Brit Mila

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Performing a Brit Mila
Circumcision knife with case (around 1760, Museum of Hamburg History )
Tools for pruning the mohel
Gravestone with mohel knife at the Jewish cemetery Hagenbach in the municipality of Pretzfeld

The Brit Mila ( Hebrew בְּרִית מִילָה Brīt Mīlah , German for ' covenant of circumcision' , also Bərit Mila ; Pluralבְּרִיתוֹת מִילָה Brītōt Mīlah ; Yiddish pronunciation Brismile , abbreviated: the Bris / Brit ) is the removal of the foreskin of the male member ( circumcision ) according to Jewish custom . It is carried out by a mohel , the circumciser, who was trained in the practice of the Brit Mila.

Circumcision is a commandment that even most secular Jews obey as they see it as an important part of Jewish identity.

Religious tradition

Representation in the Tanach / Old Testament

The Brit Mila is viewed in Judaism as the entry of a male descendant into the covenant with God . According to Jewish tradition, God entered into this covenant with Abraham (and his family); it is also known as the "Abrahamic Covenant". In Gen 17: 10-14  EU it says:

“This is my covenant between me and you and your descendants, which you are to keep: Everything that is male among you must be circumcised. You have to be circumcised on the flesh of your foreskin [...] All male children with you must be circumcised as soon as they are eight days old. "

interpretation

Westermann attributes Gen 17 to the priestly scriptures (P). He makes the following text observations:

  • Gen 17.1–3 has structural similarities to Gen 12.1–4
    • Adonai speaks
    • Adonai's command and promise
    • Reaction of Abraham
  • Gen 17 consists for the most part of God's speech, which can be divided into three parts:
    • 3b – 8 promise (as processing of the template Gen 15)
    • 9-14 commandment
    • 15–21 promise (as a processing of the original Gen 18)
  • The decisive motto is “covenant” (בְּרִית): This is connected on the one hand with God's promise and on the other hand with Abraham's fulfillment of the commandment of circumcision.
  • Gen 17 serves to present the promise of the fathers in the time of exile and links it to circumcision.
  • P uses El Schaddaj (אֵל שַׁדָּי) as God's name in the history of the father, differentiating it from prehistory (Elohim - אֱלֹהֹים) and popular history (Adonai - יְהוָה), cf. Ex 6.3.
  • In comparison to Gen.15, the promise of land takes a back seat to the promise of increase.
  • Abraham represents the people of Israel in Gen 17.
  • It is expected that belonging to God is unconditional and "whole" (תָמִים v. 1).
  • Falling down can be understood as an acceptance of the promise and at the same time as an affirmation of the commandment (v. 3).
  • The renaming of the name does not want to explain the name, but rather connects it with the meaning “father of crowds” (hamon), whereby the meaning of Abra (ha) m “the father is exalted” should be linguistically.
  • The classic fathers' promises appear (vv. 7–8): offspring, land, godliness (with special emphasis on the promise of godliness).
    • “To be God for you” corresponds to the covenant formula “You will be my people and I will be your God”, but not in its two-part form
  • Westermann sees the commandment of circumcision less in connection with cult or worship (hence the lack of the commandment of circumcision in the older legal corpora of the Tanach), but interprets it as a sign of ethnicity (to the people of Adonais).
  • The most common reasons for circumcision for Westermann are (a) physical / hygienic reasons, (b) for social reasons (rite des passage) and (c) for religious reasons.
  • For Westermann, P aims to establish three folk cult rites that are related to the existence of the family
    1. Circumcision (Gen 17)
    2. Getting married among one's own people (Gen 24)
    3. Buried in their own land (Gen 23 + 25)
Circumcision bench, 18th century. Jewish Museum of Switzerland
Circumcision pillow, Jewish Museum of Switzerland

Impact history

It takes place on the eighth day of the male infant's life . If it is weak or sickly, it will be postponed until after recovery. If parents do not allow their son to be circumcised, the boy is obliged to have himself circumcised when he reaches religious legal age and turns 13. If he does not do this, he commits a sin every day, according to Shulchan Aruch.

