Still more hints:
All in all, the event looked a lot like any other bris, or ritual circumcision. The only difference was that Leo never had to shed his diaper.
“I wanted to feel that connection with tradition,” said Leo’s mother, Erica Wandner. And it was important to her that the baby be given a Hebrew name in memory of Wandner’s mother. But neither Wandner nor her husband, Robin Grossinger, wanted to inflict pain and trauma on their new baby for a surgical procedure doctors say is not medically necessary.
The couple, of Berkeley, Calif., are among a small but growing number of American Jews who are questioning what is arguably the most sacred rite in Judaism. Despite an often strong affiliation with the Jewish community, they believe circumcision is inconsistent with the Jewish ethical imperative not to harm another human being.
Universal isn’t holding up so well.
Interestingly, this article contains the same idea as the article I linked earlier.
Brielle Epstein, whose 1-year-old son, Arie, is “intact,” said she knows “at least a couple of dozen practicing Jewish families” who don’t circumcise.
“They’re a little in hiding,” she said. “But when people find out we didn’t, they come out and say, ‘Oh, we didn’t either.’ People are starting to realize it’s not really that important. There are lots of biblical traditions we no longer follow, such as animal sacrifice and polygamy. Circumcision may be another one we don’t all follow.”
People may not conform, but they want to appear to conform. I’d like to people to be bold enough before receiving confirmation, but even this type of independent thinking contributes to the long-term benefit of society.
I also want to give credit to the journalist and editor who kept this next quote in the story:
Epstein, who lives in Austin, Texas, with her husband and two children, said she used to educate people about female genital mutilation, and “the more we thought about it, the more we made the comparison.”
I had to do a double-take to realize that no qualification followed. Bravo.
The rest of the article is excellent. There are a few quotes that I disagree with on principle because they ignore the notion that performing unnecessary genital surgery on a child is wrong. I’m not indifferent to religious reasoning, but it must come from the male being circumcised. Any religious justification must move beyond tradition and include a modern ethical framework that includes the child.
I want everyone to “get it” right now, but articles like this give me hope that the future will be better.