Today was the eighth day of Sam and Aaron’s life. For a boy raised in a Jewish house, it can only mean one thing. Circumcision.
Bris for Sam and Aaron
Family and friends gather to witness this important rite of passage.
It’s also completely nerve racking to watch. It reminds me of watching a horror film. When the main character decides to check out the basement and the eerie music is playing in the background. You want to yell out, “Don’t go into the basement!” Yet, they keep going, heading to their demise. Everyone sitting in the theater knows it, yet the person on the screen is oblivious.
You feel terrible knowing you are handing over your son to be cut, and even worse that they have no idea it’s coming.
I cried, I sweat, I shook. Having witnessed Jack and Ben’s didn’t desensitize me at all. The Mohel gave the boys sugar water before hand. We had the ceremony, which consisted of lighting candles, handing the baby around, showing them Elijah’s chair, blessing the wine and bread. Both boys cried out for a few seconds when they were snipped. Afterwards they were given a bit of kosher wine.
Then we sang and ate.
All I kept thinking was, “I’m so glad I’ll never have to do it again.”
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It’s unfortunate those babies were born to parents that are happy to chop off parts of their body… Disguisting
You got the horror story analogy right on, and although I understand that it’s a religious “tradition” that goes along with cutting the genitals of baby boys on the eighth day of their life, but I cannot respect it. It’s strange to think that if a person gave wine to their baby and went to the Pediatrician, that a baby smelling like wine or being intoxicated at all, would warrant a report to CPS and most likely the baby being taken from them. It seems so weird that if it is done in the context of a religious ceremony, it is just “okay”….. and no one thinks a thing about it. Something is really wrong with this picture! I have been reading about the new peaceful welcoming ceremony called Brit Shalom, which more and more Jewish parents are opting for that does not include any genital cutting rituals. It seems like a much nicer way to welcome a baby into your religion.
Congratulations on your sons. I am so saddened though to read that you disregarded your mommy instincts to follow a religious tradition that today, isn’t even following the Abrahamic circumcision. It is far more than a snip but is a full amputation of a part of your sons’ genitalia (the same as the female labia minora and clitoral hood; would you allow a religion to cut your’s off???) that God gave for very specific reasons. I’m not sure if you are Jewish by heritage or religion, or if you believe in Jesus Christ as God’s son but if you do, then the Abrahamic covenant is no longer needed as Jesus was the final blood offering and THE covenant. All OT covenants foreshadowed that of Jesus and we are no longer bound to those any longer. You can’t go back and give back what you allowed to be taken away from your sons but I do hope that you research more. Maybe you will see and help make a difference for other boys around you.