Circumcision is accompanied by various brachot (blessings) and is only valid in connection with these. The Sandak , on whose knees the boy rests, hands him over to the mohel , a trained specialist, for circumcision . A circumcision chair is most often used for ceremonial circumcisions in the synagogue. Such chairs or benches usually have two seats. The Sandak sits with the baby on the left, while the right side remains empty. The empty seat is reserved for the prophet Elijah. There are different opinions as to whether circumcision should be performed with or without anesthesia. In Israel, 380 of the 400 Mohalim recognized by the Chief Rabbinate practice the Brit Mila without local anesthesia; the remaining 20 perform the Brit Mila with anesthesia (as of 2012 or before). Circumcision is not to be performed by a non-Jew.

The Brit Mila is one of the 613 Mitzvot , the commandments of Judaism. A male proselyte must also be circumcised when converting to Judaism. If the transgressor has already been circumcised, Orthodox Judaism calls for a symbolic second circumcision (“Tippat Dam”, Hebrew for “drop of blood”, i.e. making a small incision in which at least one drop of blood becomes visible); in liberal / progressive Judaism this is not consistently demanded or practiced.

According to historical-critical biblical studies , the Brit Mila was only added to the Pentateuch as a confirmation of the “Abrahamic Covenant” with the priestly pamphlet that arose in Babylonian exile .

Decision of the early Christian church

Giovanni Bellini: Circumcision

During their mission to the Gentiles, the early Christians of Jewish origin encountered violent opposition to the enforcement of the commandments and prohibitions due to other cultural traditions. This established itself in particular in the defense of the circumcision ritual .

Dispute at a convent of the apostles

This decision in the Christian community to deal with circumcision in relation to "Gentile Christians" is documented in the Acts of the Apostles in the New Testament in connection with Paul's first missionary journey in chapter 15. The apostles' council decides on the principles of the Gentile mission. : “One day people from Judea came to Antioch and said, 'Whoever does not perform circumcision according to the Mosaic Law cannot be saved.' Paul and Barnabas contradicted them and got into a heated argument with them. The congregation then decided that Paul and Barnabas and a few others from the circle should have this issue resolved by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem . "

“Once there, they were formally received by the congregation, apostles and elders. [...] Pharisees who had become Christians, ”pointed out the need to“ keep the law of Moses, ”after which a meeting was held and“ after a heated argument ” Peter spoke up, referring to his first election by God called to preach to the Gentiles: by God's indiscriminate granting of the Holy Spirit on all people who were "all differences between them and disappeared us." from Peter deduced: "Why you demand God out by her gentile Christians the yoke of Wanted to impose law that neither our fathers nor we could bear. ”According to the following report by Paul and Barnabas on the general successes of their mission,“ James the Lord Brother ” argued - in relation to Amos 9:11 f. LXX - with God's' restoration of the ruined tent of David ' and [God's commandment:] Then the others should begin to seek the Lord, all the heathen peoples over whom my name has been called and who have therefore always belonged to me.' James: "Therefore I am in favor of not placing unnecessary burdens on those of the Gentiles who have been converted to God."

Announcement of the decision

The “ Apostle Council ” (Berger / Nord) decided, together with the letter, “to appoint two men from among their number who were to travel to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas, namely Judas, called Bar Sabbas , and Silvas , both leading personalities of the community . ”This ensured the legitimacy of the bearer. “After they arrived in Antioch, they delivered the letter to the assembled community. When the letter was read out, everyone was happy about the encouraging decision. "

Berger / Nord, who date a constitution of the Acts of the Apostles to the end of the 1960s AD, point out that “the Act of the Apostles (Act 15.20) drawn up at the so-called Apostle Convention (approx. 48 AD ) within this Book is repeated more often [and ...] the addressee area was about a coexistence of Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians. "The legitimacy and necessity of a circumcision-free Gentile mission is justified."

Different points of view and practice within Judaism

Orthodox Judaism

The Orthodox Judaism believes that the Torah (both the written Torah as it was narrated in the Hebrew Bible, and the oral Torah, which the Talmud was verschriftlicht) Moses at Sinai was revealed by God and therefore that the Halacha ( the legal part of the tradition of Judaism) is binding.

According to Halacha , the Brit Mila is not a prerequisite for belonging to Judaism; In terms of religious law, this is already given by descent from a Jewish mother. According to the Halacha, the Brit Mila is a religious duty ( mitzvah ) of the father of the child in male descendants as a confirmation of the covenant with God ; If the father does not comply with this obligation, it is passed on to the son himself when he reaches religious majority at the age of 13.

