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Central to both biblical narrative and rabbinic commentary, circumcision has remained a defining rite of Jewish identity, a symbol so powerful that challenges to it have always been considered taboo. Lawrence Hoffman seeks to find out why circumcision holds such an important place in the Jewish psyche. He traces the symbolism of circumcision through Jewish history, examining its evolution as a symbol of the covenant in the post-exilic period of the Bible and its subsequent meaning in the formative era of Mishnah and Talmud. In the rabbinic system, Hoffman argues, circumcision was neither a birth ritual nor the beginning of the human life cycle, but a rite of covenantal initiation into a male "life line". Although the evolution of the rite was shaped by rabbinic debates with early Christianity, the Rabbis shared with the church a view of blood as providing salvation. Hoffman examines the particular significance of circumcision blood, which, in addition to its salvific role, contrasted with menstrual blood to symbolize the gender dichotomy within the rabbinic system. His analysis of the Rabbis' views of circumcision and menstrual blood sheds light on the marginalization of women in rabbinic law. Differentiating official mores about gender from actual practice, Hoffman surveys women's spirituality within rabbinic society and examines the roles mothers played in their sons' circumcisions until the medieval period, when they were finally excluded.

Berit milah --- Blood --- Rabbinical literature --- Women in rabbinical literature. --- History. --- Religious aspects --- Judaism. --- History and criticism. --- Women in rabbinical literature --- Body fluids --- Fear of blood --- Berit mila --- Berith --- Berith milah --- Bris --- Briss --- Brit periah --- Brith --- Periah --- Circumcision --- Judaism --- Women in the Talmud --- History --- Religious aspects&delete& --- History and criticism --- Customs and practices

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Why aren't Jewish women circumcised? This improbable question, first advanced by anti-Jewish Christian polemicists, is the point of departure for this wide-ranging exploration of gender and Jewishness in Jewish thought. With a lively command of a wide range of Jewish sources-from the Bible and the Talmud to the legal and philosophical writings of the Middle Ages to Enlightenment thinkers and modern scholars-Shaye J. D. Cohen considers the varied responses to this provocative question and in the process provides the fullest cultural history of Jewish circumcision available.

Jews --- Rabbinical literature --- Women in rabbinical literature. --- Circumcision --- Berit milah --- Identity, Jewish --- Jewish identity --- Jewishness --- Jewish law --- Jewish nationalism --- Women in the Talmud --- Berit mila --- Berith --- Berith milah --- Bris --- Briss --- Brit periah --- Brith --- Periah --- Judaism --- Identity. --- History and criticism. --- Religious aspects --- Judaism. --- History. --- Ethnic identity --- Race identity --- Legal status, laws, etc. --- Customs and practices --- absence of circumcision. --- bekhor shor. --- benediction. --- benet. --- berakhot. --- bible. --- blessing. --- ceremony. --- circumcision. --- cultural history. --- doctrine. --- femininity. --- feminism. --- gender roles. --- gender studies. --- gender. --- jewish circumcision. --- jewish life. --- jewish women. --- jewish. --- judaica. --- judaism. --- nonfiction. --- orthodoxy. --- rabbinics. --- religion. --- religious belief. --- religious practices. --- religious women. --- rite. --- ritual. --- talmud. --- theology. --- torah. --- tradition. --- women and religion.