Instruct: Given a question, retrieve documents that answer the question.
Query: At what age is circumcision typically performed in the Jewish tradition?
Subject to overriding medical considerations, the circumcision must take place eight days after the birth of the child, even when this falls on Shabbat.[32] The child must be medically fit for a circumcision to be performed, and Jewish law prohibits parents having their son circumcised if medical doctors hold that the procedure may unduly threaten the child's health (e.g. because of hemophilia). If by reason of the child's debility or sickness the ceremony is postponed, it cannot take place on Shabbat.[33]
Circumcision in Morocco had been performed by barbers. This is now performed by medical surgeons. Circumcision of almost two-year-old at the time prince Moulay Hassan prompted thousands of other young boys to be circumcised. The procedure is considered "purification" (t'hara) by Muslims. 
Nigerian culture favours circumcising baby boys when they are aged between eight to forty days. Neonatal (child) circumcision is performed on more than 85% of boys in Nigeria, Western Africa, and majority of the procedure is done by nurses (56%) and doctors (35%) with a small proportion (9%) performed by traditional practitioners (2). The reasons are cultural and religious.
Circumcision has ancient roots among several ethnic groups in sub-equatorial Africa, and is still performed on adolescent boys to symbolize their transition to warrior status or adulthood. In Judaism, circumcision has traditionally been practised among males on the eighth day after birth. Male circumcision and/or subincision, often as part of an intricate coming of age ritual, was a common practice among Australian Aborigines and Pacific islanders at first contact with Western travellers. It is still practiced in the traditional way by a proportion of the population. According to “National Hospital Discharge Survey” in United States, as of 2008, the rate of circumcision of infant boys in hospitals in United States was 55.9%.
Whereas Jewish circumcision is closely bound by ritual timing and tradition, in Islam there is no fixed age for circumcision. The age when boys get circumcised, and the procedures used, tend to change across cultures, families, and time. In some Muslim-majority countries, circumcision is performed on Muslim boys after they have learned to recite the whole Quran from start to finish.[75] In Malaysia and other regions, the boy usually undergoes the operation between the ages of ten and twelve, and is thus a puberty rite, serving to introduce him into the new status of an adult.[76] The procedure is sometimes semi-public, accompanied with music, special foods, and much festivity.[76]
Alexander the Great conquered the Middle East in the 4th century BCE, and in the following centuries ancient Greek cultures and values came to the Middle East. The Greeks abhorred circumcision, making life for circumcised Jews living among the Greeks (and later the Romans) very difficult. Antiochus Epiphanes outlawed circumcision, as did Hadrian, which helped cause the Bar Kokhba revolt. During this period in history, Jewish circumcision called for the removal of only a part of the prepuce, and some Hellenized Jews attempted to look uncircumcised by stretching the extant parts of their foreskins. This was considered by the Jewish leaders to be a serious problem, and during the 2nd century CE they changed the requirements of Jewish circumcision to call for the complete removal of the foreskin, emphasizing the Jewish view of circumcision as intended to be not just the fulfillment of a Biblical commandment but also an essential and permanent mark of membership in a people.
A narrative in the Christian Gospel of Luke makes a brief mention of the circumcision of Jesus, but the subject of physical circumcision itself is not part of the received teachings of Jesus. Paul the Apostle reinterpreted circumcision as a spiritual concept, arguing the physical one to be unnecessary for Gentile converts to Christianity. The teaching that physical circumcision was unnecessary for membership in a divine covenant was instrumental in the separation of Christianity from Judaism. Although it is not explicitly mentioned in the Quran (early 7th century CE), circumcision is considered essential to Islam, and it is nearly universally performed among Muslims. The practice of circumcision spread across the Middle East, North Africa, and Southern Europe with Islam.
The film follows Bolnick as he travels across North America, conducting bris ceremonies, which are held eight days after a Jewish boy is born. Amid the ceremony, the child is officially introduced to relatives and associates, his name is announced, and, as a sign of the continued covenant between God and Abraham, he is circumcised. The film discusses the importance of Jewish circumcision on a theoretical and personal level, and demonstrates how the practice has been adapted for modern times. Bolnick speaks openly about related subject matter from pain, to errors, to old and tired circumcision jokes, while parents explain the meaning behind the tradition that dates back hundreds of years.