Ultra-Orthodox ritual Metzitzah B'peh

In some ultra-Orthodox communities, especially in Israel and the USA, the mohel sucks the blood from the wound directly on the child's penis with the mouth as the conclusion of the circumcision (“Metzitzah B'peh”). This practice is highly controversial as it can infect the child with herpes simplex type 1, with the risk of brain damage and death.

According to a 2012 study by the United States' Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC ), around 3,600 newborn boys per year within the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community in New York City (which has around 250,000 members) underwent this variant of the procedure. From November 2000 to December 2011, eleven cases were known in which the circumcised infants were infected with herpes; ten had to be treated in hospital. Two of them suffered permanent brain damage and two of them died. The number of unreported cases is unknown. The 2005 appeal by Michael Bloomberg , New York City Mayor, to distance oneself from this practice was denied on the grounds that oral-genital circumcision was safe. Rabbi David Zwiebel claimed in June 2012 that regulation would push the ceremony underground and make it riskier. In September 2012 the “New York City Board of Health” passed a regulation that a mohel may only perform a Metzitzah B'peh if the boy's parents had given their prior written consent.

Non-Orthodox Judaism

The World Union for Progressive Judaism (WUPJ), which by its own account represents 1.8 million Jews, advocated the right to continue circumcision in 2012 in the circumcision debate in Germany at the time. She described circumcision as "an essential part of our covenant with the Eternal".

A minority (growing according to their own account) in non-Orthodox communities instead of the Brit Mila practices the Brit Shalom , a pure naming ceremony without circumcision. In the whole of Great Britain, with a Jewish population of almost 300,000, the Brit Shalom is practiced around 50 times a year, mostly in secular Jewish communities with the sons of mixed-religious couples, if the non-Jewish parent rejects circumcision. Even rabbis of progressive Judaism there have never heard of this "alternative".

Situation in Israel, Theodor Herzl

In Israel , according to Rabbi Moshe Morsenau, Head of Unit for circumcision (brit milah) 2011 a total of about 60,000 circumcisions found in the office of the Israeli Chief Rabbinate, instead.

The proportion of uncircumcised Jewish sons in Israel is estimated by opponents of circumcision at two to three percent and the number of families who have renounced a Brit Mila at several thousand.

Even Theodor Herzl , the founder of modern political Zionism , did not circumcise his son. However, the son Hans was born in 1891, at a time when Theodor Herzl did not identify with Judaism (and recommended a mass baptism of Jews in St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna to solve the Jewish question ).

Legal and social controversy in Germany

Rabbi Yitshak Ehrenberg gives his kippah to the Muslim representative Kenan Kolat during a demonstration for male circumcision on Bebelplatz in Berlin on September 9, 2012.

The legal admissibility of a religiously motivated circumcision of minors in Germany has been the subject of controversial discussion for several years.

In Germany, circumcision was not explicitly regulated by law until 2012. It is undisputed that it - like a medical intervention - is actually a bodily harm . The prevailing opinion in jurisprudence has long assumed that the religiously motivated circumcision of minors by a doctor does not constitute unlawful bodily harm because it is justified by the parents' right to bring up children . The counter-opinion represented in parts of the literature, which affirms unlawful and therefore criminal bodily harm, has recently gained approval; the dispute is currently considered open.

With the signing of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and its entry into force in 1990, Germany undertook to "take all effective and appropriate measures to abolish traditional customs that are harmful to the health of children" in accordance with Article 24 of this Convention . However, there is no decision by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child that sees circumcision as a violation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Only the conditions under which circumcision are carried out in some countries are criticized. Article 14 II CRC guarantees the right of parents to guide their child in the exercise of his or her religious freedom. Insofar as the circumcision represents a sign of belonging to a religious-cultural group, it is expressly protected by Art. 30 CRC (Protection of Cultural Identity); The UN Committee for the Rights of the Child also attributes positive preventive health effects to it, provided that it is carried out according to the rules of medical art.

