Gary, Its not surprising that a self-hating article is written in the forward....

According to this author and the forward there is nothing special about Israel being the land of the Jewish people.

Thank God I am part of the covenant as opposed to the subscribership of this magazine who have cut themselves off from the covenant.

I have a bris - Thank God for that.

WOW the Forward and its subscribers are true self-hating Jews (not mention the Jew-hating gentiles who this magazine attracts).

Hey James I can get you a forskin and Ill only take 1/2 your salary.

Moron.

The question is how many contract a disease out of how many brisim done.

Do you not crosee the street or walk outside given that there is a chance of being run down?

Of course not.

The covenant IS a contract.

There is positive AND negative:

See http://mechon-mamre.org/e/et/et0326.htm

We break it at our own peril.

Umm did you ever think of people like yourself as the reason?
See http://mechon-mamre.org/e/et/et0326.htm

Learn a little and you will know that there does exist punishment for people like you whobreak the covenant.

You are funny! Take a look at the public picture with your account.

It looks like you are the one who can't get it off your mind!

We have been taught that the accuser is often the guilty one.

Thanks for the links.
You are bringing up pain – so don’t then say that it’s not the issue!

1. That you can find doctors against circumcision is obvious!
You can find doctors against lighting the Hanukah Menorah – it’s a fire hazard and can cause smoke inhalation.
You can always find people of any type saying anything.

Please… you are bringing down people quoting Anti-Semitic Europe? Isn’t that where they want to ban ritual Shechitah also?

Those 'doctor' links is not research thats personal doctor bias.

More doctors have no problem with circumcision if not for it - thats what those links are complaining about.

2. These research suggesting lower pain threshold 4-6 months later have much better explanations then what the paper suggests. I’m sure you know that findings of correlation (assuming its accurate) is not finding causation.

It is not even sensible that a baby would have post traumatic effect – when a baby has no idea of what is happening even if there is pain there is no memory at all. Post traumatic effect logically only makes sense when the person sees the pain and the cause while it’s happening and later can associate it with the new similar thing happening.

I have a better cause: People who are circumcised are in general in homes that have less fighting and yelling due to parents and siblings. The uncircumcised children have witnesses and felt pain from other sources and are less frightened overall. Someone who has been treated roughly may be used to pain.

That is just as good and a more likely explanation.

Also I didn’t say that babies experience no pain. I’m sure they do!

Only that it may be possible that at the ends of the extremities such as the tips of the fingers by circumcision and maybe even certain areas on the skin may not be developed the same way as by adults yet. I say that because I personally see that the crying completely stops in a few minutes – by an adult the pain does not go away for a long time.

Here is a REAL RESEARCH paper on the medical benefits of circumcision: http://www.circumcisioninformation.com/morris_cir...

Scroll down and see

"Nevertheless, some babies show no signs of distress at all. Most do, however, and this may be contributed by the restraining procedure, as well as the surgery itself."

I personally have been to dozens of brissim. It all depends on who the mohel is, how long they leave the baby exposed and are actually touching the baby. Within 2 minutes the baby no longer cries.

Often the baby does not cry at all.

You wrote: "recent research suggests ..."

Please provide a link to whatever study you refer to.

Not just Jewish people but apparently is extremely common amongst ALL American for medical reasons!

I provided you with a research article - now it’s your turn to back up your position and claim.