Eugene & Maria Applebaum
Jewish Parenting Center
Congregation Shaarey Zedek
Presents
Internationally renowned expert on
child development and parenting
s The Rite Wrong?
t
ULIE WIENER
1Staff Writer
orget what the American
Academy of Pediatrics says.
Circumcision is a com-
mandment that Jews will
keep. And besides, we've already got
the pain thing solved.
That was the message this week
from Detroit area rabbis and mohels
following the academy's decision to
stop recommending the routine cir-
cumcision of newborn boys. Citing
the procedure's cost and lack of
compelling" benefits, the academy -
printed a report in its journal,
Pediatrics, questioning circumcision's
medical value and urging effective
pain relief when the procedure is
done.
According to the Detroit Free Press,
\ z '.)out 1.2-million American baby boys
are circumcised each year, at a cost of
$150 million to $200 million. Most
are not Jewish and undergo the proce-
dure in a hospital, within days after
their birth.
Without medical endorsement, that
may change.
But whatever the fate of the average
American foreskin, Jews will continue
With circumcision, the religion's old-
est, and many consider most sacred,
ritual. The removal of the foreskin
covering the glans of the penis as a
sign of a covenant with God, dates
back, according to the biblical
[ account, to when Abraham, at divine
behest, circumcised himself at age 99.
That day later became known as the
Day of Atonement, when God for-
gives those who are repentant for their
sins. Abraham also circumcised his son
Ishmael and all the males of his house-
hold. His son Isaac was born the next
year and was circumcised on the
eighth day.
So eight days after birth, Jewish
boys undergo the procedure in a cere-
mony called the brit milah (covenant
of circumcision). Traditionally, the
babies were given sweet wine to numb
the pain; nowadays, they also receive
such anesthetics as topical creams,
sprays and baby Tylenol.
"What's important is the quickness
with which you do the bris," said
.„
CC
Dr. David
Elkind
Absolutely not, local rabbis say after report
on routine circumcision.
Cantor Samuel Greenbaum, who per-
forms about eight circumcisions each
week, in cities throughout Michigan.
"The whole procedure takes about a
minute."
Rabbis stress the centrality of cir-
cumcision to Judaism.
"We did it before anyone else was
doing it, in the best and worst of con-
ditions. A Jew is a Jew is a Jew, and
one of the signs of that is the circum-
cision," said Rabbi Leo Goldman of
Shaarey Shomayim in Southfield.
Circumcision is the most important
of Jewish commandments, said Rabbi
Daniel Nevins of Adat Shalom
Synagogue in Farmington Hills.
"Judaism wants to remind us that our
bodies are meant to be vessels of God's
holiness," said Nevins.
"Often, it is sexuality and sexual
desire that lead people astray," he said.
"The significance of brit milah is in
that its location serves as a reminder
to men not to be led astray by their
desires."
For Americans, circumcision
became a health-related matter in the
late 19th century and was endorsed
without question until 1949, writes
Dr. Bernard Gonik, chief of obstetrics
and gynecology for the Detroit
Medical Center's northwest region, in
a 1995 article in the British Journal of
Obstetrics and Gynaecology.
Circumcision slightly reduces the risk
of urinary tract infections and penile
cancer, a very rare form of cancer.
Gonik, who is Jewish and has per-
formed circumcisions both in the hos-
pital and in ritual brit milah cere-
monies, said that currently about 70
percent of the male babies born in
Sinai and Grace hospitals are circum-
cised, at the choice of their parents.
Gonik noted in his article that the
overwhelming majority of parents
request circumcision because they
want their son to physically resemble
his circumcised father.
The American Academy of Pediatrics
has waffled over the years on its circum-
cision views. In the 1970s, it said there
was no "medical indication" for circum-
cision, but then in 1989, it reported
"potential medical benefits." PI
Staff writer Lonny Goldsmith con-
tributed to this story.
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Family
(Ties That Stress)
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4200 Walnut Lake Rd • West Bloomfield
For reservations please call 248-681-5353
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