On January 1, 2002, Section 1631 of the German Civil Code was amended to include the child's right to a non-violent upbringing (Paragraph 2). Also in 2002, the OVG Lüneburg decided that a child in need of social assistance is entitled to the fact that, analogous to the assumption of costs at first communion, the social assistance provider must also bear the doctor's costs for religiously motivated circumcision. In the specific case, it was a Muslim boy.

In August 2007, the Frankfurt Higher Regional Court found that the decision on circumcision because of the "physical change that cannot be reversed [...] falls within the core area of ​​a person's right to determine himself and his life" . A father who had no custody and who had the operation carried out without the mother's consent then had to pay compensation for pain and suffering.

According to a ruling by the Cologne Regional Court on May 7, 2012, circumcision of minors for religious reasons is unlawful bodily harm , since the right to the child's physical integrity is specified and a. In the right to a non-violent upbringing , because of the finality of the operation, outweighs the parents' right to upbringing and their religious freedom . In addition, this change runs counter to the child's interest in being able to decide later about his or her religious affiliation.

See also: Practical Concordance

The ruling led to a broad social debate about the subject, which had previously largely been ignored by the public. Matthias Drobinski said that some circumcision critics "with serious arguments, others with anti-Semitic and Islamophobic tones and undertones" called for the right to physical integrity to be placed above the right to religious freedom. The opponents of the circumcision ban were met with "the furor of those [...] who did not understand that the state should protect a strange, sinister rite here". The circumcision critic Tilman Jens , on the other hand, spoke of a blanket and unjustified accusation of anti-Semitism that would become “the ultimate argument for manslaughter in an ideologically excessively fluffed debate”.

As a result of the Cologne ruling, politicians from almost all parties in the Bundestag took action to explicitly allow religiously motivated circumcision by law: On July 19, 2012, the German Bundestag voted with a large majority for a joint motion for a resolution by the Christian Democratic Union of Germany / CSU , SPD and FDP , which called on the federal government to “submit a draft law that ensures that a medically professional circumcision of boys without unnecessary pain is fundamentally permissible”. Only the left-wing faction abstained by a majority.

In August 2012, Israel's Ashkenazi chief rabbi Jona Metzger held talks with the federal government regarding the planned circumcision law and spoke out against further anesthesia of the infants. This has been criticized by the Central Council of Jews and the General Rabbinical Conference as "an unprecedented act of interference in the religious and political affairs of an independent Jewish community outside of Israel" or "not helpful".

On August 23, the German Ethics Council met for a plenary session. Several speakers spoke on the topic of religious circumcision . Leo Latasch , Ilhan Ilkilic , Reinhard Merkel , Wolfram Höfling and Peter Dabrock took part in the public plenary session . Christiane Woopen chaired the meeting . Despite “profound differences”, four minimum requirements were agreed for a legal regulation: comprehensive information and consent of custodians, qualified pain treatment, professional implementation of the intervention and recognition of a development-dependent veto right of the boy concerned.

On September 28, 2012, a key issues paper prepared by the Federal Ministry of Justice was presented for an expert hearing. It proposed to add a section 1631d (circumcision of the male child) to the Civil Code , which entitles parents to effectively “consent to a medically unnecessary circumcision of the male child who is incapable of discernment and judgment, if this is done according to the medical rules Art should be performed ”. The child policy spokesman for the SPD , the Greens and the Left Party in the Bundestag jointly opposed the draft. Nevertheless, it was passed by the Federal Cabinet on October 10, 2012 as a draft law on the scope of personal care in the event of a male circumcision and submitted to the Federal Council in accordance with Article 76, Paragraph 2, Clause 1 of the Basic Law . On December 12, 2012, the German Bundestag passed the law on the extent of personal care in the event of a male circumcision by a vote of 434: 100 with 46 abstentions. The regulation came into force on December 28, 2012.

Legal situation in Austria

In Austria, as in Germany, bodily harm is punishable without a special regulation for circumcision. On the other hand - unlike in Germany - there is no express basic right to physical integrity in the Austrian constitutional laws , but according to § 146a ABGB “the use of force and the infliction of physical or mental suffering” by the parents is inadmissible. According to Section 90 (3) StGB, “a mutilation or other injury to the genitals that is likely to cause lasting impairment of sexual sensation” cannot even be consented to by adults. On the other hand, the “Israelite Law” entitles the Israelite Religious Society and its members to “lead children and young people outside of school through all traditional customs and educate them according to religious commandments” . The Austrian Ministry of Justice does not consider the circumcision of boys for religious reasons to be a criminal offense; this is justified by parental rights.

