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 ...
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Schapiro, Rabbi Moshe. What is Circumcision? Aish HaTorah. 15 Oct. 2001.
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Simmons, Rabbi Shraga. Bris Milah: Beautiful or Barbaric? Aish HaTorah. 15 Oct.
2001. <http://aish.com/literacy/lifecycle/bris_milah_beautiful_or_barbaric$.asp>.
Weissman, Rabbi Moshe. The Little Midrash Says: The Book of Beraishis. Brooklyn,
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life. To live to see his children grow up, to see his unborn child be
In Kahn’s piece, she describes the process of organ transplants and how donor organs are “harvested” for transplant into those need organ transplant. Her beings with the purpose of the world of transplant surgery. Explaining the process her experiences as well as fragile organ recovery process. In stripped for parts Kahn goes through a journey of harvesting of human organs. She shows how the dead man somehow saves a person’s life, no matter how unlikely. Reading this short essay, the feeling is almost surreal, however to the surgeons bodies are containers for organs. They explained how organs can stay safe and can be perused with blood while still in the body. Kahn describes the process of organ transplant at the earliest part of the transplant process; the donor. “Stripped for parts” is a short passage write by Jennifer Kahn, he r purpose in writing this passage was to share information about the process and the harvesting of organs. In this passage Kahn used three rhetorical appeals to convince the audience throughout her paper to portray what she was experiencing. Kahn used logos, a logical thinking appeal. Kahn in paragraph fifteen, she quoted about anesthesiologist saying “You spend all this time monitoring the heartbeat and the blood pressure, just to turn everything off when you are done and walk out. It is bizarre”. She used this logical appeal to describe how doctors felt about spending so much time keeping the dead person alive. This was just to
Afterwards, the parents sign a surgical consent giving the provider the approval to perform the procedure. The purpose of the circumcision is to remove the foreskin from the head of the penis, and allow the head of the penis to be exposed. The provider will use various supplies during the procedure such as an topical or injection anesthetic, a scapula to cut the foreskin, and one of three different clamps to hold the foreskin. According to Bcheraoui et al. (2014), studies have revealed that male circumcisions have an overall side effects rate of 0.5% if performed during the child’s first year of life, but increase up to 20 times that if performed after
an organ was not taken out, but a living human being. This would make abortion
Freedom of choice is a desire for most, but as we are young we depend on the decision of our parents. With this dependent nature of a child the freedom of choice is limited, for males this can lead to a life long consequence. Male circumcision is the surgical removal of the foreskin; the skin covering the head of the penis. Circumcision is practiced for religious purposes in Jewish and Muslim communities. Normally, the boy’s age varies from 4 to 11 years old. In the United States, this procedure is also done but without a religious purpose. The boys in this case are commonly newborn. This practice became popular after medical groups claimed that there were many health benefits that came with circumcision. Though it has been proven otherwise, it is still a common practice in the U.S. fueled by ignorance. Circumcision is an unnecessary surgery that leads to psychological problems, issues with sexual activities and lasting physical damage.
Circumcision, a rather uncomfortable, and unspoken tradition in American society. Yet, every day thousands of parents are choosing to cut off a perfectly good part of their child's body for what reason exactly? No one really talks about it, so no one really knows, and from this silence has grown decades of myths based on ignorance and shame. Today, America has taken circumcision and turned it into such a popular tradition that nearly 85% of men are currently cut. There is no reason for this number to be so high though, as most of America is not Jewish, or Islamic, the two major religions that still practice circumcision, and most medical, and ethical communities frown on this practice. This tradition
life around it, there is nothing you can do or say that will get them to change;
When my grandfather left Israel he took with him a keychain. A Hamsa keychain. A Hamsa is what Jewish people, amongst others like to call the Hand of G-d. The Hand of G-d or, Hamsa usually comes with a prayer written, in usually, Hebrew or, it may also come with an eye. The Eye of G-d they call it. Mine has a prayer written in Hebrew on the back, and an eye on the front. The Hamsa was given to me after, my grandfather passed away.
Circumcision has been a religious practice in many different cultures, ranging from Africa to the Middle East, and to Asia. While prevalent in both Jewish and Muslim societies, the earliest known documentation of circumcision comes from Egyptian hieroglyphics discovered dating back to 2300 BC. While the reason behind circumcision is currently unknown, many theories exist as to attempt to explain it origins. One theory persists that that circumcision started as a way to release the body from sin, and purifying both the individual and the society, as sexuality was seen as dirty and impure, and the removing of the foreskin would reduce sexual pleasure. In Abrahamic faiths, Jewish and Muslim, circumcision is practiced as a way confirm one 's relationship to God, and is stated in the Torah, as the covenant between God and Abraham, “This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee: every male among you shall be circumcised. " While two of the earliest form of Christianity, Coptic Christian, and Ethiopian Orthodox
Female circumcision is viewed as a disgusting and barbaric act by a majority of people in first world countries. The United States has even gone as far as to get an international law made to ban female circumcision because of the harmful physical and psychological problems associated with it. In the “Female Genital Cutting Fact Sheet” created and reviewed by Caroline Banquet-Walsh, Sandra Jordan, and Francesca Moneta I discovered that female genital mutilation is an e...
“Most Christians I know are shocked to think about female circumcision and cannot imagine believing God would want it. Most Jews consider only male circumcision to be commanded by God. Most theologians in the Islamic faith consider female circumcision to be completely unnecessary and argue it is contrary to true Islam. And yet followers of all three of these major monotheistic religions have at times practiced female circumcision and considered their practices sanctioned, or at least not prohibited, by
the flesh that the agreement calls for, and that if any blood is shed, his
Rites of passage, specifically circumcision, are the focus of study for multiple theorists. Circumcision as a ritual of passage encompasses various theories on the function of these ritualistic passages. Arnold Van Gennep, Vincent Crapanzano, and Victor Turner each approach the ritual of circumcisions’ function differently, specifically they question whether the ritual can be considered in stages.
“Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother ,and shall cleave to his wife: and they shall be one flesh” .
Organ donation is often perceived with doubt because many people do not know the truth. There are many myths out about the donating of organs that cause many people to opt not to. What many do not realize is the truth about organ donation. The body of the donor after the surgery is not mangled up and is presentable for the funeral. Organ donation is ethical and should not be looked down upon. Organ donating is there to save lives, not to hurt anyone. Many people think that they should be paid or given something in return for donating their organs, which is...