The commandment to perform ritual circumcision on the male Jewish child is given in Gen. 17:10-14 and Lev. 12:3.
The covenant was originally made by G-d with Abraham.
It is the first commandment specific to the Jewish people.
Circumcision has nothing to do with health or aesthetics. It is a Brit Milah, a holy covenant.
Circumcision is performed by a Mohel on the eighth day of the male child’s life, during the day. The day the child is born counts as the first day, thus if the child is born on a Monday, he is circumcised on the following Monday.
I know secular Jews who don’t even go to synagogue on Yom Kippur, Jews so assimilated they wince at the very thought of genuine Torah Judaism.
But even these aggressively assimilated Jews make sure to have their sons circumcised.
In the past, the banning of ritual circumcision has been carried out by Jew-hating regimes determined to wipe Judaism off the face of the earth: the ancient Greek Assyrians, against whom the Macabbees revolted, and more recently the Nazis. Hitler and Goebbels spoke out violently against the Brit Milah.
And now in San Francisco—where else?—there is a proposition to criminalize the Brit Milah being put forward by a man named Lloyd Schofield. The proposition just needs 7,000 signatures to get on the ballot in November.
This is SF, so there should be zero problem getting the necessary signatures. Post-modern Liberals/Progressives/Lefties can be counted on to mirror the policies of genocidal Jew-haters, all in the name of human rights.
Banning the Brit Milah is just a first step in the liberal war against Judaism. Next will be the banning of kosher meat. Again, the Nazis were deeply concerned about animal cruelty and banned kashrut.
They slaughtered Jews instead.
Much as these San Franciscans advocate the slaughter of infants in the womb a few days before they get all weepy about the imagined horrors of circumcision.
If this ban is passed a few things will happen:
1. Jews will exit SF.
2. The Jews who stay will have the Brit Milah performed outside the city limits.
3. Others will, in defiance of the oppressive law, perform the ceremony in secret.
4. According to classical Jewish law, halachah, a government that allows Jews to study Torah and perform the mitzvot is viewed as a legitimate government.
5. But a government that criminalizes the Brit Milah, a foundational mitzvah, must be viewed as hostile to Judaism, hence, an illegitimate government—subject to rebellion.
For years, Seraphic Secret has warned that chronic threats to liberty in America come exclusively from the left, from those who advocate an increasingly big and intrusive government. In contrast to Conservatives who view government as a hydra-headed beast intent on limiting freedom and individual happiness.
Keep an eye on this proposed law, it is a very big deal.
Ariel Chaim Avrech, ZT'L, May His Righteous Memory be a Blessing.
25 Comments
No competent physician would ever describe the brit milah as genital mutilation on par with female genital mutilation.
In fact, you are the Ron Dempsey of the fanatic group called Intact America. And it is the unhinged members of your cult who have been dropping comments here for the past few days.
On your website you do not even identify yourself as a physician.
You are a fraud.
A standard Jew-hater easily unmasked.
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Ron:
The petition does not distinguish between hospital procedures and the Jewish brit milah.
We—observant Jews—do not believe that everyone should have a brit milah. Thus, the hospital procedures should be a parent’s choice. As is the ritual of brit milah which has been a foundational Jewish ritual for over 3,000 years.
The proposed SF ban is all encompassing and describes the brit milah, dishonestly, much as female genital mutilation is described in medical literature.
Hence the SF petition is demanding for SF what the Nazis instituted in Germany.
The objections to the brit milah are based on the alleged harm it causes a child. Thus, why are abortions (performed by physicians) not the target of this righteous anger.
We both know the answer. Those who are opoossed to the brit milah are enthusiastic supporters of abortion.
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It has been noted in a previous comment that the US Constitution protects the free practice of religion, a fact that will invalidate the San Francisco initiative. Might I add the the same Constitution guarantees equal protection under law for all citizens. Since 1996, girls in this country have been protected from genital alteration by federal law. Do not boys deserve the same protection? There is no exception for religion in the law protecting girls. How can there be an exception for religion permitting the genital alteration of boys if there is truly equal protection under the law? Equal means equal.
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You realize, of course, that only about 10% of Jewish circumcisions are performed by a mohel on the 8th day in the ritual format. The other 90% are performed in hospitals on the first or second day of life. This fact seems to weaken the argument that the San Francisco referendum is an attack on Jewish religious tradition. It seems that Jews themselves have pretty much abandoned the religious tradition in favor of an American cultural custom.
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Dear Barzilai: The “Miranda Rose Smith” on Facebook is not me. I’m older-and, Baruch HaShem, skinnier.
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Dear Barzilai: The “Miranda Rose Smith” on Facebook is not me. I’m older-and, Baruch HaShem, skinnier.
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Great post, Mr. Avrech! I linked to it from my blog in a post I did about the threat of Seculeftheism.
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My parents are holocaust survivors. When I grew up, it was the rare day when I didn’t hear a curse yelled from a passing car as I walked home from school. Judeophiles fascinate and astonish me; for one thing, they can see what most other people refuse to see. So I was curious about what other profound things you may have said or done. Five seconds on Google and your birthday and your parents’ as well were on the screen. Nothing creepy, and I apologize if it seemed that way. Many happy returns.
