Circumcision - Books On Amazon.com _{Check eBay.com!}

BOOK
Circumcision Exposed: Rethinking a Medical and Cultural Tradition
Billy Ray Boyd
$3.99

About this product:
An emotionally literate, culturally sensitive, yet fearless exploration of why the United States is the only country in the world to circumcise a majority of its baby boys for supposedly medical reasons. Includes various aspects of the practice, including its impact on sexuality.

BOOK
Contested Rituals: Circumcision, Kosher Butchering, and Jewish Political Life in Germany, 1843-1933
Robin Judd
$25.95

About this product:
In Contested Rituals, Robin Judd shows that circumcision and kosher butchering became focal points of political struggle among the German state, its municipal governments, Jews, and Gentiles. In 1843, some German-Jewish fathers refused to circumcise their sons, prompting their Jewish communities to reconsider their standards for membership. Nearly a century later, in 1933, another blood ritual, kosher butchering, served as a political and cultural touchstone when the Nazis built upon a decades-old controversy concerning the practice and prohibited it. In describing these events and related controversies that raged during the intervening years, Judd explores the nature and escalation of the ritual debates as they transcended the boundaries of the local Jewish community to include non-Jews who sought to protect, restrict, or prohibit these rites.

Judd argues that the ritual debates grew out of broad shifts in German politics: the competition between local and regional authority following unification, the possibility of government intervention in private affairs, the place of religious difference in the modern age, and the relationship of the German state to its religious and ethnic minorities, including Catholics. Anti-Semitism was only one factor driving the debates and it often functioned in unexpected ways. Judd gives us a new understanding of the formation of German political systems, the importance of religious practices to Jewish political leadership, the interaction of Jews with the German government, and the reaction of Germans of all faiths to political change.

BOOK
Female Circumcision: Multicultural Perspectives (Pennsylvania Studies in Human Rights)
$17.05

About this product:
Bolokoli,khifad,tahara,tahoor,qudiin,irua,bondo,kuruna,negekorsigin, andkene-kene are a few of the terms used in local African languages to denote a set of cultural practices collectively known as female circumcision. Practiced in many countries across Africa and Asia, this ritual is hotly debated. Supporters regard it as a central coming-of-age ritual that ensures chastity and promotes fertility. Human rights groups denounce the procedure as barbaric. It is estimated that between 100 million and 130 million girls and women today have undergone forms of this genital surgery.

Female Circumcision gathers together African activists to examine the issue within its various cultural and historical contexts, the debates on circumcision regarding African refugee and immigrant populations in the United States, and the human rights efforts to eradicate the practice. This work brings African women's voices into the discussion, foregrounds indigenous processes of social and cultural change, and demonstrates the manifold linkages between respect for women's bodily integrity, the empowerment of women, and democratic modes of economic development.

This volume does not focus narrowly on female circumcision as a set of ritualized surgeries sanctioned by society. Instead, the contributors explore a chain of connecting issues and processes through which the practice is being transformed in local and transnational contexts. The authors document shifts in local views to highlight processes of change and chronicle the efforts of diverse communities as agents in the process of cultural and social transformation.

BOOK
From Blessing to Violence: History and Ideology in the Circumcision Ritual of the Merina (Cambridge Studies in Social and Cultural Anthropology)
Maurice Bloch
$35.89

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The circumcision ritual of the Merina of Madagascar is seen by them primarily as a blessing, involving the transfer of the love and concern of the ancestors of their descendants. Yet the ritual ends in an act of ciolent wounding of the child. Similarily, while the ritual involves a symbolic assault on women, it is nonetheless welcomed by them as a mark of receiving the blessing of the ancestors. In this book, Maurice Bloch provides a detailed description and analysis of the Merina circumcision ritual today, offers an account of its history, and discusses the significance of his analysis for anthropological theories of ritual in general. Pursuing the theme of the combination of religious joy and illumination with violence, Professor Bloch explains how, at various times, the circumcision ceremony can be a familial ritual as well as glorification of a militarist and expansionist state, or associated with anti-colonial nationalism. Describing changes that have occurred in the form of the ritual over two centuries, Professor Bloch argues that in order to understand the properties of ritual in general, it is necessary to view it over a longer time scale than anthropologists have tended to do previously. Adopting such an historical perspective enables him to identify the stability of the Merina ritual's symbolic content, despite changes in its organisation, and dramatically changing politico-economic contexts. As well as presenting an original historical approach to the anthropological study of ritua;, Professor Bloch discusses a range of general theoretical issues, including the nature of ideology, and the relationship between images created in ritual and other types of knowledge. The book will appeal widely to scholars and students of anthropology, history, African studies, and comparative religion.

