brit milah

Katharina von Schnurbein speaks at a European Jewish Congress event in Vienna, in this undated photo. (Courtesy)

Interview

How the EU antisemitism warrior became a defender of kosher slaughter, circumcision

The bloc’s point person for fighting Jew-hatred, Katharina von Schnurbein, is an influential advocate for Jewish customs many consider controversial in Europe

June 26, 2023, 9:23 am

How the EU antisemitism warrior became a defender of kosher slaughter, circumcision

The bloc’s point person for fighting Jew-hatred, Katharina von Schnurbein, is an influential advocate for Jewish customs many consider controversial in Europe

By Canaan Lidor

Illustrative: A man examines his pants with a magnifying glass (Juleta Martirosyan; iStock by Getty Images)

May 19, 2023, 10:41 am

A single absentee mohel is thwarting dozens of converts at very end of their journey

The government’s Conversion Authority has a long backlog of men waiting for months for a 10-second circumcision inspection to be considered Jewish

By Canaan Lidor

Illustrative image of a brit mila in Jerusalem, December 12 , 2011. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

October 11, 2021, 4:10 am

New US Jewish group aims to normalize not circumcising, wants synagogues to help

Bruchim says it is giving a voice to those who seek other ways to join the Jewish covenant; retorts a Conservative rabbi: Brit milah ‘is about as basic to Judaism as you can get’

By Ben Harris

Illustrative image of newborn baby (Getty Images)

September 11, 2020, 5:38 pm

Parents flee hospital with seriously hurt baby after circumcision gone wrong

Police eventually track down couple and escort them to medical center to ensure baby gets treatment; child in stable condition, but requires emergency surgery

By ToI Staff

Rabbi Chaim Danzinger, left, introduces Dr. Yeshaya Shafit, second from left, to Jews awaiting circumcision at the synagogue of Rostov-on-Don in Russia, July 27, 2020. (Courtesy of the Jewish Community of Rostov/ via JTA)

August 14, 2020, 10:52 am

Russia has a full-time surgeon whose only job is circumcising Jewish men

Traveling from the western border with Europe to the far-flung eastern reaches close to Japan, Dr. Yeshaya Shafit, Russia’s only dedicated mohel, does about 10 procedures a week

By Cnaan Liphshiz

Illustrative: a Jewish circumcision ceremony in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

March 17, 2020, 4:52 pm

As corona cuts off borders, Oslo baby’s delayed circumcision is tip of iceberg

Small Jewish communities are left bereft of rabbis, cantors, and ritual circumcisers as countries attempt to stem spread of COVID-19

By Renee Ghert-Zand

Writer and director Quentin Tarantino and his wife Daniella Pick pose for photographers upon arrival at the UK premiere for Once Upon A Time in Hollywood, at a central London cinema, July 30, 2019. (Photo by Joel C Ryan/Invision/AP)

March 1, 2020, 3:00 pm

Tarantino and Israeli wife Daniella Pick name their first son Leo

Couple hold Jewish ritual circumcision, name baby after Pick’s grandfather — not after actor DiCaprio

By ToI Staff

From the WebFebruary 29, 2020, 2:40 am

Jewish women move into a male domain: Ritual circumcision

The New York Times: US Jews are increasingly turning to female mohels, many of whom are doctors but not all rabbis, to circumcise their newborns

The tools set for performing the ceremony of Brit Milha. May 15 2007 (Mendy Hechtman/Flash90)

February 25, 2020, 7:27 am

4 NY babies get herpes from Jewish circumcision rite in past 6 months

Cases reported since September from ‘metzitzah b’peh’; infants were hospitalized, received intravenous antiviral drugs and are now recovering

By Marcy Oster

Illustrative: Tools for a circumcision procedure. (Yaakov Naumi/Flash90)

January 12, 2020, 5:42 pm

Historic first Jewish circumcision ceremony held in Abu Dhabi

Chabad rabbi from Berlin performs procedure in United Arab Emirates capital for family that had previously lived in Germany

By ToI Staff

Dr. Sara Imershein in the abortion clinic where she works in Falls Church, Virginia, July 2, 2019. (Ron Kampeas)

July 22, 2019, 4:07 am

Physician says Jewish values drive her to provide circumcisions — and abortions

The motivation behind both of Dr. Sara Imershein’s seemingly disparate practices is ‘creating the family you want’

By Ron Kampeas

April 13, 2018, 3:33 pm

Hayim Leiter

The mother of all lies

Brit milah can be traumatic — for a parent; the babies simply do not experience ‘near-death distress’

Illustrative: A brit, or Jewish circumcision ceremony, in Berlin, Germany. (Sean Gallup/Getty Images via JTA)

February 23, 2018, 6:42 pm

500 Icelandic physicians back bill to outlaw circumcision

Doctors say ‘potential complications’ of Jewish, Mulim practice ‘should offset the benefits, which are few’

By JTA

January 18, 2018, 3:09 pm

Nathan Lopes Cardozo

Circumcision: Why risk your child’s welfare?

Monuments of stone may disappear; acts of commitment to God, ethics, or Jewish identity resound forever

August 7, 2017, 3:09 pm

David Shabtai

Who decides whose life is worth living?

There’s lousy precedent in Charlie Gard’s parents not being allowed to care for their 11-month-old as they saw fit