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In this bonus episode, Eli sits down with journalist and human rights advocate Jennifer Margulis to explore her journey from accepting circumcision as a given to becoming one of its most thoughtful critics. Jennifer shares how her views were first challenged in her 20s during a human rights fellowship, how Jewish tradition and American medical culture shape parental assumptions, and why informed consent and bodily autonomy must be central to our discussions about infant circumcision. Jennifer Margulis’s Substack: Vibrant Life Jennifer’s website: https://www.jennifermargulis.net

What a season it’s been on the Bruchim Podcast! Eli and Max debrief the conversations we’ve had with an incredible variety of guests. We cover: hatafat dam brit, including its ethics, lived experience (for good and bad) and future possibilities; the significance of circumcision as a ritual act vs. a bodily state; the medicalization of circumcision and its social and religious impact; what the future looks like for brit milah and other forms of ritual genital cutting; and some of the ethical concepts we’ve tackled this season, including the caution needed for rituals involving children. Evolve Podcast, Rethinking the Circumcision Part 2, with Rabbi Kevin Bernstein  Responsa Radio, How to Name a Baby Girl Rabbi Julie Pelc Adler, “What Does ‘Brit’ Mean to Liberal Jews in the 21st Century?” Eliyahu Ungar-Sargon and Max DuBoff, Circumcision Texts in the Jewish Tradition Max DuBoff, Circumcision and Egalitarianism  

We talk a lot about Jewish circumcision on this podcast, but what’s the significance of the foreskin? Can we even think about the foreskin apart from circumcision? Eli and Max are joined by Prof. Jonathan Allan (Brandon University), author of Uncut: A Cultural Analysis of the Foreskin, to tackle these questions. We discuss the impact of the foreskin on identity, and the aesthetic power of the foreskin (including the foreskin on Michelangelo’s David!). We also discuss pregnancy manuals’ framing of parental choice about circumcision, sex manuals’ framing of the foreskin as pleasurable, the significance of foreskin restoration, and why genital autonomy activism isn’t just an online movement. Jonathan Allan, Uncut: A Cultural Analysis of the Foreskin  Jordan Osserman, Circumcision on the Couch: The Cultural, Psychological, and Gendered Dimensions of the World's Oldest Surgery  Patrick Stewart’s circumcision story on The Graham Norton Show Eliyahu Ungar-Sargon, Cut: Slicing Through the Myths of Circumcision  Marilyn Fayre Milos with Judy Kirkwood, Please Don't Cut the Baby!: A Nurse's Memoir    

Your body is good enough just as it is — or so Prof. Clare Chambers (Cambridge University) argues in her book Intact: A Defence of the Unmodified Body. She joins Eli and Max to explain her Principle of the Unmodified Body, which is a political principle for resisting pressure to engage in body modification. We discuss the different kinds of reasons for body modification and the fuzzy boundaries between cultural, cosmetic, and clinical alterations. We also discuss whether religious practices merit ethical or legal exemptions, plus other ethical principles at play in evaluating circumcision, and how feminism relates to circumcision. Clare Chambers, Intact: A Defence of the Unmodified Body 

Should Jewish practices related to anatomy be revised in light of new understandings of sex and gender? Should hatafat dam brit replace circumcision both for the bris and for conversion? Eli and Max are joined by brin solomon, author of “Conversion & Circumcision: A Trans Approach,” to discuss brin’s proposals in this responsum. First we discuss the problems which trans and intersex experiences pose for circumcision in the case of conversion, including why previous attempts to accommodate trans experiences have often been unsatisfactory. Then we discuss brin’s proposal of universal hatafat dam brit in the area of the heart rather than the penis. Along the way we touch on halakhic change and meta-halakhah, plus some ethical concerns about hatafat dam brit for newborns which do not arise when it can be chosen by adults. brin solomon, “Conversion & Circumcision: A Trans Approach” Rabbi Gordon Tucker, “Halakhic and Metahalakhic Arguments Concerning Judaism and Homosexuality”  Jericho Vincent, “Genderqueer Bris Milah” Max Buckler, “The Smallest Cut: The Ethics and (Surprising) Implications of Hatafat Dam Brit for the Ongoing Genital Cutting Debate” The Inclusive Siddur Project 

What is it like to undergo circumcision as an adult for the purpose of Jewish conversion? Matthew Barron-Jones tells Eli his story: how he came to Judaism, what his  process of conversion was like, how his circumcision went down, and the spiritual power of being able to choose circumcision for himself. Along the way, Eli and Matt draw some contrasts between infant and adult circumcision. Soul Publications online and on Instagram. 

A family shaken by a traumatic hatafat dam brit shares their story with Eli and Max. This wrenching personal account touches on hatafat dam brit and conversion; on the moral dangers of hatafat dam brit for children past infancy; and on the unpredictable and overwhelming ways that trauma, especially related to unwanted genital contact, can manifest long after an initial triggering experience. Eliyahu Ungar-Sargon, “For So We Find with Our Foremothers”– a Bruchim text study about circumcision and conversion. 

