Circoncisione Infantile Maschile

Jewish Father's Letter to His Son

To my dear son Elijah,

I write this letter to explain to you and my family & community why I choose not to perform a circumcision upon you. On your 8th day of life, I choose to have a Brit Shalom ceremony instead of a Brit Milah. The Brit Shalom ceremony is a ceremony acknowledging one's covenant with God without performing the ritual circumcision.

As a Jewish boy I was circumcised according to tradition when I was 8 days old, but not by my choice. I am choosing not to circumcise you my son because after studying this important issue, I can find no compelling reason to do it, and in my heart I will not do it simply because tradition dictates it.

The essence of the bris ceremony to me is that I want to make a covenant with God and you in my heart. The covenant I make with God is to commit myself to a spiritual life, to develop myself as a spiritual being, and that I will walk on this planet with a good heart. I am a Jew and I am proud of who I am. My son, I commit to raising you up as a spiritual being, and as a Jew. I will guide you to develop values of loving kindness. I will encourage you to develop as a spiritual being, and I will teach you about the importance of being considerate and respectful of all living beings. I will also encourage you to be self-reflective, and to explore the deeper meanings and mysteries of life, the hidden truths behind the veil. I believe you have come to this earth with a big mission for healing and touching others through your service.

To fulfill this covenant, I do not need to perform a circumcision and mark you as a sign of this covenant. The covenant stands with or without the sign that by tradition mandates it. The sign is a sign and not the covenant itself.

I intend to give you the opportunity to bar mitzvah when you are 13, and we will celebrate and honor the Shabbat, as well as other sacred Jewish rituals in our lives. We will learn about the power of restriction and extending help to others. We will learn about being a mensch.

Let me tell you my reasoning behind making this choice. There are many practices of olden days that were sanctioned by the Torah that are no longer permitted today because we are more enlightened, such as: human sacrifice, animal sacrifice, and slavery. Other acts that were punishable by death include fornicating if you are female (yes, only the females), homosexuality, and insulting one's parents. These traditions no longer exist.

I suspect something has been misunderstood in the transmission of the circumcision ritual through the ages. I have read that in earlier times, only a sliver of the foreskin was removed. It was not completely cut as common practice until the second century CE. I do not know this for sure, but nothing is known for sure about this. Apparently the earliest versions of the Torah tell the entire story of Abraham except the part about the covenant being sealed with circumcision. That comes later. There is mention that it was done for health reasons. I have heard that when the Jewish people lived in the desert long ago there was not much water, and that created a danger with regards to cleanliness. In this day and age that is not a compelling reason to circumcise you. I have also read that the circumcision is a mark upon us that marks us as different. Today in the United States, circumcision is the norm for all males, Jews and gentiles alike. Today, it is not a mark as a Jew.

I believe that the act of circumcision would be a traumatic event for you my child. I believe that it would form an early record in your body of the trauma and would color and distort your perceptions throughout your life. I have heard it said that the pain is brief and easily recovered from. I don't believe this. I believe the circumcision will be a deep trauma for you, as you are such a highly sensitive being. I believe that you would begin experiencing life through the eyes of the trauma, feeling defended and contracted, moving with fear and distrust. I do believe that experiencing trauma is a part of life, and healing through trauma is a part of how we evolve as a species. I am choosing not to voluntarily offer this trauma to you when you are so young, so vulnerable and so trusting as you form the matrix of your life. I want you to experience life in these early days as trusting and feeling protected and safe. Traumas will come to you later and beyond my control, but I intend this to be after you have already experienced that you can trust your parents not to hurt you on purpose.
I have come into this life charged to question the deeper purpose behind what I do. I will not circumcise you my son only because it is tradition. The reasons that I have been given supporting circumcision do not move me, they do not compel me to perform this ritual. Rather my concern for your well being is much greater.

