Israeli Rabbinical Court Forcing Divorcée to Circumcise Son

Submitted by Minuteman on Fri, 2013-11-08 06:45

Link here. Excerpt:

'A rabbinical court in Netanya this week forced a divorced woman to facilitate the performance of a Jewish circumcision for her son, Behadrei Haredim reported.

During the divorce process, which Israeli Jews contest in rabbinical court, the husband requested that the regional rabbinical court in Netanya, about 20 miles north of Tel Aviv, to compel his wife to give their son a legal circumcision. The court accepted his request.

The woman argued that the rabbinical court does not have jurisdiction over her son, and may not decide on what constitutes a dangerous medical procedure for him, especially since the boy is not a party to the divorce procedure.

She argued that the authority to decide on this matter belongs exclusively in family court.'

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Comments

... it basically says a male isn't "really" a Jew unless he's circumcised. It also says being circumcised is THE distinguishing feature of male Jewish identity, regardless of his "spiritual state". The implication is that non-Jewish circumcised men are in fact... Jewish? Even moreso than men born to Jewish mothers or uncircumcised converts to Judaism?

Hard to follow the logic of these kinds of arguments when the presumptions and implications are considered.

Of course, all countries w/ parallel court systems run into jurisdictional questions at some point. But usually they hinge on where a crime was committed, where a couple lived primarily (as with divorces), etc. Civil v. criminal jurisdiction issues are usually a foregone conclusion, except when there's a challenge to the nature of a law itself. But when a society has parallel religious and civil courts: then it gets hairy as heck. The repercussions around which kind of court gets to do what can be quite significant-- as in this case.

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Submitted by Matt on Fri, 2013-11-08 18:36

"“The circumcision,” wrote the judges, “is a simple surgery which is conducted on every Jewish baby eight days or older, around the world, for thousands of years. Therefore, when one of the parents demands it, the other party may not prevent it unless a medical danger can be proven.”

First of all, this is not forced on EVERY Jewish Baby. It's only done to baby boys (sexism, anyone?), and some Jewish parents, like the lady in this article, are smart enough to realize it is a dated practice which risks a child's life, and well-being for no other reason other than to appease religious zealots. Any decision which alters a person's body, and is not medically necessary, is a human rights violation. Many Jews are waking up to this, and rallying for change. I admire the mom and hope she has the strength to not succumb to this financial violence against her.

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Submitted by xtrnl on Fri, 2013-11-08 22:39