Why Non-Jews Are Choosing Jewish Circumcision Ceremonies
In The Atlantic, Jessica Alpert reports that some non-Jews who want their sons circumcised “are forgoing the hospital or doctor’s office and requesting Jewish mohels for reasons both practical and religious.” Hospital circumcisions usually take place one or two days after the baby’s birth, and the parents are not necessarily present for the procedure. Philip Sherman, a mohel at New York’s Congregation Shearith Israel, says that families who ask him to circumcise their sons “are seeking the spiritual component and are often seeking to do this in the context of their own religion or spirituality.”