Modern medical science says that a circumcised male is more healthy than a male with an intact foreskin. Modern medical science also told us the tonsils were not important and took mine out. Now I understand the tonsils to be a very important part of my immune system, that I no longer have. The appendix is still considered a useless organ. I don't believe the creator gave us an appendix without reason. My understanding of today is that the appendix aids in finer digestion of our food. As regards to the foreskin, we have been told that it has no purpose. As I have read about the anatomy and physiology of the foreskin, actually it has many important functions. The foreskin is the most sensitive area of the penis, akin to the clitoris of a woman, and it also functions as a protective lubricating sheath for the penis.

When I examined my own penis once I began studying this issue, I found that the area where I have a scar where the foreskin was, is still the most sensitive area of my penis, yet I know that scar tissue does not have the same sensation capacity as original tissue, nor the elasticity of the original. I have wondered what I would have been like without a circumcision, and I think I would have been better off without it. I want to give you the gift of choice.

Many Jewish people today make choices about which Jewish laws and rituals they will follow or not follow. There is much discussion about these choices that we make- whether we will eat pork or not, will we keep separate dishes for dairy and meat dishes as we should not mix meat and dairy. Shall we keep kosher? Do we observe Shabbat? How closely do we follow the customs of observing all the restriction on certain holidays such as Yom Kippur. Of the many customs that are not adhered to in our times, the one that seems to be sacrosanct and unquestioned is the circumcision. Why is this ritual so primary to the Jewish identity?

I forgo pork, I do not mix meat and cheese, I celebrate and honor Shabbat as a very special holiday each week where we light the candles each week and acknowledge our connection with spirit as a family. I especially revel in the New Year of Rosh Hashanah as a time of inner reflection, and I embrace the restrictions on Yom Kippur and the insights I gain through this process of fasting, forgiving and letting go of the past. At the time of Passover, I am fascinated by the meaning and relevancy of the story as it applies to my life today. I celebrate my spirituality in these ways and share them with my family. I declare that I identify myself proudly as a Jew and yet I am choosing to not circumcise you, my son. I will look into my heart and follow my gut.

A passage I read by Ronald Goldman resonated with me, "A central purpose of Judaism is tikkun olam: repairing the world. Much of the pain in the world is a result of repeating old harmful patterns of behaviors. By breaking a chain of pain, forgoing circumcision contributes to our healing. As we heal from this pain, we will be better able to heal others and reach our ethical and spiritual potential."

So my son, you can choose for yourself to be circumcised when you come of age if it is important to you. I believe the psychological damage and painful trauma done to you at 8 days old would be much worse than anything endured at 13, when it may be done on your own accord, if you so choose.

With love,

your father, Gabriel



For more information on Judaism and circumcision, see this resource list.

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Circumcision 3-D view.

A CURA DI FACEBOOK-GLI ATTIVISTI DAL MONDO

What's wrong with Circumcision?





Doctors opposing circumcision
www.doctorsopposingcircumcision.org

Benefits to retaining foreskin
www.doctorsopposingcircumcision.org/info/benefit3.html

American Academy of Pediatrics statement on circumcision
www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1999/03/990302063210.htm

Mothers against circumcision
www.mothersagainstcirc.org/

Circumcision does NOT prevent HIV transmission
http://globalhealth.kff.org/Daily-Reports/...09-HIV-Circumci...

Proper care and cleaning of an uncircumcized penis
www.cirp.org/pages/parents/peron1/

For adult males who want to painlessly restore their foreskin www.cirp.org/pages/restore.html
www.restoringforeskin.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreskin_restoration
www.norm.org/

RELIGION SUPPORT

Christians for Wholeness
www.acts15.org/
Circumcision in the new testement
www.christiananswers.net/q-eden/circumcision.html

Catholics against circumcision
www.catholicsagainstcircumcision.org

Circumcision is not in the Quran
www.quranicpath.com/misconceptions/circumcision.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khitan_(circumcision)
Muslims Against the Circumcision of Boys and Girls
www.quran.org/khatne.htm

Jews against Circumcision
www.jewsagainstcircumcision.org/
Israel NewsLetter Against Circumcision
www.af-mila.org.il/

Types of circumcision
www.noharmm.org/comparison.htm





Link diretto: http://youtu.be/CeDg5ljSy6w

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Siamo sempre a tua disposizione, 24 ore al giorno, tutti i giorni!

