The Covenant of Circumcision

The Covenant of Circumcision

And G-d said unto Avroham: "And as for you, you shall keep My

covenant, you, and your seed after you throughout their 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...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."

--Genesis 17:9-14

Within the Jewish community, the topic of bris milah, ritual

circumcision, has never been more controversial. Many liberal Jews are now

rethinking its function in Jewish life, some even choosing not to perform it on

their sons. They argue that circumcision is no longer of value now that the

spread of infection can be halted by good hygiene and modern medicine.

Some fear that the removal of the healthy part of an organ is a purely

arbitrary act which may cause permanent psychological and physical

damage. It is true that circumcision alone is neither medically necessary nor

emotionally beneficial. Still, the bris milah is an essential ceremony

intended to formally usher the Jewish male into a covenant with G-d.

Although the removal of the foreskin has been practiced by Jews since

Avroham, the actual ceremony as it is today developed some time around the

middle-ages. Thus, communities in North Africa, Europe, and the Middle-East

all evolved unique customs for welcoming new baby boys. There are still

certain elements that are typical of all ceremonies. The following description

of a German bris is typical of the milah ritual and lacks many of the details

that would distinguish it from ceremonies originating in other regions.

The mohel, ritual circumcisor, calls in the kvater (from German "for

father", or G-dfather), the man who "delivers" the baby into the sanctuary.

The mother, who will not witness the ceremony, hands her eight-day-old son

into the care of his grandmothers who pass him over to the kvater. The

kvater carries the baby into the next room and lays him into a beautiful chair

which the mohel will declare as the Throne of Elijah before reciting a few

biblical verses. The kvÐ'terin, G-dmother, lifts the baby from the Throne of

Elijah and places him into the lap of the Sandak, the man (usually the father,

grandfather, close friend, or well respected Torah scholar) in whose lap the

ceremony will take place. The mohel asks the father's permission to act as

proxy for the mitzvah, commandment, of circumcision. The father

relinquishes his right to perform the circumcision and appoints the mohel,

who is more familiar with the religious law as well as the medical and

hygienic requirements of circumcision, to do the mitzvah instead. The mohel

recites the benediction, "Blessed are You ha'Shem our G-d, Master of the

universe who sanctifies us with the mitzvot and commands us to perform

circumcision," before removing the baby's foreskin. When the actual cutting

has been complete, the father also makes a benediction: "Blessed are You

ha'Shem our G-d, Master of the universe who has sanctified us with His

commandments and has commanded us to bring him [the baby] into the

covenant of Avroham, our Father." Everyone in the audience then declares,

"Just as he has been brought into the covenant, so too he should enter Torah

study, the wedding canopy, and the doing of good deeds" (Klein 426). It is

during this ceremony that the boy's name is publicly announced for the first

time (Robinson132).

Bris Milah literally means "covenant circumcision." Ashkenazic,

Northern- and Eastern-European Jewish, communities refer to the entire

ceremony as a "Bris" which means simply "the covenant". Rabbi Moshe

Schapiro emphasizes that "the circumcision must be coupled with the

intention to forge a blood pact between G-d and the Jewish people." That

bris milah is frequently translated only as "circumcision" is unfortunate

because it leads people to believe that the removal of the foreskin is the

most important element of the mitzvah. This is in conflict with Jewish