What is it like to undergo hatafat dam brit? Three men who’ve done it tell Eli and Max their stories: what led them to this ritual, how it went down, what it felt like, how they’ve viewed this experience in retrospect, and what they would want people to know who are considering hatafat dam brit for themselves. The Jewcurious Show, “How to Find a Rabbi Who's Right for You” 

How does hatafat dam brit fit into the process of Jewish conversion, and what is the religious and psychological significance of this practice? Eli and Max are joined by Rabbi Oren Steinitz to dig into these questions. Rabbi Oren describes how he talks about hatafat dam brit and circumcision in the conversion process, including the importance of transparency in these conversations. Then we discuss the meaning of hatafat dam brit and why Rabbi Oren thinks it is a powerful aspect of Jewish conversion for those already circumcised. We also discuss some differences between circumcision and hatafat dam brit, and the care that must be taken in considering hatafat dam brit and conversion with regard to children.

This episode begins our series on hatafat dam brit, a Jewish ritual performed in place of brit milah that involves pricking the circumcision scar to draw a small amount of blood. Eli and Max are joined by Max Buckler, who has recently published the first bioethics paper on hatafat dam brit and its relationship to debates about circumcision. We discuss Max’s argument that hatafat dam brit is the least extreme form of genital cutting; therefore, if hatafat dam brit is wrong, then so are other forms of genital cutting, which introduce further ethical concerns. Along the way, we touch on a variety of ethical topics: the difference between a ritual act and the state it produces; why some Jewish parents find hatafat dam brit more disturbing than circumcision even though circumcision is more physically consequential; whether the concept of medical necessity is helpful; and the bioethical concepts of autonomy, care, and consent. Max Buckler, “The Smallest Cut: The Ethics and (Surprising) Implications of Hatafat Dam Brit for the Ongoing Genital Cutting Debate” Max Buckler, “The Ethics of Child Genital Cutting. When Does a Violation Occur? Comments on ‘Defending an Inclusive Right to Genital and Bodily Integrity for Children’ by Dr. Kate Goldie Townsend”  Eliyahu Ungar-Sargon and Max DuBoff, Circumcision Texts in the Jewish Tradition 

Many Jewish males are circumcised in the hospital without any Jewish ritual, but how did this become the case? Eli and Max are joined by the historian Prof. Elizabeth Reis (CUNY), who has studied the medicalization of circumcision in mid-century New York. While rabbis were glad to see mainstream support for circumcision, they worried about a shift away from the religious component of circumcision, which is exactly what happened. We explore this tension, and we discuss a fascinating historical moment in which a mohel could perform a brit milah in the hospital, and how shorter hospital stays for women giving birth changed the practice of Jewish circumcision and provided opportunities for rabbis to criticize mothers. Plus, we discuss how circumcision might relate to medical and Jewish responses to intersex conditions. Elizabeth Reis, “Medicalization and the Mainstreaming of Circumcision in Mid-twentieth-century America” Elizabeth Reis, Bodies in Doubt: An American History of Intersex

How might childhood trauma relate to some of the big problems in our relationships and our world? Eli is joined by the psychologist Dr. Ronald Goldman, a longtime Jewish opponent of circumcision, to talk about Ron’s new book about empathy. Eli and Ron discuss mother-infant bonding and the effects it can have on adults, the systemic issues that prevent optimal mother-infant bonding, the psychology of trauma, and Ron’s journey as a writer and activist. Audrey-Ann Deneault, Stuart I. Hammond, and Sheri Madigan, “A Meta-analysis of Child–Parent Attachment in Early Childhood and Prosociality”  Saul McLeod, “Attachment Theory in Psychology”  Ronald Goldman, The Empathy Evolution: Preventing Violence, Racism, Political Corruption, and Mental Illness by Creating More Caring People Circumcision Resource Center 

How do you make decisions about whether to circumcise your future kid? For feminist filmmaker Jessie Kahnweiler, the answer is by making a movie! Jessie joins Eli to discuss what it’s like to make a film about the sensitive subject of Jewish circumcision, how to balance different perspectives on a controversial topic, and the position of women in conversations about male circumcision. Eli and Jessie further explore how Jessie’s Jewish identity and the Jewish value of questioning relate to her work, and the importance of intentionality with regard to circumcision. Watch Just the Tip here.   

Interested in the ethics of circumcision? You’ve come to the right place! Eli and Max are joined by the bioethicist Prof. Brian Earp (National University of Singapore and Oxford University), a leading scholar of genital cutting and bodily integrity. Brian walks us through recent developments in the ethics of bodily integrity, and then we discuss the pros and cons of focusing on harm in ethical debates about circumcision. We raise and critique three prominent defenses of circumcision, by Joseph Mazor, Richard Shweder, and Michael and David Benatar. Then Eli, Max, and Brian each offer the best argument they can in favor of circumcision before critiquing these arguments. Brian Earp, “Male or Female Genital Cutting: Why ‘Health Benefits’ Are Morally Irrelevant”  Michael Benatar and David Benatar, “Between Prophylaxis and Child Abuse: The Ethics of Neonatal Male Circumcision”  Joseph Mazor, "The Child’s Interests and the Case for the Permissibility of Male Infant Circumcision”    Eliyahu Ungar-Sargon, “On the Impermissibility of Infant Male Circumcision: A Response to Mazor " Richard Shweder, “Permitting Gender Equality in Abrahamic Circumcision: The Central Argument – In Retrospect and Reply” Siobhan E. Alexander, Douglas W. Storm, and Christopher S. Cooper: “Teasing in school locker rooms regarding penile appearance”  

Buckle up! Season 2 is about to begin.