informant38
.

-
...But of these sophisms and elenchs of merchandise I skill not...
Milton, Areopagitica

Except he had found the
standing sea-rock that even this last
Temptation breaks on; quieter than death but lovelier; peace
that quiets the desire even of praising it.

Jeffers, Meditation On Saviors


-

8.3.14

in the wake of recent moves in various European countries to ban ritual circumcision:

The hold of the religious authorities over Israelis' private lives has been thrust into the spotlight after a rabbinical court ruled that a Jewish woman, identified only as Elinor, must circumcise her son against her wishes. She has been ordered by the rabbis to pay a fine of $140 a day until the procedure is carried out. Following public disquiet, the judgment was frozen, pending a hearing before the country's supreme court.
There is no law requiring circumcision, but the overwhelming majority of Israeli Jewish parents follow the traditional practice of inviting a mohel, or circumcisor, to remove the foreskin of a newborn son. Rabbis regard the procedure as a commandment from God.
Jonathan Cook/Al Jazeera English
-
Being pretty interested in the state of circumcisional affairs generally, I'm somewhat taken aback to have seen nothing corresponding to the headline there. Europe, really? Why, I had no idea!
It bears repeating that one of the mohel's ritual duties is to suck the wounded penis at the severed vestige of foreskin, and ritually spit that sucked blood into a ritual basin. Possibly a gold basin, unclear on that. Maybe depends on the wealth of the participants or something. Although, my sense is no baby boy in the world, no matter how financially secure, if asked, would consent to have his dick whacked at by someone he didn't know, gold or no gold.
Mom! Mom! Mommaaaaa!
They don't feel pain like we do.
Plus there's the abiding covenant betwixt God and His people.

Blog Archive