Council of Europe

At the beginning of October 2013, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe identified the circumcision of young boys for religious reasons, along with the genital mutilation of girls, as a cause of "particular concern" ( Council of Europe resolution 1952 (2013) ). The member states of the Council of Europe should therefore promote awareness of the risks of such practices and focus on the best interests of the child. Israel has called for the resolution to be withdrawn immediately. The Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Thorbjørn Jagland , announced a clarification that the Council of Europe protects religious freedom and that the practice of circumcision is in no way prohibited. In September 2015 the Parliamentary Assembly passed another resolution emphasizing the integral role of religions as part of civil society and the importance of religious freedom. With regard to circumcision, he recommended that his member states stipulate adequate qualifications on the part of those carrying out the work, compliance with medical and hygienic standards and comprehensive medical education for parents so that they can make a decision based on the best interests of the child.

history

Circumcision of John the Baptist, illustration from ca.1340

Circumcision in Biblical Personalities

There is no evidence in the Hebrew Bible to support the claim that there were (Jewish) exceptions in the Old Testament, such as Moses and Job , who were not circumcised . However, according to Jewish tradition, Moses was born without a foreskin.

Introduction of the Periah

According to the Israeli anthropologist and sociologist Nissan Rubin, a professor at Bar Ilan University , Jewish circumcision in the first two millennia did not contain the periah, the (thus complete) scraping of the inner foreskin from the glans. This was only imposed by the rabbis in the time of the Bar Kochba uprising (132–135 AD ), otherwise not mentioned in the Talmud and the Maccabees ( 1 Makk 1,11-15  EU ) explainable meshikhat orlah to make impossible. This restoration of the penis foreskin by stretching, known as epispasm, occurred frequently in the course of the Hellenistic influence, since in Greek society a visible glans was considered obscene and ridiculous.

Historical attempts to suppress the Brit Mila

The books of the 1st and 2nd Maccabees ( Old Testament , Bible ) are considered the oldest evidence of the suppression of the Brit Mila; they describe that King Antiochus IV. Epiphanes (* around 215 BC; † 164 BC) tried to Hellenize Judaism in his territory: “... He also forbade circumcision and commanded the people to be exposed to all impurities and to get used to pagan customs… The women who had their sons circumcised were killed, as Antiochus had commanded; the boys were hung around their necks in their houses and they were also killed who had circumcised them. "( 1 Makk 1,51-64  EU )" Two women were brought before because they had circumcised their sons. The children were tied to their chests and led around the whole city in public and finally thrown over the wall. "( 2 Makk 6,10  EU )

In communist regimes, among other aspects of religious practice, circumcision was suppressed, which has led to the fact that only a very small minority of Jewish men in Eastern Europe is circumcised. In the meantime, the willingness to be circumcised has increased significantly.

Circumcision and being circumcised under National Socialism

According to the racial doctrine advocated by the National Socialists, anyone who descended from Jewish grandparents was considered a Jew (see Nuremberg Laws ). Religious affiliation or circumcision played no role. Those who went into hiding or lived under a false identity in order to escape Nazi persecution could still find it fatal that they were circumcised, because they could be identified as Jews.

According to the racial arithmetic, “ half-Jewish ” people (with two Jewish grandparents) were classified as “full Jews” by the Nazi authorities if they were married to a Jew or belonged to a Jewish community. In the course of determining whether a “half-Jew” was to be classified as a “full Jew”, medical officers carried out examinations to determine the “racial characteristics”. Male subjects were always checked to see whether they had been circumcised.

Some survivors of the Shoa did not circumcise their sons born after the Holocaust because they were aware that circumcised boys or men in general suspicion were to be (or could be available at a future date) Jew.

Psychoanalytic consideration

The psychoanalysis of Sigmund Freud sees the circumcision and thereby fed castration anxiety as one of the most important causes of unconscious anti-Semitism. The striker editor Julius Streicher was z. B. so fixated on the subject that in private conversations he mentioned circumcision as often as "the Jews" per se.

