ISRAEL

NECHEMIA MEYERS

Special to The Jewish News

L

ast month, Dr. Cyril
Fine circumcised 120
Russian immigrants.
This month he will probably
circumcise even more.
For may years Dr. Fine, a
former South African who
has been living in Israel for
18 years, was the only practic-
ing Israeli physician who also
served as a mohel. As such,
he was always called in when
it was necessary to perform
circumcisions on adult im-
migrants from the Soviet
Union, where such operations
were illegal.
But when the trickle of
newcomers became a flood,
the Ministry of Religious Af-
fairs organized a crash course
in ritual circumcision for 20
other observant doctors, who
now are also qualified to serve
as mohelim.
For Russian immigrants,
the path towards circumcision
typically begins in an ulpan
classroom when a represen-
tative of the local rabbinate,
usually accompanied by a
Russian-speaking volunteer,
comes in to announce that
men who have not been cir-
cumcised can have a brit
milah without cost. No
pressure is applied, nor is any
required, despite the fact that
very few Soviet newcomers
are observant Jews. They
rush forward to register for
the operation because, as
many of them say, it will help
them "become part of the
country."
But before a date is set, one
matter remains to be settled,
the Jewishness of the ap-
plicants. Unless the rab-
binate is convinced that the
men in question are Jewish,
hardly to be taken for granted
considering the 50 percent in-
termarriage rate among Rus-
sian Jews, it will not sanction
a ritual circumcision.
Considering the numbers
involved, a "production" line
is required. On the day I wat-

84

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 28, 1990

These boys, and their dads, are considering brit milah.

The Ritual
Of Acceptance

Israeli mohelim prepare for Soviet Jews
who want the covenant of freedom.

ched Dr. Fine in action at a
small suburban hsopital on
the outskirts of Tel Aviv, he
operated on 15 boys and men,
ranging in age from 5 to 45.
Since all were under full
anesthesia (after receiving an
injection in the groin), they
obviously were unaware of
what was happening. Never-
theless, before carefully
removing the foreskin, Dr.
Fine would always recite the
traditional blessings.

After the patients had
spent a couple of hours in the
recovery room, during which

time Dr. Fine inspected his
handiwork to make sure
there were no problems, their
families and some volunteers
from the Emunah Organiza-
tion of Orthodox Women came
together in a small, steamy
hospital annex for a modest
celebration and a final round
of ceremonies.

The recently circumcised
boys and men were supplied
by a representative of the rab-
binate with skullcaps and
Hebrew-Russian prayerbooks,
both as obviously new to
them as the brit milah. Then

Dr. Fine, his green operating
theater gown removed, came
striding in and greeted
everyone in his booming,
cheerleader voice. It is unlike-
ly that many people in the
room knew enough Hebrew to
understand what Dr. Fine
was saying when he explain-
ed the significance of the
Covenant of Abraham, yet
they could not but sense his
enthusiasm.
He asked everyone to repeat
after him the traditional
Shema and Sheheyanu
prayers, which they did at the
top of their voices. Finally,

amidst a burst of stonily clap-
ping, Dr. Fine read the names
of the newly circumcised,
many of whom took the occa-
sion to adopt Hebrew names.
Thus 14-year-old Ilya from
Moscow announced that he
would henceforth be known
as Eliyahu, while the
Macarovs — a father and son
who formerly lived near the
ill-fated Ukrainian city of
Chernobyl — said they were
now Michael and Dani
respectively.
The proceedings ended with
a blessing recited over paper
cups filled with grape juice
that had been supplied by the
lady volunteers. They also
handed out little plastic bags
of candy to the men and boys.
Dr. Fine then rushed back
to his regular clinic, richer
spiritually but not financial-
ly. These mass circumcisions
are done inexpensively, with
the Ministry of Religious Af-
fairs allocating only $250 per
brit milah, of which the
mohel-physicians pocket
about $25.
"It would be hard to
overestimate the psycho-
logical significance of these
ritual circumcisions," says Dr.
Fine. In his view, they reflect
the difference between the ab-
sorption of Soviet Jews in
America and Israel. "In the
United States," he believes,
"their identity as Jews is of
scant significance in what is,
after all, a large heter-
ogeneous society; here, in the
shtetl that is Israel, it is
more significant than
anything else."
This distinction is express-
ed in a little joke that is now
making the rounds in Israel:
A youngster from the Soviet
Union enrolled at a local
school was embarrassed when
his classmates discovered
that he had not been circum-
cised. So he went home and
asked his father to arrange a
brit milah for him.
"Not yet," the father
answered. "We haven't yet
decided whether we are stay-
ing in Israel." ❑