ARTICOLI DI MEDICI, ETICI, EDUCATORI, PSICOLOGI, ASSOCIAZIONI X I DIRITTI DELL'INFANZIA, GENITORI, LO STAFF NE DECLINA OGNI RESPONSABILITA'. IL MATERIALE PRESENTE NEL FORUM E’ PUBBLICATO SENZA FINI DI LUCRO, E UTILIZZATO SOLO COME SCOPO DIVULGATIVO. L'ADM. NE DECLINA OGNI RESPONSABILITA' PENALE.

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Circoncision et traumatisme



David Chamberlain, Docteur en philosophie membre de "Association for Pre and Perinatal Psychology and Health" et James W. Prescott, également Docteur en philosophie, parlent du traumatisme lié à la circoncision infantile.

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Le saviez-vous ?

Le prépuce est une peau unique qui joue un rôle important dans la sexualité de l'homme et se voit irrémédiablement perdue lors de la circoncision !

Le prépuce est construit comme les lèvres, par une double couche. D'un côté, il y a la peau, vers l'extérieur, de l'autre une muqueuse. Cette partie interne est plus solide qu'elle n'en a l'air : elle résiste sans problème aux fréquentes frictions que le décalottage et le recalottage - le glissement du prépuce sur la verge - entraînent. La muqueuse est également imperméable, pour résister à l'humidité.

Enfin, le prépuce comporte une fine couche de muscles, à l'intérieur de la peau, comme le scrotum, la membrane qui entoure les testicules. Ces muscles jouent un rôle sur le plan sexuel.

Le prépuce est également doté d'un tissu sexuel très particulier, que l'on appelle la "bande striée" (ridged band en anglais). Il s'agit d'un tissu composé de nervures, cachées à l'intérieur du prépuce. De nombreux nerfs rendent cette zone particulièrement sensible, c'est pourquoi elle est essentielle dans la sexualité.

Doctor's used to believe babys couldn't feel pain?!



Link Diretto http://youtu.be/C9C6T9QoLTM

Even if it could be performed with zero pain, that still leaves open the ethical discussion of removing a healthy body part without the consent of the person whose body it is, and the medical discussion of what the functions of natural genitalia are. This wasn't just with circumcision but with any procedure on hospitalized newborns, from preemies to babies up to 18 months of age, have been routinely operated upon without benefit of pain-killing anesthesia. This has been the practice for decades but was unknown to the general public until 1985 when some parents discovered that their seriously ill premature babies had suffered major surgery without anesthesia. Up to this time, babies were typically given a form of curare to paralyze their muscles for surgery, making it impossible for them to lift a finger or make a sound of protest! This is an excerpt from the PBS-broadcast film "Whose body? Whose rights?".

Gli Attivisti dal Mondo




Amber Craig



One of the most influential people in the intactivist movement, Amber Craig, Director of NOCIRC North Carolina, has spent the last two decades educating people about the risks and harms of circumcision. The proud mother of four beautiful children and a licensed speech therapist, Amber was involved in the creation of Intact America, and she serves on the organization's Steering Committee. At the impressionable age of 11, Amber was shocked when she learned about circumcision. It was clear to her from the beginning that it is simply wrong to cut a body part of a healthy, normal child. Amber was equally horrified 15 years later when she became pregnant with a boy and was asked by medical professionals if she wanted her son circumcised. From that day on, Amber has been committed to ending the practice of infant circumcision in this country. In addition to leading NOCIRC of North Carolina, Amber has been active in the Medicaid defunding project—focused on eliminating the use of taxpayer dollars to circumcise baby boys. She has also written several articles countering the current hysteria claiming circumcision prevents HIV/AIDS.


