Brit Shalom (ceremony)
Brit Shalom ( Covenant of Peace ), also known as brit b'li milah , brit chayim , brit tikkun , brit ben or "alternative Brit" (English), is a naming ceremony for Jewish boys. Activists want this new ceremony to replace the Brit Mila ( circumcision ).
According to a celebrant, the first known Brit Shalom ceremony was performed around 1970 by Rabbi Sherwin Wine, the founder of the Society for Humanistic Judaism (an organization of Jews who reject belief in God).
There are different styles of Brit Shalom; sometimes a foot washing is a central component. According to a website promoting it, the Brit Shalom should be carried out by a rabbi or an experienced layman; the term "rabbi" implies z. B. in humanistic Judaism (to which many celebrants belong) no religious function. Most of the Brit Shalom celebrants are in the United States. They have different attitudes towards this ritual and about circumcision. Some celebrants belong to the anti-circumcision movement. Other celebrants perform the ritual, but are reserved about it. The reform rabbi and Brit Shalom celebrant Jerry Levy comments critically that Brit Shalom particularly appeals to parents with a weaker Jewish identity. He sees the rejection of circumcision as part of a "dilution" of Judaism.
In the German circumcision debate in 2012, non-Jewish opponents of Jewish infant circumcision claimed that Brit Shalom was "common practice" in some Jewish communities in Great Britain. A representative of the Board of Deputies of British Jews , the country's Jewish umbrella organization, described this claim as "complete nonsense"; The president of the Movement for Reform Judaism there expressed himself similarly . Parents who decide against circumcision are, according to Rabbi Jonathan Romain, a "small minority" of mostly mixed-religious couples in whom one partner is against circumcision. According to a supporter of secular-humanistic Judaism, who is the only one who practices the Brit Shalom in Great Britain, almost 50 alternative ceremonies are performed by her every year. According to an estimate by the Board of Deputies of British Jews, there were at least 3,860 Jewish births in Great Britain in 2011; the actual number could be a little higher. Brit Schalom's market share in Great Britain is thus less than three percent; no figures are known from other countries.
Web links
German:
- There is also criticism of circumcision in Israel , articles in the Südwest Presse
supporting documents
- ^ Brit Shalom - Covenant of Peace ( Memento of the original from September 29, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. - Anti-circumcision activists website with further information and links on the Brit Shalom
- ^ A b Jonah Lowenfeld: Little-known non-cutting ritual appeals to some who oppose circumcision . In: Jewish Journal. August 2, 2011
- ^ A b Society for Humanistic Judaism
- ^ Brit Shalom / Shalem / Milim: Covenant of Peace / Wholeness / Words
- ↑ a b Brit Shalom Celebrants
- ^ Daniela Breitbart: Brit without cut . In: Jüdische Allgemeine . August 30, 2012
- ↑ Britain's Jewish Community Statistics 2012 ( Memento of the original from December 28, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
