Antisemitic Countries, Jews, and Rabbis

HaRav Eckstein performs a bris in Antwerp (VIN)

Bnai Brith is a secular American Jewish social service organization whose name derives from the one feature common to all Jewish males: circumcision. Which is the means by which God made His covenant with the Jewish people. Beyond that, the organization has little, if anything, to do with our ultimate purpose on earth as God’s chosen people. Namely, to follow the will of God as expressed in His Torah.

Bnai Brith did not concern itself with whether its members were observant or which denomination of Judaism they belonged to. It simply assumed that every male Jew was circumcised - typically on the eighth day after birth. The procedure is usually performed by a mohel, a professional trained in both the medical and ritual aspects of circumcision.

A skilled mohel receives extensive training and oversight before being allowed to operate independently. By the time they’ve established a reputation, most mohalim have performed scores - if not hundreds - of circumcisions safely and effectively. (For the purposes of this post, I will not discuss Metzitzah B’Peh - a controversial element that many mohalim still practice.)

While pediatricians are medically qualified to perform circumcisions and often do so for non-Jews (many of whom choose circumcising their sons for the perceived health benefits), they (the pediatricians) will often concede that the procedure is best performed by a seasoned mohel. This is, after all, their singular focus, and they become experts in it.

I’ve even heard of non-Jewish parents specifically requesting Jewish mohalim to circumcise their sons - recognizing the advantage of a practitioner who has dedicated decades to perfecting the procedure.

But times have changed. Some medical professionals now claim that circumcision offers no significant health benefits beyond what proper hygiene can provide. Though other professionals dispute this, the point remains: circumcision is no longer universally viewed as a necessary health measure.

Worse yet, I recall many years ago when Rabbi Michael Sternfield - then the Reform rabbi at Sinai Temple in Chicago - forcefully condemned circumcision as a ‘barbaric ritual’ that has no place in the modern world. That stance would effectively eliminate circumcision as the defining criterion for Bnai Brith membership - a view that has evidently gained traction with some Jewish parents who have chosen not to circumcise their sons.

Rabbi Sternfield would likely approve of a recent news story reported by VIN:

Police in Antwerp raided the homes of prominent mohalim in the city’s Chareidi community, including HaRav Aharon Eckstein and HaRav Moshe Landau. The authorities confiscated their bris knives and demanded lists of children they had circumcised. All this despite the fact that no court ruling had yet been made.

According to witnesses, officers knocked on doors and declared, “Either you open up, or we break in.” These actions followed a lawsuit filed over a year ago by a Jew with a history of antagonizing Jewish communities across Europe.

In the past, such a raid would have been clearly labeled for what it was: antisemitic. But today, voices like Rabbi Sternfield’s would likely endorse such actions under the guise of modern ethics and child welfare.

To me, this event is a clear manifestation of the deeply rooted antisemitism still prevalent in Europe. And ironically, the most dangerous antisemite in this story may very well be the Jew who instigated it. Rabbi Sternfield and many others like him share that shameful distinction.

It is tragic when Jews - believing themselves to be progressive or enlightened - reject one of the Torah’s most fundamental Mitzvos. By doing so, they lend legitimacy to actions like the Antwerp raid. Officials can now claim they acted solely out of concern for child welfare, not out of animus toward Jews or Judaism. And now they can claim to have rabbis that back this up.

But I wonder: what is the survival rate of infants circumcised by mohalim compared to those circumcised by pediatricians? I suspect there’s little to no difference. If anything, I’d wager that experienced mohalim have a slight edge in outcomes due to their specialization.

I gave up long ago the naive belief that antisemitism is exclusively the domain of non-Jews. Some of the worst and most dangerous antisemites are Jews themselves. People who are either ignorant of their own heritage or who believe that Torah law is outdated, irrelevant, or even harmful according to modern ideas of morality and health.

The results of which can be plainly seen in this story.