Changes

In Jewish tradition, boys are circumcised on their 8th day of life. The tradition is based on the [[Abrahamic covenant]] found in Genesis 17.<ref name="bigelow1995">{{REFbook |last=Bigelow |first= |init=J |author-link=Jim Bigelow |year=1995 |title=The Joy of Uncircumcising |url= |work=The Development of Circumcision in Judaism |editor= |edition=Second Edition |volume= |chapter=Chapter Six |scope= |page= |pages=54-60 |location=Aptos, CA |publisher=Hourglass |ISBN=0-934061-22-X |quote= |accessdate=2023-08-29 |note=}}</ref> The circumcision is conducted by a traditional circumciser called a ''[[mohel]]'' in a ritual known as a ''bris.'' There are three stages in how a traditional Jewish circumcision is now performed; these are ''milah'', ''peri'ah'', and ''metsitsah b'peh''. The Jewish Reform Movement attempted to abolish ritual circumcision in the late 19th Century.<ref>{{REFbook |last=Romberg |first=Rosemary |init= |author-link=Rosemary_Romberg |year=2021 |title=Circumcision: The Painful Dilemma |url= |work= |editor=Ulf Dunkel |edition=Second, Revised |volume= |chapter=Circumcision and Judaism |scope= |page=107 |pages= |location= |publisher=Kindle |ISBN=23:979-8683021252 |quote= |accessdate=2023-08-30 |note=}}</ref>

The first stage of a ritual circumcision, the initial cut, is called ''milah'' in Hebrew. The Hebrew word for "covenant," is ''brit'' in the Sephardic pronunciation now used in [[Israel]], or ''bris'' in the Ashkenazic pronunciation used over the centuries by European Jews outside of Spain and Portugal, hence the terms ''brit milah,'' or ''bris milah.'' Most Jewish Americans are familiar with the term "bris," as in "They're having the bris tomorrow." The term bris is well known, but few Jews realize that it means "covenant" rather than [[circumcision]].

Originally, Jewish circumcision, or "milah" only involved the removal of just the [[acroposthion| tip ]] of the [[foreskin]]. This was realized by pulling the loose edge of the [[foreskin ]] up through a protective device called a ''barzel'' and slicing it off.

The result was a [[penis ]] that still retained much of the [[foreskin]], with just the tip of the [[glans ]] protruding.

At birth, the [[foreskin ]] is adhered to the [[glans ]] by a [[synechia]] like a nail to a finger. ''[[Periah| Peri'ah]]'' (a Hebrew word that means "opening") is a second stage that was later added to the original milah procedure, which involves ripping the adhering mucous membrane from the glans, and removing [[foreskin ]] as far as the base of the [[glans]] (AKA the corona) so that it is completely and permanently exposed. <ref>{{REFbook |last=Cohen, |first=Shaye J. D. " |init=SJD |chapter=A Brief History of Jewish Circumcision Blood." ''In |title=The Covenant of Circumcision'', ed. |editor=Elizabeth Wyner Mark. |location=Hanover, N.H.: {{USSC|NH}} |publisher={{UNI|Brandeis University |Brandeis}} Press/University Press of New England, |year=2003. pp. |page=32.}}</ref>

This stage of Jewish circumcision was implemented in the 2nd century by hardline rabbis who wanted to make it difficult for Jewish men to [[Foreskin restorationepispasm|restore]].<ref>{{REFbook

|first=LeonardB. |init=LB

|pagespage=44 |location=New York, New York{{USSC|NY}} |publisher={{UNI|Oxford University |Oxon}} Press

|quote=For obvious reasons this was anathema to the rabbis: tantamount to rejection of [[Judaism ]] and defiance of rabbinic authority.

It was customary for Greek athletes at the time to compete naked, and Jewish men were [[Foreskin restoration|stretching]] out their foreskins to match their Greek counterparts, from at least as early as the 2nd century {{#tip-text:BCE|Before Common Era, an alternative to BC}}.<ref>{{REFbook

|first=LeonardB. |init=LB

|pagespage=44 |location=New York, New York{{USSC|NY}} |publisher={{UNI|Oxford University |Oxon}} Press

|quote=Foreskin stretching (called "uncircumcision," or [[epispasm]]) appears to have been a common practice among Hellenized Jewish men...

