-19th century that instrumental suction was acceptable. In the same period, it was recognized that syphilis, tuberculosis and diphtheria were passing from mohel to infant this way. Herpes is a further risk. Proponents answer that no conclusive evidence links herpes to the practice, and that limiting it infringes religious freedom. Many ceremonies no longer use it. A minority of Haredi sects continue it, and even most Haredim look down on it.

  Rabbi Moses Sofer, the Chatam Sofer (1762-1839), observed that the Talmud gave a hygienic reason for the step. He ruled that a sponge could replace oral suction. He cited Nedarim 32a, which tells of a mohel suspected of spreading herpes. The mohel was examined several times and never showed signs of disease, yet a ban was requested over the possibility of future infections. Sofer's student Moshe Schick (1807-1879) said the ruling applied only to that case. In his telling, the mohel refused to step down and had government connections. Others contradict him, noting that Sofer's responsa never mention the case and say plainly that metzitzah was a health measure to be dropped wherever it endangers the infant.

  Chaim Hezekiah Medini offered another account. He told of Lazar Horowitz, Chief Rabbi of Vienna, who faced a government attempt to ban circumcision entirely if it included metzitzah b'peh. Horowitz asked Sofer for permission to omit it. His testimony in secular court was erroneously recorded as a general ruling by Sofer.

  The Rabbinical Council of America published an article in the summer 1972 issue of Tradition magazine by the mohel Yehudi Pesach Shields. It called for abandoning metzitzah b'peh. The council has since advocated methods without contact between mouth and wound, such as a sterile syringe. In a 1955 letter, the first Ashkenazic Chief Rabbi of the State of Israel wrote that "anyone who insists that metzitza must be done by mouth only, is in my opinion, mistaken and is leading others astray in a matter where there is a possibility of danger." The council's paper reports that Rabbi Chaim Soloveitchik told mohelim in Brisk not to use direct oral contact. Rabbi Sinai Schiffer of Baden, Germany, claimed in a book to hold letters from 36 major Russian rabbis requiring the oral method. He names Chaim Soloveitchik among them, which conflicts with the council's account. Defenders of the safer methods add that preserving life and health outranks ritual.

  Researchers in Israel reported eight cases of baby boys infected with herpes simplex virus type 1 after direct oral contact with a circumciser. One suffered brain damage. When three New York City infants contracted herpes after metzitzah b'peh by one mohel and one died, authorities obtained a restraining order requiring a sterile glass tube, or pipette. The mohel's attorney argued that the evidence tying his client to the disease was not conclusive. In September 2005, the city withdrew the order and turned the matter over to a rabbinical court. Health Commissioner Thomas Frieden wrote that "There exists no reasonable doubt that 'metzitzah b'peh' can and has caused neonatal herpes infection." In May 2006, New York State's health department issued a protocol for performing it. In 2012, a two-week-old baby in New York City died of herpes because of metzitzah b'peh.

  Three medical papers from Israel, Canada and the United States suggested oral suction as a cause in 11 cases of neonatal herpes. Before 1997, such reports in Israel were rare. Rabbi Doctor Mordechai Halperin links the rise to better hygiene among the younger generation, which cut the rate of young Haredi mothers carrying the virus to 60%. Mothers without antibodies cannot pass protection to their sons through the placenta.

  In September 2012, the New York Department of Health unanimously ruled that parents must give informed consent before metzitzah b'peh. Several hundred rabbis, including Rabbi David Niederman of the United Jewish Organization of Williamsburg, signed a declaration that they would not warn parents of the dangers even if consent became law. The regulation was challenged in court. In January 2013, a U.S. District court ruled that the law did not specifically target religion and so did not trigger strict scrutiny. On the 15th of August 2014, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals reversed that decision. It held that the regulation must be reviewed under strict scrutiny to decide whether it infringes on the religious freedom of Orthodox Jews. On the 9th of September 2015, after reaching an agreement with the community, the New York City Board of Health voted to repeal the consent rule.

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• 7. Meanings Offered

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  Scholars list several speculated reasons for biblical circumcision: patrilineal descent, sexual fertility, male initiation, cleansing of birth impurity, and dedication to God. Jewish thinkers have offered their own answers.

