March 31, 2008

Quote of the month!

From the LA Times: Delicate decision: To circumcise or not?

"Freedman faced the decision in his own home. He's Jewish and his wife is not. She wasn't for circumcision. In the end, they agreed to circumcise their son, and he performed the procedure. "I didn't make any excuses that this was to avoid a UTI, or for medical reasons. My rationale was this: As a Jewish male in a long line of tradition, I didn't want to be the link in a chain that broke."

ed. G-d forbid he should be the broken link of tradition by not circumcising his non-Jewish son born of an intermarriage. Way to go!

3 comments:

TLC Tugger said...

Being the link in some chain or forging one's own path seems like a choice an informed adult can make for himself.

Judah HaKohain said...

FYI, folks... this man sells a product that will help you "reverse" your bris milah. Great for Hellenists and others who wish to go against a 4000 year old commandment and covenant with the Creator of the Universe.

A link in a chain is by definition the very opposite of forging one's own path, Ron. This man decided to do minor surgery on a child that isn't even Jewish. It makes as much sense as me forcing my kids to go to confession. The unbroken link, one that has been strong for 4000 years, is grounded in the fact that this man's ancestors stayed true to Judaism and didn't intermarry. In one fell swoop he undid that and no amount of foreskin snipping is going to undo it.

Anonymous said...

Shalom Yehudah

This time you're wrong.

As much as you'd hate to acknowledge the fact, Jewishness had been passed down paternally until sometime between the Mishna and the Talmud were published. No wonder the Rabbis demand we never read the Tanakh without their so-called interpretations.

The baby in question is not Jewish in your eyes as you're Orthodox which is understandable, yet that man has every right to pass on to his son his Jewishness.

If you don't want to recognize his Jewishness, so be it. The Jewish world does not march solely to the Orthodox tune. With all due respect to you and your likes, not all Jews even care if you consider them part of `Am Yisra'el.

If you proceed to ban me, you'll only have proven weakness on your part.