Letters to the Editor

• what the rabbi said

  [Read the article: Circumcision cuts female pleasure?]
  [Read more letters about this article: Here]

  Look, I'm not Jewish, I have no sons, and I wasn't in on the decision with regards to my husband. So, take this for what it's worth:

  My friend is married to a Rabbi. They have a son. They had a bris. As I was pregnant at the same time, we discussed the procedure among Jews and Gentiles. Here's what the rabbi had to say (paraphrasing and much less eloquently than he):

  One of the cornerstones of the Jewish faith is the sense of a holy contract with God (natch). Jewish culture and practice is filled with lots of "inconvenient", or "silly," or "forgotten" sacrifices to God. One of them is circumcision.

  While circumcision may deny the body a part of itself, it is not an essential part, neither in a biological function (as men are able to beget multitudes without their foreskin), nor pleaseue (as men on this blog have testified). What it *does* do, is remind men, every time they are naked, that they have made something mundane sacred. Every time they pee, every time they have sex, etc, they are reminded of their connection to something greater, more important, and more profound, than themselves.

  Now, plenty of non-believers will hold this up as "See! Religion is evil!" But I see the sense of what he's saying. The sacrifice is small, yet significant. Men function fully, take pleasure fully, but are *aware* that they are marked by God. The penis is made holy. Sex is made holy. And I see something rather beautiful in that.

  You'll hopefully (well, not Brightsrar, but I am resigned to hia forthcoming screed) note that this a 180 to the philosphy behind "female ciurcumcision" as performed by the majority of practitioners. In *that* case, they are dwelling on the profanity of the body, particularly the female body, as something that needs to be destroyed. Pleaseure is "bad" and must be prevented. The body is sinful, the woman is too weak to control her own body, so she must be punished before she sins. (And I remind everyone that tther is nothing in the Koran on this issue: this is not a religious ritual, this is a secular practice).

  My rabbi friend said he thougt it was bizarre that people would do this if they weren't practicing Jews. He said, in the end, it's an unnecessary medical procedure. If you don't need it, why would you do it?

  I know mostly Americans do it because it was de rigeur for most of this century, part of the medical practice that convinced us formula feeding was more natural, more healthful and better than breast feeding babies; that mental disorders were he fault of oversexed women; autism was caused by "rfridgerator mothers" and a slew of other philosophies that are being revised with greater knowledge.

  I know many Christians who chose to circumcise because "it was good enough for Jesus." I even know some Christiand who wanted a bris (but I don't think they could find a mohel).

  I don't know of a single case where a father pleaded with his wife to spare their son and she said "Hell no, bribng on the knives!"

  Permalink Tuesday, July 17, 2007 05:45 PM