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Circumcision - Severe injury to the baby or an important medical procedure? | Israel today

2021-10-21T10:11:55.105Z


The world of science constantly examines its conclusions and improves attitudes, but precisely in the field of removing fornication, the method and consistent recommendations over many years • Rabbi Shraga Dahan examines in the light of science and medicine the claims for and against the ancient mitzvah


Last Saturday we read in the synagogues about the circumcision of our father Abraham and his family.

Biblical record of the first surgical activity in the world - and the rest is history.

Since then, the world has come a long and significant way in the scientific and social aspects, but the removal of the foreskin is still an important component in many of the world's population.

The World Medical Organization defines this operation as the most common and oldest surgical activity in the world.

The world of science is constantly examining its conclusions and improving attitudes, but it is precisely in the field of foreskin removal that the method and recommendations are quite consistent over many years. In August 2012, the American Academy of Pediatrics published a new policy document stating, in an article published by Dr. Yinon Shenkar and Prof. Yonah Amitai, that despite minor risks existing in the procedure, such as infections, etc. - in the vast majority of cases does not constitute significant long-term circumcision damage. This means that the health benefits of foreskin cutting in male babies made by choice outweigh its risks.

Conflicting claims about circumcision are being published around the world. On the one hand, there have been previous rulings of European courts banning the circumcision on the grounds of violation of the rights of the child. At the same time, in recent years, hundreds of thousands of word surgeries have been performed systematically through the World Health Organization and African volunteer and rescue organizations to reduce HIV infection (AIDS) and other infectious diseases of the urinary tract, penile cancer and cervical cancer. A significant number of young people were circumcised through medical teams trained by volunteers from the "Operation Abraham" Partnership (OAC) from Israel of the "Jerusalem Aids Project" under the direction of Dr. Yinon Shenkar in the Zulu tribe in Africa.

Medical studies are fairly unanimous in the effectiveness of the procedure medically and infectiously, but in contrast the European Council on Human Rights has determined that the circumcision procedure harms the integrity of children's bodies.

Dr. Daniel Shenhar, a pediatrician, explains: “It should be understood that impairment of bodily integrity can also manifest itself in simple action such as earrings in children.

The council and the ruling did not address the medical aspects and benefits related to the circumcision procedure. "Indeed, it is clear that the number of circumcisions in Europe is lower than in the rest of the world.

For lovers of numbers - according to the World Health Organization, more than one and a half billion people in the world have undergone this procedure (about 40% of males).

In the United States, this is an almost universal operation, in which 83% of the males are mixed.

The main reason in the State of Israel for the procedure is the commandment of circumcision, one of the first and most basic commandments of the Jewish people.

According to Dr. Shenhar, in Israel, where a large proportion of circumcisions are not performed by medical staff but by circumcisers, the complication rate from circumcision is 0.34 percent of all circumcisions performed in the country. This is the lowest number in the world.

The religious reason for performing the circumcision in Judaism is fascinating, as many families, who do not lead a Jewish lifestyle, choose to perform the circumcision in a religious manner including the name-calling ceremony and the kiddush on the wine.

Jewish law considers a mohel to be a person who holds a professional, important and responsible position, which requires skill and a commitment to proficiency in the practical act and the medical consequences in order to prevent any doubt as to the danger to the newborn.

In any health doubt, even the slightest that arises, the word should be waited for and postponed until the physical condition of the newborn is clarified.

The mohel himself has an unofficial duty to comply with any invitation to enter into an alliance regardless of the economic return.

It is not for nothing that many circumcisers have fascinating stories about words in remote places and about families who actually give their lives for the observance of this mitzvah, and see their actions as an important link in the chain of generations of the Jewish people.

Such is Rabbi Avi Nidam, a former fighter in an elite infantry unit, and now one of the Rebbe's emissaries from Lubavitch in the French city of Nice.

Rabbi Avi Nidam, Photo: Courtesy of the photographer

Just before he left, he told me about his fascinating work as a mohel on the French Riviera, whose proximity to the Alps often led him to perform circumcision ceremonies for families who wanted to perform the circumcision ceremony far from the media and social echo - but it was important for them to be religious.

"The mohel should be available for his job all year round, including Saturdays and holidays, and wherever he is asked to go. To perform the task, there must be family support - but the satisfaction is great and full of inspiration both Regardless of their religious status. "

People of older ages often come to Rabbi Nidam, "each time the excitement is at its peak and the circumcisers feel a special spiritual uplift," they say.

Circumcision is one of the strong meeting points of Jewish society in all generations.


Rabbi Shraga Natan Dahan is an officer in the Res.

Holds a master's degree in technology and is certified in rabbinate and law. Serves as a consultant and lecturer in public, security, educational and scientific bodies on the subject of halakhah, technology, medicine, science and space.

Source: israelhayom

All news articles on 2021-10-21

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