Female circumcision is currently practiced in twenty-six African countries, a few communities in Asia, and by African immigrants in the Americas, Australia, and Europe. The procedure is practiced by Muslims, Christians, some animists, and by Ethiopian Jews. Although practiced by these religions it is not a religious requirement. The distribution of the practice demonstrates a strong correlation between similar cultures and countries where performed. The following is a first hand account of a circumcision I attended at Kibbutz Sde Boqer in the Negev Desert of Israel.
Jewish law requires male children be circumcised on the eighth day following birth.
This requirement is traced to the Old Testament. All biblical references throughout this comment are to the Jeruselem Bible. Judaism refers to circumcision as Brit Milah or Bris . And God said to Avraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant there- fore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations. A mohel is an observant Jew trained specifically to perform circumcisions.