The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-06-07
Ill.

The right Of circumcision is discussed from
various points Of view by Rabbi Kohler,
by MIR. Joseph Jacobs, by the late DR.. A.
Friedenwald and by Mr.. I. Broyde. Or,
kohler points out that, unlike Christian
baptism, circumcision is not sacrament
which gives the Jew his eligious character.
A Jew by birth Is a full Jew. although I'M
circumcsed Whether proselytes must be
the zealot and liberal parties among the
Israelites have long differed At the con-
ference held in New York in 1892 the re-
to sanction the abolition OF circumcision
In the case of proselytes. on the ground
OF its being a measure OF extreme cruelty
when performed upon adults. II We re-
gard the rite from historical and ethno-
graphical points Of view. 1t appears TO be
at once the Oldest and most widely spread
surgical operation known. According to
Andree, it Is still practised by more than
200, 900 900 people, but this must be an I'M
derestimate. since the followers OF Islam
alone exceed that number. The rite was
practised among the Arabs many centuries
before Mohammed Philostorgius found 1t
practised by them as early as B. C, SE2
A much earlier instance, however. has been
discovered among Egyptian mummies:
that Of Amen -en-heb (between B. c. 1914
and 1889, which has been. adiudged a
true case Of circumcision. The practice
has been observed among the tribes OF the
west coast Of Africa, which have not been
in contact with Islam. The Christian Abys-
sinians still follow the rite. The hypothesis
of an Egyptian origin for circumcision IL
disproved by the extent to which the rite
was practissd among the Australian sbo-
rhymes. Curiously enough. in Australia
the operation was performed with a stone
! knife, the instrument used by the Israeli
! ties. The practice is almost equally wide
spread among the islanders Of tho Malay
Archipelago. In the Western Henri
! sphere the evidence is scanty. and relates
chiefly to the central part OF the continent.
| although the practice has been reported
| among the Athapascans and the Dog River
Indians. Las Casas testifies to the exist
ence Of tho rite among the Aztecs at the
time OF the conquest Of Mexico by Cortez.
the Mayas Of Yupatan still retain the
rite, and Squier found traces Of it among
the inhabitants Of Nicaragua. The Caribs
| of the Orinoco and the Tacunas Of the Anna
ION practise circumcision, and 90 do some
| other South American tr1O0o.
There il much diversity az regards the
age at which the rite is performed among
the different peoples. Among the Jews
it takes place on the eighth day after birth,
and among the southwestern Arabs (oi
| Yemen) on the seventh. fourteenth, twenty
first or twenty-eghth day. The Susus
near Timbuctoo and the Guemos OF South
America are said to perform the rite on
the eighth day. In East Africa the Maze.
quas perform it between the first and the
second month. The Persian Mohamme-
dams crcumcise in the third or fourth year,
the Christian Copts between the sixth
and eighth year, the Fijians perform the
| operation In the seventh year, a. do also
the Samoans. Apart from these instances
all the tribes that practise the rite do 40 n,
the age Of puberty which il. Of course, a
significant fact
Mr.. Broyde does not undertake TO de-
termine whether Mohammed deemed cir
oumcision national custom Of no religious
importance, and. for that reason, omitted
TO mention 1t In the Koran, or whether he
Judged the prescription OF rite that had
been performed by the Arabs from time
immemorial to be superhuous, Abulfeda
counts circumcision among the rites Of
pagan Arabia thst were sanctioned by
Islam. Ibn al-Athir, IN his ante Islamic
history. attributes to Mohammed the say
ing: Circumcision ia An ordinances for