BOOK
Questioning Circumcision: A Jewish Perspective
Ronald Goldman
$10.14

About this product:
Endorsed by five rabbis, Questioning Circumcision: A Jewish Perspective is the first critical examination of the growing controversy of male infant circumcision with special attention to contemporary concerns of Jews.

Consider these facts:

Circumcision is not universal among Jews.

Jewish press articles have questioned circumcision.

A male child born of a Jewish mother is a Jew, whether he is circumcised or not.

Jewish circumcision has never had anything to do with health concerns.

Circumcision conflicts with significant Jewish laws and values.

An Israeli organization publicly opposes circumcision.

The circumcision debate in the Jewish community is visible and growing. An increasing number of Jews are choosing not to circumcise their sons. Yet for those Jews who are expecting a child and who want to explore their options, support for not circumcising their son can still be relatively hard to find.

The purpose of this book is to offer a clear understanding of what circumcision involves, to raise awareness about various concerns, to encourage Jews to take another look at our assumptions and feelings about circumcision, and to help resolve deep ethical, intellectual, and emotional conflicts. Though many readers will probably be expecting a child, the larger Jewish community may also recognize a need for considering some of the questions raised here. The practice of circumcision really concerns all of us.

According to the Council of Jewish Federations 1990 National (American) Jewish Population Survey, "ninety percent define being Jewish as being a member of a cultural or ethnic group." Less than half associated their Jewish identity with religion. Only 13 percent believe "the Torah is the actual word of God." According to the survey, the general trend is away from traditional Judaism and toward a nontraditional approach.

Questioning Circumcision: A Jewish Perspective is written from a nontraditional viewpoint and is intended particularly for nontraditional Jews. It addresses the main concerns that nontraditional Jews are examining. This book is intended to stimulate further discussion on this important subject. We owe it to our children to educate ourselves and do what is best for them.

(For those who choose not to circumcise their son, the Appendix includes examples of alternative rituals.)

FOREWORD

Generally, we circumcise our sons without really knowing the effects of what we are doing. We prefer to think of circumcision as a trivial matter. We believe that because it has been done for so many years by so many, that it must be harmless. This book eloquently and effectively questions these assumptions. For the first time, Questioning Circumcision: A Jewish Perspective provides the Jewish community with a clear, rational, and sensitive examination of this practice. Dr. Goldman discusses all the aspects of Jewish circumcision that would be of interest to most Jews.

I learned a lot from reading this book. In recent years researchers have discovered much about infants and the effects of surgical procedures on them. (Whether there is a religious ritual or not, circumcision is a surgical procedure.) There is also evidence that infant circumcision can have long-term effects lasting even into adulthood. Dr. Goldman presents this new information in a lucid, well-documented discussion.

Questioning Circumcision: A Jewish Perspective is not just the view of one person. It contains the words of dozens of Jews, including rabbis past and present, who question circumcision. There are many compelling statements made by those who have witnessed circumcisions and have been circumcised. Their words and feelings give us reason to pause and reflect.

The author's psychological approach to the topic is especially valuable. It is exactly what we need to take a close look not only at ritual circumcision, but also at ourselves. With insight, understanding, and compassion, this book answers questions we have been afraid to ask, and asks questions that have not yet occurred to us.

For some readers, the contents of this book will confirm what you have felt for decades. For others, this book will challenge much of what you believe. Whatever your feelings are regarding circumcision, this book can affect you profoundly.

Questioning Circumcision: A Jewish Perspective speaks for many more of us than we are willing to admit. It performs a great service to Jews because it opens a long overdue discussion. I agree with Dr. Goldman that questioning circumcision will ultimately benefit and strengthen the Jewish community.