Medical risks and complications

For medical risks and complications, see the Medical Complications section in the Circumcision and Ultra-Orthodox Metzitzah B'peh Ritual in that article.

literature

  • Andreas Blaschke: Circumcision. Testimonies from the Bible and related texts (= texts and works on the New Testament age. Volume 28). Francke, Tübingen / Basel 1998, ISBN 3-7720-2820-9 (also dissertation at Heidelberg University, 1997/98)
  • Yigal Blumenberg: How can completeness arise from limitation? Psychoanalytic Considerations on Circumcision in the Jewish Tradition. In: Christina von Braun , Christoph Wulf (Hrsg.): Myths des Blutes. Campus, Frankfurt am Main 2007, ISBN 978-3-593-38349-1 , pp. 227-244.
  • Alfred Bodenheimer : Get away !: The Jews in the circumcision debate . Wallstein Verlag, Göttingen 2012, ISBN 978-3-8353-1244-9 .
  • Andreas Gotzmann: Beyond the Excitement - On the Construction of the Jewish in the Circumcision Debate. In: Matthias Franz (ed.): The circumcision of boys: A sad legacy. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2014, ISBN 978-3-525-40455-3 .
  • Klaus Gründwaldt: Exile and Identity. Circumcision, Passover, and Sabbath in the priestly scriptures. Frankfurt am Main 1997, ISBN 3-445-09148-X .
  • Johannes Heil, Stephan Kramer (ed.): Circumcision: The sign of the covenant in criticism: On the debate about the Cologne judgment . Metropol, Berlin 2012, ISBN 978-3-86331-098-1 .
  • Franz Maciejewski: Psychoanalytic Archive and Jewish Memory: Freud, Circumcision and Monotheism. Passagen Verlag, Vienna 2002, ISBN 3-85165-555-9 .
  • Israel-Jakob Schur: The nature and motives of circumcision in the light of the Old Testament sources and ethnology. Central tryckeriet, Helsingfors 1937.
  • Jonathan Seidel, Judith Baskin, Leonard Snowman: Circumcision . In: Fred Skolnik, Michael Berenbaum (eds.): Encyclopaedia Judaica . 2nd Edition. Thomson Gale, Detroit 2006, ISBN 0-02-865928-7 .
  • Jérome Segal: Circumcision from a Jewish-humanist perspective. In: Matthias Franz (ed.): The circumcision of boys: A sad legacy. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2014, ISBN 978-3-525-40455-3 .
  • Peter Stein: Mohel book. Edited by the Israelitische Kultusgemeinde Endingen / Aargau. Menes-Verlag, Baden im Aargau 1999, DNB 968459625 .
  • Nicole Steiner: The religiously motivated circumcision of boys in the light of criminal law: At the same time a contribution to the possibilities and limits of parental consent . Dissertation. Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 2013, ISBN 978-3-428-14154-8 .
  • Ulrich Zimmermann: Child circumcision and child baptism. Exegetical, dogma-historical and biblical-theological considerations on an old context of justification. (= Contributions to the understanding of the Bible. Volume 15). Lit, Hamburg 2006, ISBN 3-8258-9193-3 (dissertation; table of contents ; PDF; 211 kB)