Leonard Glick



Leonard Glick, MD, PhD, is a cultural anthropologist with a medical degree and author of Marked in Your Flesh: Circumcision from Ancient Judea to Modern America. He is also one of the most outspoken intactivists in the movement to end the ritual cutting of baby boys.


Gillian Longley



Gillian Longley, a neonatal nurse and devoted intactivist, has been co-coordinator of the Colorado chapter of the National Organization of Circumcision Information Resource Centers (NOCIRC) since 2005, and is a member of Intact America’s Board of Health Professionals. She speaks out frequently in defense of infants and their right to genital integrity, and has discussed circumcision and the intact penis with nurses, doctors, doulas, midwives, parents, legislators, and academic audiences. Her two-part "Mother Nurse Intactivist" video, which tells the story of how she became involved in intactivism, brings a loving, empathetic voice to the plight of nurses and mothers forced to deal with this barbaric practice.


Dr. Michelle Storms



A family physician and mother of three, Dr. Michelle Storms is an outspoken proponent of genital integrity. She witnessed her first circumcision while in her residency in Milwaukee. “I was appalled,” she says. “The baby writhed and screamed while being strapped down and cut.”
In 1988, Dr. Storms stopped performing circumcisions.


Amy Callan



Amy Callan is one of the main forces behind Intact America, but she wasn't always an intactivist. Amy has been a tireless proponent of babies' rights, attending conferences, organizing fundraising campaigns, and helping drive Intact America to the forefront of the pro-intact cause. She has become the face of Intact America, and an incredible resource of information, activism, and enthusiasm. "So many people have never thought about this issue before," she says. "When I mention it to my friends, they're surprised—but as soon as they listen to what I have to say, they understand why it's such a critical issue. That's my goal, to get people talking about it and thinking about it."


Shelton Walden



Shelton Walden is a media producer, videographer, and host/producer of "Walden's Pond," a weekly radio program on health, culture and politics that's been airing on New York's WBAI/Pacifica Radio since 1989. Shelton is also a long-time intactivist, donating his time and skills to helping Intact America in its efforts to reach the public with the message that circumcision is harmful and wrong.


Martha Roth



Martha Roth, an activist and midwife from Nyack, New York, says she doesn't deliver babies; rather, she "catches them." As a firm believer that, whenever possible, babies should be born at home, Martha has helped mothers bring more than 500 babies into the world. The Journal News recently featured an article about Martha and the practice of midwifery in New York’s Hudson Valley. Martha’s non-interventionist caregiving philosophy extends to keeping infant boys intact: she's been an intactivist and supporter of Intact America from the organization’s beginnings. Both she and her husband, actor and IA Board of Advocates member Bill Irwin, are outspoken proponents of the fight to end circumcision. “We embraced circumcision in America because of gross misinformation given to parents by doctors, says Martha. “It was easy to implement, little by little, but it’s become such a part of the medical industry that it’s difficult to eradicate. Those of us who do patient care have to re-educate parents one-by-one—to persuade them that the natural male body is just fine. I am so grateful that there is an organization—Intact America—that is doing the work to educate people on a national level."

Cost to keep circumcision off ballot: $100K

In the very public fight over a ballot measure aiming to ban circumcision of underage males in San Francisco, the Jewish-led coalition that succeeded in keeping the practice legal in the city spent more than six times what the ban’s proponents did.

The Committee Opposing Forced Male Circumcision, which backed the ballot measure that ultimately was forced to be withdrawn, spent $14,000 on their efforts, according to the most recent filings with the San Francisco Ethics Commission, covering political activity through the end of September.

The same filings show the Committee for Parental Choice and Religious Freedom, the political action committee (PAC) quickly organized by the Bay Area Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) to wage a fight against the ballot measure, spent nearly $99,000 on its efforts.

