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Brit Milah, or circumcision, is performed on a Jewish male eight days after he is born. The procedure is performed by a mohel -- a person who has mastered the set of Jewish laws regarding circumcision and received extensive practical training. At a Brit Milah, the mohel removes the baby's foreskin and draws blood from the reproductive organ, after which the baby is given a Jewish name. WHY A BRIT MILAH?Brit Milah literally means "covenant of circumcision." Abraham, Judaism's founding father, was the first person in history to have a Brit Milah. In fact, he circumcised himself. Abraham vowed that he would teach his descendents to serve God with perfect devotion. In return, God promised to guarantee the survival of Abraham's progeny -- the family of Hebrews that became the nation of Israel that have since been known as the Jews.
As long as there would be human beings in the world, God assured Abraham, there would always be Jews. This covenant or pact between God and Abraham was sealed through the act of circumcision. Today, by performing the act circumcision, Jews perpetuate the covenant and make their children a part of that eternal promise. A DEEPER MEANINGThe fact that the Brit Milah is performed on the eighth day after a boy is born hints to this idea of eternal Jewish continuity. In the Torah, all references to the numbers have great significance.For example, the number six represent the physical world which has four directions (north, south, east and west) plus up and down. The six days of creation, the six days of the work-week, also allude to the physical world.
Seven adds a spiritual element to the physical. The seventh day, Shabbat, adds spirituality to our lives though it is still within the realm of the physical world.Eight, on the other hand, transcends the physical altogether. For example, the eight-day miracle of Chanukah is beyond nature, surpassing the physical constraints of natural laws and standards. Eight represents a higher dimension of reality. God's guarantee that Abraham's children would survive forever as a nation defies the laws of nature. History has proven time and again that even the most powerful nations on earth are bound eventually to vanish into extinction -- e.g., the Egyptians, Greeks and Romans. And yet the Jews, a numerically insignificant people, are still here, alive and well. The Brit Milah, performed on the eighth day, reminds us that Jewish survival is not a natural phenomenon, but a supernatural one. Jewish survival defies the laws of nature. This explains why the mark of circumcision is made on the reproductive organ -- it symbolizes the idea that the Jewish People's seed will never be destroyed. In addition, Brit Milah is done specifically on the site that is identified with our greatest physical desires, thus empowering us to rise above the demands of our bodies. THE OBJECTIVE OF THE RITUAL CIRCUMCISIONTranslating Brit Milah as simply "circumcision" rather than "covenant circumcision," erroneously implies that the removal of the foreskin is the most important element of the mitzvah.
In truth, however, the circumcision must be coupled with the intention to forge a blood pact between God and the Jewish people. For this reason a person who underwent a medical circumcision, without intent to fulfill this commandment, should undergo a subsequent procedure performed with specific intent to fulfill this mitzvah. This subsequent procedure is relatively painless, involving only the drawing of blood from the reproductive organ, but done in the name of Brit Milah. PERSONAL COMMITMENTThe secret to Jewish continuity lies in the Brit Milah, which strengthens one's personal commitment to God. Once this is achieved, the communal commitment will emerge on its own. In his covenant of circumcision, Abraham vowed to teach his descendants to serve God with perfect devotion. This is the essence of Brit Milah -- it represents the individual's personal commitment to God.One's communal identification with Judaism is indeed a positive thing.But the mitzvah of Brit Milah teaches us that unless there is also a personal commitment, it will not endure. May we all merit to bring our children into the Covenant of Abraham and see their Jewish identity flourish and grow. Published: Tuesday, January 18, 2000
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Hear related audio on this topic
Researching
I did some research on this topic a few years back. Why God chose this very personal covenant greatly intrigues me. It also intrigues me that some say circumcision removes 25-50% sensitivity in the head of the penis
(2) Matthew keal 8/8/2006
Not fair
I don't think it is fair to make a decision of such magnitude for someone that cannot make the decision for themselve, the act of circumcision is as safe to perform on a 13 year old as it is on an 8 day old child, if anything it is safer to perform on the 13 year old which I believe to be the considered adult age for a Jewish child! My opinions are the same for chrisening, I believe we are in the day and age that personal religious thought should not be forced upon a child that cannot make the decision for themselves, if the child were not to have the curcumcision at the age of 8 days and made the decision to have it done at 13, surely people of the same religion would think more of their commitment to the religion. I believe that there are to many religions in the world that do as they have been taught as do think the way it has been written by someone that we cannot even prove existed, I believe that times have changed and we should also evolve with time, I believe that we should stop performing rituals based on our believes, let people gain and learn about there own believes and make there own decisions based on what they have chosen to learn and believe. I am sorry if these comments offend anyone but I believe curcumcision and chrisening besides other rituals that are performed are cruel and a form of bullying.