John Cozijn and Robert Darby, who is an historian of the British circumcision movement, have suggested that the British Royal Family invited Rabbi Snowman ("rabbi" is an honorific commonly afforded to mohels) to circumcise the infant Prince Charles at Buckingham Palace most likely because of his extensive experience with circumcision, and perhaps because non-Jewish family physicians were deemed less familiar or adept with the procedure (which was widely performed on British middle- and upper-class male infants from the 1890s through the 1940s). Darby and Cozijn have cast doubt on claims, arising in the 1990s and widely reported after the birth of Prince George of Cambridge in 2013, that a Royal Family "circumcision tradition" extends back to Queen Victoria's era, or even to George I in the early 18th century, grounded in secretive Davidic or British Israelist religious tradition. It is unknown whether this putative "circumcision tradition" was continued with the birth of William in 1982, as Diana, Princess of Wales is believed to have disapproved of it.
Disputes over the Mosaic law generated intense controversy in early Christianity. This is particularly notable in the mid-1st century, when the circumcision controversy came to the fore. Alister McGrath stated that many of the Jewish Christians were fully faithful religious Jews, only differing in their acceptance of Jesus as the Messiah. As such, they believed that circumcision and other requirements of the Mosaic law were required for salvation. The increasing number of Gentile converts came under pressure from Jewish Christians to be circumcised in accordance with Abrahamic tradition. The issue was addressed at the Council of Jerusalem where Saint Paul made an argument that circumcision was not a necessary practice, vocally supported by Peter, as documented in . This position received widespread support and was summarized in a letter circulated in Antioch.
The Karia’a customary festivity is a typical tradition of the Kaledupa community to mark the coming of age of boys through circumcision. In this festivity, boys are paraded in the village on stretchers carried collectively by 15 to 20 persons.
The pencak silat tradition is a customary tradition performed by the Kaledupa community.
According to traditional Jewish law, in the absence of an adult free Jewish male expert, a woman, a slave, or a child who has the required skills is also authorized to perform the circumcision, provided that they are Jewish. However, most streams of non-Orthodox Judaism allow female mohels, called "mohalot" (, the plural of "mohelet", feminine of "mohel"), without restriction. In 1984 Deborah Cohen became the first certified Reform mohelet; she was certified by the Berit Mila program of Reform Judaism.
Some contemporary Jews in the United States choose not to circumcise their sons. They are assisted by a small number of Reform and Reconstructionist rabbis, and have developed a welcoming ceremony that they call the "brit shalom" ("Covenant [of] Peace") for such children, also accepted by Humanistic Judaism.
To Romans, castration and circumcision were linked as barbaric mutilations of the male genitalia. When the cult of Cybele was imported to Rome at the end of the 3rd century BC, its traditional eunuchism was confined to foreign priests (the "Galli)", while Roman citizens formed sodalities to perform honors in keeping with their own customs. It has been argued that the Apostle Paul's exhortation of the Galatians not to undergo circumcision should be understood not only in the context of Jewish circumcision, but also of the ritual castration associated with Cybele, whose cult was centered in Galatia. Among Jews, circumcision was a marker of the Covenant; diaspora Jews circumcised their male slaves and adult male converts, in addition to Jewish male infants. Although Greco-Roman writers view circumcision as an identifying characteristic of Jews, they believed the practice to have originated in Egypt, and recorded it among peoples they identified as Arab, Syrian, Phoenician, Colchian, and Ethiopian. The Neoplatonic philosopher Sallustius associates circumcision with the strange familial–sexual customs of the Massagetae who "eat their fathers" and of the Persians who "preserve their nobility by begetting children on their mothers".
Swedish Jews and Muslims objected to the law, and in 2001, the World Jewish Congress called it "the first legal restriction on Jewish religious practice in Europe since the Nazi era." The requirement for an anaesthetic to be administered by a medical professional is a major issue, and the low degree of availability of certified professionals willing to conduct circumcision has also been subject to criticism. According to a survey, two out of three paediatric surgeons said they refuse to perform non-therapeutic circumcision, and less than half of all county councils offer it in their hospitals. However, in 2006, the U.S. State Department stated, in a report on Sweden, that most Jewish mohels had been certified under the law and 3000 Muslim and 40–50 Jewish boys were circumcised each
year. An estimated 2000 of these are performed by persons who are neither physicians nor have officially recognised certification.
