Jewish "intactivists" in U.S. stop circumcising

[Phx_Dem]

NEW YORK (Reuters) - In most respects, Michelle Chernikoff Anderson is a rabbi's dream congregant. She sings in the choir and takes classes at her synagogue.

But, like an increasing number of Jews in the United States, she has decided not to circumcise her son, rejecting the traditional notion that it is a Biblically prescribed sign of the Jewish relationship with God.

"I see circumcision as a blood ritual that I can let go of," said Anderson, who lives in Southern California.

Her position is in harmony with a wider decline in circumcision in the United States.

About 85 percent of all American boy babies were circumcised at its peak in 1965, according to a National Opinion Research Center survey.

By 2004, it had fallen to about 57 percent, reflecting the increased birth rate among Hispanics, who are less likely to circumcise their sons, data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows.

More at:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071003/hl_nm/circumcision_dc_8

[Meshuga]

1. In my opinion

it is up to the parents whether to circumcise their son or not. In our case we think the brit milah is part of being Jewish and a tradition that we, as a family, want to keep. So any bambinos that come in the future (like their older brother before them) will have the procedure/ceremony.

Most Jewish kids are circumcised and it would probably be traumatic to an uncircumcised Jewish kid to go to a JCC locker room and be the different kid.

[question everything]

2. One of the topics on the general forums

that often starts a lengthy debate.

What I have found interesting is that most of the ones who strongly object to circumcise their sons are the mothers, not the (circumcised) fathers.