Web links

Commons : Brit Mila  - collection of images, videos and audio files

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ [1]
  2. ↑ a b Peter Bollag: Sleek type . In: Jüdische Allgemeine . November 17, 2011.
  3. ↑ Claus Westermann: Genesis 12-36 . In: BKAT . tape I / 2 , 1981, pp. 301-328 .
  4. ↑ a b Schulchan Aruch , Jore Deah 261: 1
  5. ↑ Lubrich, Naomi, 1976-, Jewish Museum of Switzerland: Jewish Switzerland: 50 objects tell history = Jewish Switzerland: 50 objects tell their stories . 1st edition. Basel, ISBN 978-3-85616-847-6 .
  6. ↑ "Concerns about the Brit Mila for medical reasons can be countered by performing the circumcision according to the latest surgical standard, using suitable anesthesia." ( Antje Yael Deusel : Circumcision and Jewish Identity . Website of the General Rabbinical Conference Germany )
  7. ↑ “[the baby] does not even receive a local anesthetic, because the covenant with God has to be carried out with full consciousness, so to speak. Of course the baby cries, of course the procedure hurts. ”( Paul Spiegel : What is kosher? Jewish faith, Jewish life. Munich 2003, p. 40)
  8. ↑ a b Thorsten Schmitz : The Scream. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung . August 7, 2012, p. 3.
  9. ^ Shulchan Aruch , Jore Deah 264
  10. ^ Shulchan Aruch , Jore Deah 268: 1
  11. ↑ Quotations from: Klaus Berger , Christiane Nord : The New Testament and early Christian writings. Insel, Frankfurt am Main / Leipzig 1999, p. 538 ff.
  12. ↑ Berger / Nord: The New Testament and early Christian writings. 1999, p. 506.
  13. ^ Benjamin Gesundheit et al.: Neonatal Genital Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1 Infection After Jewish Ritual Circumcision: Modern Medicine and Religious Tradition . In: Pediatrics . tape 114 , no. 2 , August 2004, p. e259 – e263 , doi : 10.1542 / peds.114.2.e259 , PMID 15286266 ( aappublications.org [PDF; 306 kB ; accessed on November 16, 2012]).
  14. ^ New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene
  15. ↑ cdc.gov June 8, 2012: Neonatal Herpes Simplex Virus Infection Following Jewish Ritual Circumcisions that Included Direct Orogenital Suction - New York City, 2000–2011
  16. ^ A b Sharon Otterman: City Urges Requiring Consent for Jewish Rite . In: nytimes.com June 12, 2012.
  17. ↑ Martin Gehlen, Lars Halter: Circumcision: It is routine in the USA . In: Der Tagesspiegel . June 28, 2012.
  18. ↑ nytimes.com September 13, 2012
  19. ↑ WUPJ: Can a German court forbid religious circumcision? In: Hagalil . June 28, 2012.
  20. ^ Jacob Victor: Activists Up Efforts To Cut Circumcision Out of Bris Ritual . In: The Jewish Daily Forward . July 20, 2007.
  21. ^ Brit without cut , Jüdische Allgemeine, August 30, 2012
  22. ↑ Facts & Myths in the Circumcision Debate, AJC Berlin Lawrence & Lee Ramer Institute for German Jewish Relations, November 15, 2012.
  23. ↑ The Intactivism Pages: Brit Milah without
  24. ↑ Why do Muslims and Jews circumcise their sons? In: The world . June 28, 2012.
  25. ↑ See Holm Putzke : The criminal relevance of the circumcision of boys. At the same time, a contribution about the limits of consent in cases of personal care. In: H. Putzke et al. (Ed.): Criminal law between system and telos. Festschrift for Rolf Dietrich Herzberg. Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen 2008, pp. 669-709; Günter Jerouschek : Circumcision and German Law - Historical, Medical, Psychological and Legal Aspects. In: New Journal for Criminal Law (NStZ). 6/2008, pp. 313-319; Maximilian Stehr, Holm Putzke, Hans-Georg Dietz: Circumcision in boys who are unable to consent: criminal law consequences even with religious reasons. In: Deutsches Ärzteblatt . 2008, pp. A 1778-1780; K.-A. Schwarz: Constitutional aspects of religious circumcision. In: JuristenZeitung . (JZ). 2008, 1125; Rolf Dietrich Herzberg : religious freedom and child welfare. In: Journal for International Criminal Law Doctrine . (ZIS). 2010, p. 471 ff. ( PDF; 88 KB ) with further evidence on the dispute
  26. ^ Thomas Fischer: Criminal Code and ancillary laws. 55th edition. Beck, Munich 2008, ISBN 978-3-406-56599-1 , § 223 marginal no. 6b.
  27. ^ Thomas Fischer: Criminal Code and ancillary laws. 59th edition. Beck, Munich 2012, § 223 No. 6c.
  28. ↑ Article 24 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
  29. ↑ Deutschlandradio (ed.): Historians call circumcision judgment “gross nonsense” .
