18 No. 57 JUSTICE generations. This is My covenant, which [you] shall keep between Me and you and [your] seed after [you]: every male among you shall be circumcised. And [you] shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of a covenant [between] Me and you. And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every male throughout your generations, he that is born in the house or bought with money of any foreigner, that is not of [your] seed. He that is born in [your] house, and he that is bought with [your] money, must needs be circumcised; and My covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. And the uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he [has] broken My covenant.8 The duplication within these verses and elsewhere in the Old Testament9 together with the severe implications of not being circumcised perhaps explain the cardinal importance that has been attached to this commandment by Jews10 ever since biblical times,11 in Israel and in the Diaspora. Indeed, it is one of the few commandments that is widely observed by Jews who regard themselves as entirely secular.12 Another indication of the fundamental nature and importance of this commandment is that it overrides the laws of the Sabbath and thus where the eighth day after birth13 falls on the Sabbath, the circumcision is performed even though cutting the skin is normally prohibited on the Sabbath.14 As seen above, the Bible does not give any reason for the commandment other than that it is a sign of the covenant between the Creator of the world and the Jewish people. Rabbinical sources, developing this idea further, state that the purpose of the circumcision is to distinguish between Jews and other nations15 and that the reproductive organ was chosen as the location of the sign of the covenant, since this is the source of the existence of the human race.16 Another explanation offered is that the Creator made man with a redundant foreskin so that he could complete the creation of his own body and this would teach him that he must also strive to perfect his soul, the prime purpose of life, according to Jewish philosophy.17 Medical Aspects of Male Circumcision In the nineteenth century, some doctors started circumcising newborn boys for preventative-hygienic reasons18 and the practice spread in some Western, largely Anglo-American countries.19 However, the prevalence of non-ritual circumcision decreased in the second half of the 20th century.20 Over the last few decades, there has emerged a divergence of medical opinion as to the 8. 17 Genesis 9-14 (trans. Soncino ed., Soncino Press, London 1964). 9. 12 Leviticus 3 (repeating the commandment of circumcision of male newborns on the eighth day). 10. Whilst lack of circumcision does not prejudice the Jewish status of a male born to a Jewish mother, it remains an essential element of conversion to the Jewish faith. 11. 4 Exodus 24 (Moses himself was nearly punished with death for not circumcising his second son, Eliezer, even though he was at the time travelling to Egypt to free the Children of Israel from slavery, in accordance with the Divine command. He was saved when his wife performed the circumcision). See also Yoreh Deah, Laws of Circumcision 260:1 (the leading Rabbinical codex of Jewish law, the Shulhan Aruch, written by Rabbi Yosef Karo in the 16th century, stating that the commandment to circumcise one’s son is greater than the other positive commandments) (Hebrew). 12. HCJ 8533/13 Plonit v. High Rabbinical Court and others (Justice Naor ¶17) [June 29, 2014] (Isr.). Justice Rubinstein, id. ¶4 refers to the tradition that the Jewish people will be redeemed in the merit of their having kept the commandment of brit milah. 13. Assuming that the child is healthy. Where the child is underweight, has jaundice or any other illness, the circumcision is delayed until he is fit. Aryeh Carmell, MASTERPLAN: JUDAISM, ITS PROGRAM, MEANINGS, GOALS at 232 (1991). 14. Id. By way of contrast, other positive commandments, such as blowing the ram’s horn on the New Year, do not override the Sabbath, and so, are not performed when the festival falls on the Sabbath. Eliyahu Kitov, THE BOOK OF OUR HERITAGE 41, 163 (1978). 15. Sefer Hachinuch (Book of Education) (Hebrew), commandment 2. 16. Id. See also Carmell, supra note 13, 229 (suggesting that the choice of the reproductive organ is to teach that the sexual urge should be used for Torah purposes – for founding and cementing a Jewish marriage and a Jewish family – and not purely for self-gratification). 17. Id. 18. Marie Fox & Michael Thompson, Short Changed? The Law and Ethics of Male Circumcision, 13 INT’L J. CHILD. RTS. 161, 162, 170-3 (2005) (providing a historical medical narrative). 19. Id. at 162 (in continental Europe and Scandinavia, the rate of non-therapeutic male circumcision is very low). 20. W.D. Dunsmuir & E.M. Gordon, The History of Circumcision, 83 BJU INT’L 1 (1999).
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