The circumcision controversy in early Christianity was resolved in the 1st century, so that non-Jewish Christians were not obliged to be circumcised. Saint Paul, the leading proponent of this position, discouraged circumcision as a qualification for conversion to Christianity. Circumcision soon became rare in most of the Christian world, except the Coptic Church of Egypt (where circumcision was a tradition dating to pre-Christian times) and for Judeo-Christians. Perhaps for this reason, the subject of the circumcision of Christ was extremely rare in Christian art of the 1st millennium, and there appear to be no surviving examples until the very end of the period, although literary references suggest it was sometimes depicted.
The Jewish and Islamic traditions both see circumcision as a way to distinguish a group from its neighbours. The Bible records "uncircumcised" being used as a derogatory reference for opponents and Jewish victory in battle that culminated in mass post-mortem circumcision, to provide an account of the number of enemy casualties. Jews were also required to circumcise all household members, including slaves – a practice that would later put them into collision with Roman and Christian law (see below).
Although there is some debate within Islam over whether it is a religious requirement, circumcision (called "khitan") is practiced nearly universally by Muslim males. Islam bases its practice of circumcision on the Genesis 17 narrative, the same Biblical chapter referred to by Jews. The procedure is not explicitly mentioned in the Quran, however, it is a tradition established by Islam's prophet Muhammad directly (following Abraham), and so its practice is considered a "sunnah" (prophet's tradition) and is very important in Islam. For Muslims, circumcision is also a matter of cleanliness, purification and control over one's baser self ("nafs"). There is no agreement across the many Islamic communities about the age at which circumcision should be performed. It may be done from soon after birth up to about age 15; most often it is performed at around six to seven years of age. The timing can correspond with the boy's completion of his recitation of the whole Quran, with a coming-of-age event such as taking on the responsibility of daily prayer or betrothal. Circumcision may be celebrated with an associated family or community event. Circumcision is recommended for, but is not required of, converts to Islam.
The Children's Act 2005 makes the circumcision of male children under 16 unlawful except for religious or medical reasons. In the Eastern Cape province the Application of Health Standards in Traditional Circumcision Act, 2001, regulates traditional circumcision, which causes the death or mutilation of many youths by traditional surgeons each year. Among other provisions, the minimum age for circumcision is age 18.
Around 140 CE Rabbinic Judaism made its circumcision requirements stricter.[14][15] Jewish circumcision includes the removal of the inner preputial epithelium, in a procedure that is called priah(Hebrew: פריעה), which means: 'uncovering'. This epithelium is also removed on modern medical circumcisions,[16] to prevent post operative penile adhesion and its complications.[17] According to rabbinic interpretation of the traditional Jewish sources, the periah has been performed, as part of Jewish circumcision, since the Israelites first inhabited the Land of Israel,[18] and without it the mitzvah isn't performed at all.[19] However, the editors of the Oxford Dictionary of the Jewish Religion, note that periah was probably added by the rabbis, in order to "prevent the possibility of obliterating the traces of circumcision".[20] Jewish law states that circumcision is a mitzva aseh ("positive commandment" to perform an act) and is obligatory for Jewish-born males and for non-circumcised Jewish male converts. It is only postponed or abrogated in the case of threat to the life or health of the child.[10] It is usually performed by a mohel on the eighth day of life in a ceremony called a brit milah (or bris milah, colloquially simply bris), which means "Covenant of circumcision" in Hebrew. According to Jewish law, the foreskin should be buried after a brit milah.[21] The rite is considered of such importance that in Orthodox communities, the body of an uncircumcised Jewish male will sometimes be circumcised before burial.[22] Although 19th century Reform leaders described it as "barbaric", the practice of circumcision "remained a central rite"[23] and the Union for Reform Judaism has, since 1984, trained and certified over 300 practicing mohels under its "Berit Mila Program".[24] Humanistic Judaism argues that "circumcision is not required for Jewish identity."[25]
During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries many Jewish reformers, doctors, and physicians in Central and Eastern Europe proposed to replace circumcision with a symbolic ceremony, while others sought to ban or abolish circumcision entirely, as it was perceived as a dangerous, barbaric and pagan ritual of genital mutilation that could transmit infectious diseases to newborns. The first formal objection to circumcision within Judaism occurred in 1843 in Frankfurt. The Society for the Friends of Reform, a group that criticized traditional Jewish practices, said that brit milah was not a mitzvah but an outworn legacy from Israel's earlier phases, an obsolete throwback to primitive religion. With the expanding role of medicine came further opposition; certain aspects of Jewish circumcision such as "periah" and "metzitzah" (drawing the blood from the circumcision wound through sucking or a cloth) were deemed unhygienic and dangerous for the newborns. Later evidence that syphilis and tuberculosis – two of the most feared infectious diseases in the 19th century – were spread by mohels, caused various rabbis to advocate "metzitzah" to be done using a sponge or a tube. Among the secular, non-observant Jews that chose to not circumcise their sons and keep them intact there was also Theodor Herzl.