I highly recommend Questioning Circumcision: A Jewish Perspective particularly to expectant mothers and fathers early in their pregnancy so that they may have ample time to ponder its contents. I also recommend it to rabbis who counsel on the merits of circumcision, so they can offer a more informed perspective on this ritual.

Rabbi Raymond Singer, Ph.D. Neuropsychologist

BOOK
Prisoners of Ritual: An Odyssey into Female Genital Circumcision in Africa (Haworth Women's Studies)
Hanny Lightfoot-Klein
$62.40

About this product:
This unique volume focuses on the psychosexual and social effects of female genital mutilation, an ancient, deeply entrenched custom saturating the larger part of Africa. Over a period of six years, Author Hanny Lightfoot-Klein trekked through outlying areas of Sudan, Kenya, and Egypt, where she lived with a number of African families. What she learned by way of in-depth personal interviews and firsthand observation has enabled her to add a previously unknown and often astonishing dimension to our knowledge of ritual practices and human sexuality. This valuable book will be extremely helpful to professionals and scholars in women's studies, social psychology, psychotherapy, psychiatry, gynecology, sexology, as well as cross-cultural and African studies. It should also interest anyone who is concerned with male circumcision in the United States.

BOOK
Bris Milah: Circumcision (Artscroll Mesorah Series) (Hebrew Edition)
Nosson Scherman
$15.00

About this product:
The traditions, laws and customs of this momentous occasion presented by a leading Mohel. Includes explanations and backgrounds; a section answering many questions concerning the naming of a child; laws pertaining to adoptiions; medical causes for postponement; a Bris on the Sabbath and Festivals, etc.; text of the ritual and prayers with translation and commentary.

BOOK
The Typological Imaginary: Circumcision, Technology, History
Kathleen Biddick
$42.50

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In this book Kathleen Biddick investigates the fate of the enduring timelines fabricated by early Christians to distinguish themselves from their Jewish neighbors. Ranging widely across the history of text, technology, and book art, she relates three interwoven stories: the Christians' translation of circumcision into a graphic problem of writing on the heart; the temporal construction of Christian notions of history based on the binary supersession of an Old Testament past by the present of a new dispensation; and the traumatic repetition of the graphic cutting off of Christians from Jews in academic history and anthropology.

Moving beyond well-studied theological polemics, Biddick works from the relatively unfamiliar vantage point of the graphic technologies used in medieval and early modern texts and print sources, from maps to trial transcripts to universal histories. Addressing current concerns about the posthuman condition by linking them to a deeper genealogy of disembodiment at the technological heart of imaginary fantasies, she argues that such supersessionary practices extend to contemporary psychoanalytic and postcolonial texts, even as they propose alternative ways of thinking about memory and temporality. Crucial to Biddick's study is the ethical challenge of unbinding the typological imaginary, not in order to disavow theological difference but rather to open up the encounter between Christian and Jew to less deadening teleological readings.

Making a significant contribution to the large debate over the transition from "scriptural" to "scientific" culture in Europe, The Typological Imaginary also succeeds in shedding light on the centrality of Jews to medieval and Enlightenment history.

BOOK
The Circumcision
Gyorgy Dalos
$8.49

About this product:
A self-proclaimed ‘Hungarian Communist Jew for Christ’, twelve-year-old Robi Singer has a lot on his plate. He is a ‘half-orphan’, he is painfully overweight and what’s more, he has yet to be circumcised. With his Bar Mitzvah fast approaching, the pressure is on. To make matters worse, he’s not sure he wants to be Jewish at all.

Would the Promised Land have a pastry shop as good as the one on Floria Square?

As his hypochondriac mother is more concerned about her secret affair with ‘Uncle’ Moric, Robi’s only ally against his Jewish teachers is his bossy grandmother. It seems everyone has an opinion on what he should do, but ultimately Robi must make his own decision.

BOOK
In Favour of Circumcision
Brian J. Morris
$14.46

About this product:
Gives direct answers to long-held questions about the controversial operation: circumcision. What does the operation involve? How painful is it? What does it cost? What are the benefits & drawbacks? Does circumcision affect sexual activity?