Strollerderby : mohel

Christian Parents Opt for Religious Circumcision . . . Even if It's Jewish

JeanneSager — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 17:27:00 GMT

Correct me if I'm wrong here, but I always thought participating in a religious ceremony was supposed to have something to do with your religion. I know, call me crazy.

Christian parents who have started calling on Jewish mohels to perform their sons' circumcisions apparently don't care that they're not, well, Jewish. They don't even care that it costs a little extra.

Traditionally, Christian parents who have opted to circumcise their little boys have it done in a hospital setting - where it's often covered by a parent's health insurance. Many Jewish parents, however, follow the traditional method of a bris - a ceremonial circumcision performed after the baby has been released from the hospital, in the presence of friends and family. A mohel - a specially trained Jewish circumciser - traditionally does the honors, not only cutting the foreskin but leading the onlookers in a small religious ceremony. The whole thing can cost upwards of $300 to $800 - and that's not including the party the parents' usually throw for their guests.

So why would Christian parents call on a mohel? Philip Sherman, a mohel in the New York City area, told the Houston Chronicle parents would rather have the process done in the comfort of their own homes; they like to make it spiritual. Plus, he claims, the process is much quicker for the baby - he says it's a few seconds for a mohel, half an hour in a hospital (The American Academy of Pediatrics actually calls for anesthetic cream to be applied sixty to ninety minutes before the procedure in a hospital or the use of some other, faster-acting anesthetic. The AAP also suggests a clamp be left on the area for several minutes to stop bleeding).

The mother of a daughter, I never had to make the "to circumcise" or "not to circumcise" decision. I don't have a feeling either way. But where I can accept a Jewish parent's decision to call in a mohel to practice their faith, I find the concept of a Christian parent doing the same slightly bizarre. Even odder? That mohels are adjusting their usual ceremony to make them less Jewish. In the case cited in the Chronicle, he actually handed out a prayer booklet that was appropriate for the largely Presbyterian crowd. Instead of religious, they call it "holistic" circumcision.

Isn't this a bit like calling on a rabbi to perform your Catholic wedding? Maybe I'm just not well-versed enough in the Bible. Is there really any religious meaning to a bris outside of the Jewish faith?

Image: Houston Chronicle

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Interview With A Mohel

Amy Kuras — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 16:02:00 GMT

I'm not Jewish and don’t live in a heavily Jewish area (although the front door to my house has a mezzuzah on it, since I believe my neighborhood was a more Jewish area back in the day). I have never attended a bris, although I did go to the baby naming for a friend's daughter, and we didn’t circumcise our little dude.

So I found this interview with a mohel (the Jewish official who performs the bris, or ritual circumcision, of Jewish babies) really interesting.

I didn’t know that the ceremony takes 21 minutes, which includes the circumcision procedure, special prayers and a blessing over the baby, and the announcement of the baby's name.

Part of the ceremony involves giving the baby sweet wine to suck on, which has both religious significance and a practical use. Babies like the sweetness and it acts as an analgesic. Mohel Sam Pessaroff actually carries backup wine in his car, because sometimes parents purchase a nice dry something they like instead of the sweet stuff that does the trick.

He also carries special instruments used in ritual circumcisions, cloth diapers, bacitracin ointment, Vaseline, and skullcaps.

And the vanity plate on that car reads "MOHEL." Which is just funny, any way you slice it (sorry, really, I couldn't resist).

Cuts Through Corrugated Cardboard and Foreskin

makeitadouble — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 22:00:00 GMT

Whether you call it felony child abuse, a gross misinterpretation of the Hebrew Covenant of Circumcision or a father’s foreword thinking to reduce his son’s risk of contracting the HIV virus by 50% while increasing his need for a tetanus shot by 100%, a North Carolina Man has been accused of circumcising his sons with a utility knife.

Caldwell County Police are investigating John Eric Marlowe on possible charges of felony child abuse for removing the foreskin of two of his son’s with a Stanley Retractable sometime between 2005 and 2006. Marlowe, who is currently serving a 105 day prison sentence for assault on a female and child neglect, has a history of child neglect most recently by going to Myrtle Beach with one of his two wives and leaving his 11 children home without adult supervision.

Besides the chutzpah this sterilization candidate demonstrated in mutilating his sons with a box cutter, I was struck by the uncomfortable parallels between his actions and the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. Bear with me here. From the article, “Investigators learned from Marlowe’s two wives that Marlowe circumcised two of his sons eight days after they were born with a utility knife”

From the Book of Genesis, “…Throughout all generations, every male shall be circumcised when he is eight days old.” Not to mention that it also states that the infant's father is commanded to perform the circumcision himself.

Coincidence? Probably, but I’ve seen lawyers invoke Freedom of Religion for less. Personally, I’d go after Home Depot as an accomplice for encouraging such behavior with their slogan, “You can do it. We can help."

The important thing is that medically the children are fine and that they won’t experience a reduction in sexual pleasure when they’re older.