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Home Circumcisions Appealing to Christian Parents
Jewish Community's Mohels Infuse 'Holistic' Procedure With Spiritual Meaning
By Nicole Neroulias
Religion News Service
Saturday, August 23, 2008; Page B09
Mark Kushner pulled up to the Watson family's suburban Philadelphia home a week after the birth of their first son, Colin. In the dining room, he unpacked the tools of his trade: sterilized surgical instruments, topical anesthetic, prayer shawls and a small bottle of kosher wine.
The shawls went back into his black bag. But to Megan and Christopher Watson's happy surprise, the mohel -- pronounced "moyle," the title for a Jewish ritual circumciser -- had copies of several prayers appropriate for the Presbyterian parents to read for the occasion.
"We thank You for the miracle of human experience in the birth of our child," they recited while Kushner gently rocked their infant before the procedure.
Kushner, who is based in Philadelphia, and Philip Sherman, a mohel in the New York City area, say they have performed more than 30,000 circumcisions since training together in Israel in the 1970s. Most of their business comes from traditional brith milah ceremonies for 8-day-old Jewish boys. But in recent years, they have increasingly catered to Christian families who eschew a hospital procedure in favor of a $300 to $800 house call, a trend Sherman has dubbed "holistic circumcision."
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"They want their babies circumcised in the comfort of their homes surrounded by family and friends, and they want it performed by someone highly experienced, who brings spirituality and meaning to the practice," he said. "And it's over in 30 seconds, compared to what hospitals do, which can be from 20 to 45 minutes, with the baby strapped down."
Many Christian clients, including the Watsons, liked what they saw at a friend's brith milah, also known as a bris. Others are conservative Christians who want to follow Old Testament tradition or learned about holistic circumcisions from the Internet, their doctors or others, Kushner said.
Yet this anecdotal rise in Christians calling on mohels comes as the U.S. circumcision rate, historically much higher than in other parts of the world, is in decline. In contrast to the 85 percent reported in 1965, in 1999 just 65 percent of all male newborns in U.S. hospitals were circumcised, according to the most recent figures from the National Hospital Discharge Survey. Reliable data on religious circumcisions outside hospitals are hard to come by.
Medical studies suggest that circumcision might reduce the risk of penile cancer, urinary tract infections and HIV transmission. But since 1999, the American Academy of Pediatrics has stated that there is "insufficient data to recommend routine neonatal circumcision."
Critics argue that the procedure causes the child physical and psychological pain and diminishes sexual pleasure during adulthood, regardless of whether the foreskin is removed in a clinical setting by medical residents or during a brith milah among loved ones.
Ronald Goldman, executive director of the Circumcision Resource Center in Boston, compares the procedure to removing a fingertip. He calls it "traumatic" and said it "removes a natural, healthy, functioning body part." Many families continue the trend only because men want their sons to look like them, he added, and women don't feel that it's their place to argue.
Megan Watson acknowledges that she had mixed feelings about having Colin circumcised but deferred to her husband's judgment. At least at home, she said, they could comfort their son throughout the process and she could soon breast-feed him.
As Christopher Watson held his screaming baby's legs still on the tabletop pillow, Kushner snipped the foreskin. The process took less than a minute.
The infant's wails soon surrendered to a wine-dipped cotton swab, then his mother's breast, while Kushner relayed a list of instructions about how to care for the child over the next three days.
A week later, with Colin completely healed, his mother said she would wholeheartedly recommend to other non-Jewish families who want their sons circumcised that they use a mohel.
"Everything is wonderful. We've been having some good sleep-filled nights; Colin's been sleeping about four, five hours at a time," Watson said. "He's a pretty happy baby."http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/22/AR2008082202673.html?hpid=sec-religion
Jewish Community's Mohels Infuse 'Holistic' Procedure With Spiritual Meaning
By Nicole Neroulias
Religion News Service
Saturday, August 23, 2008; Page B09
Mark Kushner pulled up to the Watson family's suburban Philadelphia home a week after the birth of their first son, Colin. In the dining room, he unpacked the tools of his trade: sterilized surgical instruments, topical anesthetic, prayer shawls and a small bottle of kosher wine.
The shawls went back into his black bag. But to Megan and Christopher Watson's happy surprise, the mohel -- pronounced "moyle," the title for a Jewish ritual circumciser -- had copies of several prayers appropriate for the Presbyterian parents to read for the occasion.
"We thank You for the miracle of human experience in the birth of our child," they recited while Kushner gently rocked their infant before the procedure.
Kushner, who is based in Philadelphia, and Philip Sherman, a mohel in the New York City area, say they have performed more than 30,000 circumcisions since training together in Israel in the 1970s. Most of their business comes from traditional brith milah ceremonies for 8-day-old Jewish boys. But in recent years, they have increasingly catered to Christian families who eschew a hospital procedure in favor of a $300 to $800 house call, a trend Sherman has dubbed "holistic circumcision."
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"They want their babies circumcised in the comfort of their homes surrounded by family and friends, and they want it performed by someone highly experienced, who brings spirituality and meaning to the practice," he said. "And it's over in 30 seconds, compared to what hospitals do, which can be from 20 to 45 minutes, with the baby strapped down."
Many Christian clients, including the Watsons, liked what they saw at a friend's brith milah, also known as a bris. Others are conservative Christians who want to follow Old Testament tradition or learned about holistic circumcisions from the Internet, their doctors or others, Kushner said.
Yet this anecdotal rise in Christians calling on mohels comes as the U.S. circumcision rate, historically much higher than in other parts of the world, is in decline. In contrast to the 85 percent reported in 1965, in 1999 just 65 percent of all male newborns in U.S. hospitals were circumcised, according to the most recent figures from the National Hospital Discharge Survey. Reliable data on religious circumcisions outside hospitals are hard to come by.
Medical studies suggest that circumcision might reduce the risk of penile cancer, urinary tract infections and HIV transmission. But since 1999, the American Academy of Pediatrics has stated that there is "insufficient data to recommend routine neonatal circumcision."
Critics argue that the procedure causes the child physical and psychological pain and diminishes sexual pleasure during adulthood, regardless of whether the foreskin is removed in a clinical setting by medical residents or during a brith milah among loved ones.
Ronald Goldman, executive director of the Circumcision Resource Center in Boston, compares the procedure to removing a fingertip. He calls it "traumatic" and said it "removes a natural, healthy, functioning body part." Many families continue the trend only because men want their sons to look like them, he added, and women don't feel that it's their place to argue.
Megan Watson acknowledges that she had mixed feelings about having Colin circumcised but deferred to her husband's judgment. At least at home, she said, they could comfort their son throughout the process and she could soon breast-feed him.
As Christopher Watson held his screaming baby's legs still on the tabletop pillow, Kushner snipped the foreskin. The process took less than a minute.
The infant's wails soon surrendered to a wine-dipped cotton swab, then his mother's breast, while Kushner relayed a list of instructions about how to care for the child over the next three days.
A week later, with Colin completely healed, his mother said she would wholeheartedly recommend to other non-Jewish families who want their sons circumcised that they use a mohel.
"Everything is wonderful. We've been having some good sleep-filled nights; Colin's been sleeping about four, five hours at a time," Watson said. "He's a pretty happy baby."http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/22/AR2008082202673.html?hpid=sec-religion
: But he did it because no matter what, he was always giving his wife some kind of infection. Though he was very clean and showered in the morning and when he got home from work, she was coming down with infections from his sweat from down there. So I believe that may be the same reason for alot of people....for sanitary purposes.