"Physicians who counsel families about this decision should assist parents by objectively explaining the potential benefits and risks of circumcising their infant. Because some families may opt to circumcise as part of religious or traditional practice, discussion should also encompass risks and benefits of having a medical professional perform this procedure in a clinical setting versus having it performed by a traditional/religious provider in a nonmedical environment."
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) position statement on male circumcision (2012) has attracted significant critical comment.
Circumcision is very important to most branches of Judaism, with over 90% of male adherents having the procedure performed as a religious obligation. The basis for its observance is found in the Torah of the Hebrew Bible, in Genesis chapter 17, in which a covenant of circumcision is made with Abraham and his descendants. Jewish circumcision is part of the "brit milah" ritual, to be performed by a specialist ritual circumciser, a "mohel", on the eighth day of a newborn son's life, with certain exceptions for poor health. Jewish law requires that the circumcision leaves the glans bare when the penis is flaccid. Converts to Conservative and Orthodox Judaism must also be circumcised; those who are already circumcised undergo a symbolic circumcision ritual. Circumcision is not required by Judaism for one to be considered Jewish, but some adherents foresee serious negative spiritual consequences if it is neglected.
It is the duty of the father to have his child circumcised; and if he fails in this, the beth din of the city must see that the rite is performed.[34] According to traditional Jewish law, in the absence of a grown free Jewish male expert, a woman, a slave, or a child, that has the required skills, is also authorized to perform the circumcision, provided that she or he is Jewish.[35] However, most streams of non-Orthodox Judaism allow female mohels, called mohalot (Hebrew: מוֹהֲלוֹת‎, plural of מוֹהֶלֶת mohelet, feminine of mohel), without restriction. In 1984, Deborah Cohen became the first certified Reform mohelet; she was certified by the Berit Mila program of Reform Judaism.[36]
According to traditional Jewish law, in the absence of a Jewish male expert, a woman that has the required skills is also authorized to perform the circumcision, provided that she is Jewish. Non-Orthodox Judaism allows female "mohels", called "mohalot" (, plural of "mohelet", feminine of "mohel"), without restriction. In 1984, Dr. Deborah Cohen became the first certified Reform Jewish mohelet; she was certified by the Berit Mila Program of Reform Judaism.
Contact with Greek polytheistic culture, especially at the games of the arena, made this distinction obnoxious to Jewish Hellenists seeking to assimilate into Greek culture. The consequence was their attempt to appear like the Greeks by epispasm ("making themselves foreskins"; ; Josephus, 5, § 1; Assumption of Moses, viii.; ;, Tosef.; Talmud tractes Shabbat xv. 9; Yevamot 72a, b; Yerushalmi Peah i. 16b; Yevamot viii. 9a). records that after King Antiochus effectively banned traditional Jewish religious practice, including circumcision, the Maccabean rebels "forcibly circumcised all the uncircumcised boys they found within the borders of Israel." Circumcision was again banned by Emperor Hadrian (117-138 CE). His anti-circumcision law is considered by many to be one of the main causes of the Jewish Bar Kokhba revolt (132-135).
A mohel is a Jew trained in the practice of "brit milah", the "covenant of circumcision." According to traditional Jewish law, in the absence of a grown free Jewish male expert, anyone who has the required skills is also authorized to perform the circumcision, provided that they are Jewish. However, most streams of non-Orthodox Judaism allow female mohels, called "mohalot" (, plural of "mohelet", feminine of "mohel"), without restriction. In 1984, Deborah Cohen became the first certified Reform mohelet; she was certified by the Berit Mila program of Reform Judaism.
According to the United Nations World Health Organisation: "In the Philippines, where circumcision is almost universal and typically occurs at age 10–14 years, a survey of boys found strong evidence of social determinants, with two thirds of boys choosing to be circumcised simply “to avoid being uncircumcised”, and 41% stating that it was “part of the tradition”