Routine infant circumcision, the surgical removal of a male
baby’s foreskin, has become a controversial topic in American
society. According to syndicated broadcaster Dr. Dean Edell, this
once almost universal practice has experienced falling rates of
participation, especially in the Western United States.
Routine infant circumcision, the surgical removal of a male baby’s foreskin, has become a controversial topic in American society. According to syndicated broadcaster Dr. Dean Edell, this once almost universal practice has experienced falling rates of participation, especially in the Western United States.
But the world’s Jews continue to abide by a covenant with God, which was established thousands of years ago by the patriarch Abraham as recounted in the book of Genesis.
Ritual circumcision, traditionally performed on the eighth day after birth, symbolizes the central relationship between God and the Jewish people.
In June, Yitzak Miller, Rabbi of South County’s Congregation Emeth, and his wife, Shoshana, held a “Brit Millah” service (often called simply a “Bris” from the Yiddish word) for their new son, Jacob Mordechai.
The basic ceremony of Brit Millah consists of two elements: the circumcision itself and the giving of a Hebrew name.
Through these two acts, Jacob was offered the opportunity by God and his parents to be part of the People of Israel. Jacob will accept this offer when he goes through the Bar Mitzvah ceremony 13 years later and accepts the Jewish covenant with God for himself as an adult.
A bris may be held in a synagogue, but it is equally traditional to be held at home as this one was. The Millers used the “chuppa” (wedding canopy) from their wedding as the setting in their yard so guests could gather comfortably around, “not as spectators, but as participants.” Performing the ceremony under the canopy symbolized the addition of a new member to the Miller household.
The circumcision itself was very brief, performed by the mohel (religious surgeon), Chanan Feld, a rabbi from Berkeley.
Dressed in traditional black suit, wide-brimmed hat and sporting billowing whiskers, Feld has performed nearly 5,000 of these surgeries. Much to the relief of gathered family and friends, Jacob didn’t cry at the strategic moment.
The second part of the ceremony was the naming, when Jacob received his official Hebrew name. Each parent placed one of Jacob’s hands on the Torah (scroll containing the Hebrew Scriptures) and dipped a finger in “milk and honey” (the traditional description of the Promised Land of Israel). Then they placed their fingers in their son’s mouth so that he could taste “the sweetness of Judaism and Torah.”
During the naming, Jacob was wrapped in a “tallit” (prayer shawl), a symbol of his responsibility to the communities that welcomed him. The inscription on the garment read, “How beautiful is my heritage;” it will be presented to him at his Bar Mitzvah, his next great rite of passage to adulthood.