''[[Metzitzah b'peh]]'' (a word that means "sucking" in Hebrew) is a third stage of a traditional Jewish circumcision, although nowadays it is perfomed by only a few rigorously Orthodox mohels. In this stage, the ''[[mohel ]]'' sucks on the [[bleeding ]] [[penis ]] of the infant with his mouth; this is claimed to reduce [[bleeding]], though the origin and initial significance of this practice is unclear.

In the recent past(1913), it was realized that some mohels ''mohelim'' were transmitting tuberculosis and syphilis by oral contact with freshly wounded penises, <ref>{{REFjournal |last=Holt |first=L. Emmett |init=LE |author-link=L. Emmett Holt |etal=no |title=Tuberculosis acquired through ritual circumcision |journal=JAMA |location= |date=1913-07-12 |volume=LXI |issue= |pages=99-102 |url=http://www.cirp.org/library/complications/holt1/ |quote= |pubmedID= |pubmedCID= |DOI= |accessdate=2019-11-13}}</ref> so a modified version of metzitzah b'peh has been introduced, where mohels ''mohelim'' suck blood through a glass tube, in order to avoid direct contact with the [[penis]].

In 2005, [http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/26/nyregion/26circumcise.html?_r=2 a mohel in New York] was found to have infected three newborns with [[herpes ]] via [[metzitzah b'peh]], one of whom subsequently died. The Health Commissioner of the day, Thomas R. Frieden, basically pardoned Yitzchok Fischer, the ''[[mohel ]]'' in question, and no further action was to be done regarding getting Orthodox leaders to abandon metzitzah b'peh. Frieden's open letter to the Jewish community can be read [http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/downloads/pdf/std/std-bris-commishletter.pdf here].

According to the Fischer's lawyer, there was no "conclusive proof" that he had spread [[herpes]], and that he should be allowed to continue the practice. According to the ''[[mohel]]'', the twin who died and the Staten Island boy both had [[herpes]]-like rashes before they were [[circumcised ]] and were seen by a pediatrician who approved their circumcision (Fischer knew there was a problem and yet he continued?).

Secondly, the manner in which the circumcision is performed is different. A mohel will pull as much [[skin ]] forward as possible through a protective device that is supposed to keep the glans from being severed, and slice it off in a single cut.

A hospital circumcision is more intensive, employing the use of different clamps and devices, such as the [[Gomco ]] clamp or [[Plastibell]]. In the most common procedure, the foreskin is first forcibly separated from the glans with a blunt object; it is then cut lengthwise and pulled through the clamp that will crush the foreskin before it is sliced off. When doctors use a [[Plastibell ]] device, the foreskin is cut lengthwise in over to fit it over the device; the doctor then uses a string to tie off the foreskin, crushing it against the device. As in peri'ah, all flesh from the base of the glans up to the tip is removed.

It is notable that sometimes mohels may also double as physicians, and perform circumcisions on non-Jewish babies at hospitals using the tools that they use on Jewish boys. The [[Mogen ]] clamp is a medical device created for use in hospitals, but it was modeled after a traditional barzel device used by mohels.

<li style="display: inline-block;"> [[File:Peri'ah NL.gif|frame|The foreskin is forcibly separated from the glans (a mohel traditionally does this with his fingernails). At hospitals, a clamp device is shoved between the glans and the foreskin; all of the foreskin up to the arrows is removed.]]</li><li style="display: inline-block;"> [[File:Single mogen.jpg|frame|Pictured: Mogen device.]]</li><li style="display: inline-block;"> [[File:Barzel_traditional.jpg|frame|Pictured: Traditional barzel device.]]</li>

[[Category:Male Circumcisioncircumcision]][[Category:Judaism]][[Category:Jewish]]