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Miranda, first of all, happy belated birthday. Second, yes, you’re right. But why do you ask?
Posted by: Barzilai at February 24, 2011
Just curious. And, just out of curiosity, how did you know it was my birthday recently?
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Nice that you were able to expose this wicked man for imbecile that he is.
Miranda, first of all, happy belated birthday. Second, yes, you’re right. But why do you ask?
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Johnny:
My friend Jake Novak, a senior producer with Fox News, saw the Seraphic Secret story and then did this segment with Megyn Kelly and Schofield.
Schofield’s reference to Jews getting out of the Brit Milah obligation is applicable to some very, very liberal reform Jews who, long ago, gave up Torah Judaism in favor of some dopey pluralism that has little to do with Jewishness and everything to do with radical leftist ideology.
Schofield may not realize it but he’s just declared war on authentic Torah Judaism.
We are implacable enemies when our way of life and our Torah is threatened.
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The guy that wants this law was just on Fox. What a jerk. He thinks it is dangerous because according to him two boys died this year from the procedure but he is just fine with a man 18 or older getting this done. But there are a lot of medical procedures (plastic surgery anyone) that are not always medically necessary where a lot more than two people die from.
And he claims Jews already have developed a procedure to get around the religious necessity. I’m not sure what he said but it sure is nice of him to decide how Jews should practice their religion.
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I bet that these same commie liberals that want to ban circumcision think that honor killings by Muslims are just fine.
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Banning the Brit Milah is just a first step in the liberal war against Judaism. Next will be the banning of kosher meat.
They’ll be able to buy their kosher meat outside the city limits. Can’t you see the ROW of kosher butcher shops, “We offer free delivery,” opening just outside the San Francisco city limits?
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The day the child is born counts as the first day, thus if the child is born on a Monday, he is circumcised on the following Monday.
Dear Robert: Isn’t it true that if a child is born on Monday NIGHT, he is circumcised on the following Tuesday, because the Jewish day begins at sundown on the previous day?
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This would be a law abridging the free exercise of the Jewsih religion, and therefore unconstitutional.
Unlike Muslim clitorectomies of girls, which is a primitive African custom not required by the Islamic religion, circumcision of boys is a requirement of the Jewish religion. The Constitution prohibits Congress passing any laws prohibiting the free exercise of religion. The provisions of the Bill of Rights have been interpreted so as to apply to all levels of government. Therefore San Francisco cannot pass such a law since it would be unconstitutional, or if it did the law would be struck down by the first Federal judge to see the case.
I’m not surprised to hear that leftists are paying no attention to the Consitution in their attempts to oppress the people.
By the way, the Maccabees did not fight the Assyrians, who were conquered and vanished as a state in 612 BCE, over three centuries prior to the Maccabees. They fought the Hellenistic Greek Seleukids.
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I am always surprised by men who claim that they were damaged by their circumcision. I am not referring to the minuscule few who truly were harmed but those who as adults suddenly decide that they have been hurt by it.
Maybe I rely too greatly upon my own experiences, but I can’t remember anything before turning three so there is no pain to remember.
And without going into detail, I am a father so everything else works just fine. Really, this is just beyond me.
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This seems like a perfect illustration of the decay of religious liberty that LDS leader Dallin H. Oaks spoke of recently in southern California. You may find the interview he gave to Hugh Hewitt afterwards interesting:
http://www.hughhewitt.com/transcripts.aspx?id=95602667-634d-41f0-a6c4-cfcfa88b4726
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I’m torn. Should I pray that the law is not passed? Or should I pray that it be passed and that San Francisco immediately segue into a modern re-enactment of the Ten Plagues?
Maybe I’ll do like the lawyers: pray for one, and in the alternative, for the other.
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Let the law pass and let all the G-d fearing Jews leave SF. Then, let the BIG ONE finally hit…
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As an adult male, there is no way I would want the procedure if I were 18 or older. I shudder and cower at the thought.
However I have no memory of my circumcision as a newborn and did not hesitate to have my son receive the procedure when he was born. His mother, a nurse, had heard about the pain and trauma it would cause as if he would go all Lizzie Borden on her when he grew up. Fortunately I won that fight.
We should all move to SF because it is clear they have solved all problems facing humans. Is no one in that city aware of something as basic as freedom of religion? Or does that just apply to good religions like the Indians that smoke peyote or muslims that practice bigamy? Exdemexlib is right – get CAIR to come out against it and the liberals will fall in line.
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Ask CAIR to get involved. The left will never stand up to them. Almost all Muslim males are circumcised before age 18.
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According to the article you cited, it would be legal for a male over 18 to get circumcised in SF, but not an 8 day old infant. They really seem to be targeting the Jewish tradition, don’t they? Incredible.
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As always, your views are 100% accurate and supported by Torah, it just does not get any better, any Jews who support this attack on almost 6000 years will find themselves placed within the Eruv Rav who where included as we exited Egypt but warned by the Holy O-e not to be brought. Your views are supported by our history.
B’H', Michael Pick
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I know this may sound like a silly question, but will this law even stand up in court if passed? Isn’t medicine regulated at the state level? Could a city pass a law outlawing nonessential medical practices (including, say, elective abortion) in it’s confines?
The Wolf
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