  Rabbi Saadia Gaon called something complete if it lacks nothing and also contains nothing unneeded. He regarded the foreskin as an unneeded organ that God created in man, so removing it completes the man. The author of Sefer ha-Chinuch gives three reasons. The first is that the rite completes the form of man by removing what he calls a redundant organ. The second is that it marks the chosen people so their bodies differ as their souls do, using the organ responsible for sustaining the species. The third is that the completion is not congenital but left to the man, which implies that he can complete the form of his soul as well.

  Talmud professor Daniel Boyarin proposed two explanations. In one, circumcision is a literal inscription on the Jewish body of God's name, in the form of the letter yud, from yesod. In the other, the bleeding represents a feminization of Jewish men. That matters because the covenant is a marriage between Jews and a symbolically male God.

  The Jewish philosopher Philo, writing in the first century, defended circumcision on several grounds in Of the Special Laws, Book 1. He attributes four reasons to "men of divine spirit and wisdom." These say it protects against disease and secures cleanliness "in a way that is suited to the people consecrated to God." They add that it promotes prolificness by removing impediments to the flow of semen. Philo himself also argued that it should be done as early as possible and that it would increase the nation's population. The remaining reason links the circumcised organ to the heart, which resembles it in shape. In Philo's words, that joins the "breath contained within the heart that is generative of thoughts" to the generative organ itself.

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• 8. Pressure and Dissent

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  In the Greco-Roman world, men spent an hour or so a day exercising nude in the gymnasium and the Roman baths. The foreskin was a symbol of beauty, civility and masculinity there. Exposing the glans in public was seen as indecent and vulgar. Classical, Hellenistic and Roman culture widely found circumcision barbaric. By the time of the Maccabees, many Jewish men tried to hide their circumcisions through epispasm, now known as foreskin restoration. Both 1 Maccabees and the Talmud denounce it as abandoning the covenant of Abraham.

  The Seleucid Empire went further than disapproval and banned circumcision, which set off the Maccabean Revolt. One quoted assessment says: "In Jewish history, the banning of circumcision (brit milah) has historically been a first step toward more extreme and violent forms of persecution." The Maccabean victory, which ended the prohibition, is celebrated in Hanukkah. Such bans were generally tied to suppression of Jewish religious, ethnic and cultural identity.

  The Gospel of Luke records that Mary and Joseph had Jesus circumcised on the eighth day, and he was named then. Early on, Pharisaic Judaism was divided, with Hillel the Elder and Shammai disagreeing about circumcising proselytes. After Christianity and Second Temple Judaism split, Christian writers such as Paul the Apostle declared milah spiritually unnecessary. So did the Council of Jerusalem. For Jews its importance only grew. The Gospel of Thomas, in saying 53, has Jesus answer his disciples' question about whether circumcision is useful: "If it were useful, their father would produce children already circumcised from their mother." He adds that the true circumcision in spirit has become profitable.

  In Frankfurt and Berlin, Reform societies called circumcision barbaric and wanted it abolished. Abraham Geiger agreed it was barbaric and outdated, but he and other prominent rabbis held back from changing the practice. In 1843, a Frankfurt father refused to circumcise his son. Rabbis of all shades in Germany declared that Jewish law required it, and even Samuel Holdheim agreed. By 1871, German Reform leadership reasserted "the supreme importance of circumcision in Judaism," while affirming that uncircumcised Jews are still Jews. Every Reform rabbis' manual since has stressed the necessity of the brit for infant boys. The movement does not require circumcision of adult male converts, though many communities increasingly practice it. Reform Judaism has trained and certified over 300 of its own practicing mohalim.

  Samaritans keep their own brit milah on the eighth day after birth, at the father's home. Special prayers and Torah readings accompany it, and an old hymn invoking blessings for parents and children is sung. The British explorer Claude Reignier Conder reported that the hymn thanks a Roman soldier named Germon. An unknown Roman Emperor had sent him as a sentinel over the home of the Samaritan High Priest. He was kind enough to let circumcision go ahead. The Samaritans tried to pay him, but he refused and asked only to be remembered in their future prayers.

  Circumcision rates are near-universal among Jews, with exceptions among some heavily assimilated groups. An increasing number of Liberal or Secular Jews do not practice brit milah, and an alternative ceremony called brit shalom exists. The descendants of Chinese Jews in Kaifeng have assimilated into mainstream Chinese culture. The majority of them have not practiced circumcision since the 1800s.

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