The sum is expected to rise, JCRC Associate Director Abby Michelson Porth said, because the PAC still must be officially terminated.

“The good news is it cost us a fraction of what it would have cost had the legal victory not occurred,” Porth said. A California Superior Court judge struck the measure from the ballot in July, saying it was preempted by an existing state law.

If that hadn’t happened, Porth said, the Jewish-led coalition would have had to run a full political campaign all the way up to the Nov. 8 election. “It would have cost upward of four times what we spent,” Porth said.

For their effort, the JCRC hired four separate political firms to run the campaign. Although the Ethics Commission filings included no mention of Morrison Foerster, a firm that worked pro bono on the legal challenge that successfully struck the measure from the ballot, they did reveal that early in the campaign, the JCRC-led coalition paid $36,000 to the polling firm Tulchin Research.

“We ran a political poll to gauge how San Francisco voters felt about this measure,” Porth said, “to understand what were the key messages and messengers that would influence San Francisco voters’ attitudes.”

The JCRC itself charged the PAC over $10,000 for employees’ salaries, including Porth, who spent time working to defeat the measure.

All donations of $100 or more made to a committee on either side of the ballot measure are listed in the documents obtained from the Ethics Commission. Supporters of the JCRC-led coalition were mostly individuals and organizations in the Bay Area; the largest individual contribution came in July from Roselyne Swig, a prominent Jewish San Francisco philanthropist, who donated $10,000. National Jewish groups helped as well, among them the Anti-Defamation League, which donated $25,000 to support beating back the ban.

The effort to ban [age-restrict] circumcision, by contrast, appears in the Ethics Commission documents to have been mostly supported by in-kind, non-monetary contributions.

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http://www.jewishjournal.com/community/article/cost_to_ke...

Few people respond to free male circumcision surgery

By David Adetona

After weeks of hearing about the protective effects of medical male circumcision against HIV/AIDS, a number of men in the Hardap region have failed to take advantage of a government move to provide free male circumcision surgical operation at the Mariental State Hospital.

Only about 90 patients have so far been circumcised in the last two weeks since the campaign started on Monday, 31 October. The programme ends Friday (11 November).

For the first seven days of the campaign a total of 50 patients were circumcised, 10 were done on the first day, eight people the following day, 15 patients on the third day and only one turned up on the fourth day.

“The public turnout for the campaign has been poor and disappointing despite extensive information dissemination prior to starting the operations. The number of registered or booked patient is over 200, which include those from Maltahohe, Hoachanas and Gibeon constituencies,” said Dr Samuel Lyimo, the principal medical officer at the Mariental State Hospital.

Challenges experienced so far includes: last minute drop outs, indecision on whether to accept the procedure despite counseling, and fear of the safety of the surgery despite efforts to educate the community about the whole process and its importance.

After this short campaign of two weeks, the hospital said it will continue doing male circumcisions as a routine procedure to all eligible male clients and therefore patients are still welcome for counseling, education, testing and thereafter circumcision.

“The importance of this procedure and its safety cannot be overemphasized,” Dr Lyimo said. [It sure is being!]

He added that the male circumcision procedure is safe and pain free since it is done under local anaesthesia with pain killers routinely prescribed after the operation.

As part of the procedure, patients received services that included a health check, counseling and testing for HIV/AIDS, screening for sexual transmitted infections and treatment, risk reduction counseling and condom promotion.

Dr Lyimo highlighted that circumcision is one of the measures for HIV/AIDS prevention. He said studies done in other African countries have proven that circumcision reduces the risk of HIV infection by up to 60%. [Or down to 0%.]

“It also reduces the risk of infection by some other sexually transmitted infections. Therefore, the male population in the community should not fear to have the procedure done to them and or their male children since it is one of the HIV/AIDS preventive measures,” he said.

He however advised that circumcised people should still practice safe sex by using a condom if there is need to have sex.

[Well if they don't need to have sex, they don't need any protection.]

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