practices: rites of passage: brit milah

Question 1

how are important moments in the life of a jew marked by? why?

Answer 1

special rituals and traditions as they help to show thanks to god, bring god into everyday life and increase a sense of jewish identity and belonging

Question 2

brit milah: what is this ritual considered as?

Answer 2

one of the most significant rituals for a male jew

Question 3

brit milah: what does this dates back?

Answer 3

dates back to the time of Abraham and the covenant of circumcision

Question 4

brit milah: what does circumcision involve?

Answer 4

involves the removal of the foreskin and takes place on the 8th day after the birth of the child

Question 5

brit milah: what is it considered in the mitzvot?

Answer 5

one of the most universally observed mitzvot even secular jews almost always observe it

Question 6

brit milah: what is it an outward physical sign of?

Answer 6

god’s covenant

Question 7

brit milah: where and how is it taken place?

Answer 7

takes place at home and it is performed in front of a minyan (a group of 10 or more male adult jews)

Question 8

brit milah: how is the baby boy placed?

Answer 8

on a cushion held by a person called the sandek which is generally the grandfather or the oldest person in the observance

Question 9

brit milah: why is it a great honour?

Answer 9

as the tradition of the jewish faith is being passed down to the next generation that was promised to Abraham in the covenant

Question 10

brit milah: what is the person known as doing the circumcision?

Answer 10

mohel

Question 11

brit milah: why will the boy be given a Hebrew name?

Answer 11

as it will used in the synagogue and on formal occasions

Question 12

brit milah: explain the genders that can attend the ceremony

Answer 12

orthodox: traditionally, only men attend the ceremony
reform: encourage all to be present regardless of gender

Question 13

brit milah: what do Orthodox Jews believe that failure to undergo circumcision will lead to?

Answer 13

karat which means being cut off from jewish society

Question 14

why do some jews argue that circumcision ceremony is irrelevant and unnecessary?

Answer 14

as they believe that you do not become jewish through circumcision but through being either a righteous convert or born of a jewish mother

Question 15

what is the brit shalom?

Answer 15

an alternative to the brit milah
it emphases the importance of tradition but avoids ritual circumcision

Question 16

what does brit shalom mean?

Answer 16

covenant of peace

Question 17

what do reform and secular jews argue about circumcision?

Answer 17

that such decision should not be made behalf of the 8 years day old child

Question 18

tradition of circumcision belongs to who?

Answer 18

jews that lived in a different time and place

Question 19

what do reform jews argue that the torah forbids? give the source of authority

Answer 19

forbids the cutting of flesh and this teaching overrides the need for brit milah
“you shall not make any cuttings in your flesh on account of the dead…: I am the lord”

Question 20

what is the source of authority linking to the circumcision?

Answer 20

“every male among you must be circumcised”