(3) Anonymous 4/16/2002
Latest on Circumcision from NEJM - April 11 2002
New England Journal of Medicine
Volume 346:1105-1112 April 11, 2002 Number 15
Male Circumcision, Penile Human Papillomavirus Infection, and Cervical Cancer in Female Partners
Xavier Castellsagué, M.D., F. Xavier Bosch, M.D., Nubia Muñoz, M.D., Chris J.L.M. Meijer, Ph.D., Keerti V. Shah, Dr.P.H., Silvia de Sanjosé, M.D., José Eluf-Neto, M.D., Corazon A. Ngelangel, M.D., Saibua Chichareon, M.D., Jennifer S. Smith, Ph.D., Rolando Herrero, M.D., Victor Moreno, M.D., Silvia Franceschi, M.D., for the International Agency for Research on Cancer Multicenter Cervical Cancer Study Group
Editor's Summary
CME Exam
Medline Citation
Infectious Diseases
Oncology
Women’s Health
ABSTRACT
Background It is uncertain whether male circumcision reduces the risks of penile human papillomavirus (HPV) infection in the man and of cervical cancer in his female partner.
Methods We pooled data on 1913 couples enrolled in one of seven case–control studies of cervical carcinoma in situ and cervical cancer in five countries. Circumcision status was self-reported, and the accuracy of the data was confirmed by physical examination at three study sites. The presence or absence of penile HPV DNA was assessed by a polymerase-chain-reaction assay in 1520 men and yielded a valid result in the case of 1139 men (74.9 percent).
Results Penile HPV was detected in 166 of the 847 uncircumcised men (19.6 percent) and in 16 of the 292 circumcised men (5.5 percent). After adjustment for age at first intercourse, lifetime number of sexual partners, and other potential confounders, circumcised men were less likely than uncircumcised men to have HPV infection (odds ratio, 0.37; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.16 to 0.85). Monogamous women whose male partners had six or more sexual partners and were circumcised had a lower risk of cervical cancer than women whose partners were uncircumcised (adjusted odds ratio, 0.42; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.23 to 0.79). Results were similar in the subgroup of men in whom circumcision was confirmed by medical examination.
Conclusions Male circumcision is associated with a reduced risk of penile HPV infection and, in the case of men with a history of multiple sexual partners, a reduced risk of cervical cancer in their current female partners.
Source Information
From the Servei d'Epidemiologia i Registre del Càncer, Institut Català d'Oncologia, Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain (X.C., F.X.B., S.S.); the International Agency for Research on Cancer, Lyons, France (N.M., J.S.S., R.H., S.F.); Free University Hospital, Amsterdam (C.J.L.M.M.); Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore (K.V.S.); Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil (J.E.-N.); Philippine General Hospital, University of the Philippines, Manila, the Philippines (C.A.N.); the Faculty of Medicine, Prince of Songkla University, Hat-Yai, Thailand (S.C.); and Proyecto Epidemiológico Guanacaste, San José, Costa Rica (R.H.).
Victor Moreno, M.D., Servei d'Epidemiologia i Registre del Càncer, Institut Català d'Oncologia, Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain, was also an author.
Address reprint requests to Dr. Castellsagué at the Servei d'Epidemiologia i Registre del Càncer, Institut Català d'Oncologia, Gran Via s/n, Km 2.7, 08907 Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain, or at xcastellsague@ico.scs.es.
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The New England Journal of Medicine is owned, published, and copyrighted © 2002 Massachusetts Medical Society. All rights reserved.