  30. ↑ Stefanie Schmahl : Commentary on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child with additional protocols (hand commentary). Baden-Baden 2013, ISBN 978-3-8329-7650-7 , paragraph 7f on Article 14.
  31. ↑ NJW 2003, p. 3290; Decision of July 23, 2002 - 4 ME 336/02 .
  32. ↑ OLG Frankfurt, Az. 4 W 12/07 of August 21, 2007
  33. ↑ http://dejure.org/
  34. ↑ Matthias Drobinski: How much religion does a modern and plural society need, tolerate and endure? In: Dorte Huneke (Hrsg.): Quite German - considerations from the immigration country Germany. Federal Agency for Civic Education , Bonn 2013, ISBN 978-3-8389-0386-6 , p. 129 ( PDF download ).
  35. ^ Tilman Jens: The fall of man under the rule of law. A pamphlet on the new religious struggle. Given the occasion . Gütersloher Verlagshaus, Gütersloh 2013, ISBN 978-3-579-06632-5 , p. 87.
  36. ^ The resolutions of the Bundestag from July 19, 2012
  37. ↑ Plenary Protocol 17/189 of July 19, 2012, p. 35 ; (PDF; 1.5 MB)
  38. ↑ sueddeutsche.de
  39. ↑ Martin Krauss : "Debate unnecessarily burdensome" Central Council strongly criticizes statements from Israel. In: Jüdische Allgemeine . August 27, 2012.
  40. ↑ Lectures and discussions on the topic of "Religious Circumcision" ( Memento of the original from August 27, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. - Documents of the plenary meeting on August 23, 2012 of the German Ethics Council. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.ethikrat.org
  41. ↑ Ethics Council recommends legal and professional standards for circumcision ( Memento of the original from August 27, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. - Press release from the German Ethics Council. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.ethikrat.org
  42. ↑ a b Controversial draft law: Opposition and child protection activists criticize circumcision rules . In: Spiegel Online . September 27, 2012.
  43. ↑ Circumcision: Full throttle into the BGB . In: Doctors newspaper . 4th October 2012.
  44. ^ Circumcision: Opposition to the Ministry of Justice's bill . In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung . September 27, 2012.
  45. ↑ bmjv.de
  46. ↑ Basic printed matter, committee recommendation and decision printed matter of the Federal Council, each as a PDF
  47. ↑ current version of the AGBG . Legal information system of the Austrian Federal Chancellery.
  48. ↑ current version of the StGB . Legal information system of the Austrian Federal Chancellery.
  49. ↑ Law concerning the regulation of the external legal relationships of the Israelite religious society . Legal information system of the Austrian Federal Chancellery.
  50. ↑ Bodily harm with consent not punishable. In: The Standard . July 27, 2012, accessed August 13, 2012.
  51. ↑ Henning Klingen: End of the circumcision debate required. In: Deutschlandradio. 2nd August 2012.
  52. ^ Oskar Deutsch about circumcision, the legal situation and religious freedom in Austria. In: Jüdische Allgemeine. 2nd August 2012.
  53. ↑ Resolution 1952 of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe from 1 October 2013: Children's right to physical integrity, .
  54. ↑ Israel calls for the withdrawal of the European resolution on circumcision.
  55. ↑ Interview with Detlef David Kauschke: "We protect religious freedom". In: Jüdische Allgemeine. November 7, 2013.
  56. ↑ Resolution 2076 of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe of September 30, 2015
  57. ↑ David Gollaher: The Wounded Sex. Aufbau-Verlag, Berlin 2002, ISBN 3-351-02540-8 , p. 55.
  58. ↑ Babylonian Talmud , Sotah 12a
  59. ↑ Avot de-Rabbi Nathan 2: 5
  60. ^ Nissan Rubin: Brit Milah: A Study of Change in Custom. In: The Covenant of Circumcision: New Perspectives on an Ancient Jewish Rite. University Press of New England, Lebanon 2003, ISBN 1-58465-307-8 , p. 87.
  61. ↑ see for example the report on Hans Vieregg
  62. ↑ Alexander Mitscherlich and Margarete Mitscherlich , The inability to mourn. Basics of collective behavior. 1967, ISBN 3-492-20168-7 .
  63. ↑ Alphons Silbermann , Herbert A. Sallen : Latent anti-Semitism in the Federal Republic. In: Cologne journal for sociology and social psychology . 28/1976, pp. 706-723.
  64. ^ Gustave M. Gilbert : Nürnberger Tagebuch. Conversations between the accused and the forensic psychologist. Frankfurt 1962, ISBN 3-436-02477-5 .