Earth-shattering news: Israel discovers the surgical circumcision

A few days ago, this article had me staring at the screen with my jaw hanging open for a long time. Unfortunately I only have it in Hebrew, but I need to write about it in English because I want as many people as possible to be able to read it (after all, I'm up to ten readers now, and the responsibility lies heavy on my shoulders).

The article tells that most people in Israel aren't aware of the possibility of performing their sons' circumcision in a hospital, by a certified medical doctor. This is exciting news, as the overwhelming majority of circumcisions in the country are done by a mohel, a religious man who has (hopefully) recieved the specific medical training needed to perform the ritual. Apparently the thought of taking the baby to a hospital almost never occurs to any of the proud parents:

http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-3884593,00.html

So, the situation is as follows: you have decided to create life, fragile and priceless. You have chosen the absolute perfect person to do this with, someone who's genes and personality you can rely on with this task of tasks. You have decided to make the necessary sacrifices of body, time, energy and finance, for as many years as it might take. You have cared for this delicate and magical creature from the time it was smaller than a grain of sand, and until the moment it was ready to emerge into the world. Now it has arrived, tender and helpless, and relying on you for everything it needs to survive.
Now, at this point you are convinced that the Almighty Creator wants you to slice a sensitive piece of this child of yours in His name. This might be an odd thing to wish on your child, but let's say that you really believe that it's the best thing to do. But why does the thought of taking him to a hosplital never occur to you? You were just in the hospital, weren't you?
No, instead you are going to invite a shaman, a primitive man who probably doesn't even believe in evolution, to perform a barbaric ritual, to put his sometimes ungloved hands on your precious little angel, to say an incantation while cutting a piece of him off, and then - just in case the whole event wasn't homoerotic and canibalistic enough - to put his filthy perverted lips on the wound and suck the blood out until it stops running. And just to add the extra touch of festivity to the occasion, you'll have all your loving family in the room to grimace at the baby and eat themselves into a coma.

As usual when I'm scared and confused, I turn to the wise men of my faith for words of wisdom and guidance. Therefore I leave you with this quote by Woody Allen, through the fictional character of Professor Levy from "Crimes and Misdemeanors":

“Now the unique thing that happened to the early Israelites was that they conceived a God that cares. He cares, but at the same time he also demands that you behave morally. But here comes the paradox. What’s one of the first things that that God asks: that God asks Abraham to sacrifice his only son, his beloved son to him. In other words, in spite of millennia of efforts we have not succeeded to create a really and entirely loving image of God. This was beyond our capacity to imagine.”

And just because it would be cruel not to add them, here are the other two Levy quotes from that film, which are available on Youtube:

This one about love...


...and the voiceover of the ending:


Good night.