Complex sentence: Ephron reports that Gentiles and also some Jewish reformers in early 19th Century Germany had criticized ritual circumcision as "barbaric" and that Jewish doctors responded to these criticisms with defences of the ritual or proposals for modification or reform.
Split into simpler sentences: Ephron reports that Gentiles and also some Jewish reformers had criticized ritual circumcision as "barbaric" in early 19th Century Germany. He stated that Jewish doctors responded to that criticism with defences of the ritual or proposals for modification or reform.