Brit shalom (naming ceremony)

{{Further|Religious male circumcision#Opposition within Judaism}}

{{Expand section|date=July 2022}}

The first known ceremony was celebrated by Rabbi Sherwin Wine, the founder of the Society for Humanistic Judaism, around 1970.{{cite news |last=Lowenfeld |first=Jonah |date=2 August 2011 |title=Little-known non-cutting ritual appeals to some who oppose circumcision |newspaper=The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles |location=LA |url=https://jewishjournal.com/news/los_angeles/community/94746/ |url-status=live |access-date=11 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180825220603/http://jewishjournal.com/news/los_angeles/community/94746/ |archive-date=25 August 2018 |quote=According to Gottfried, the earliest known brit shalom ceremony was performed around 1970 by her mentor, Rabbi Sherwin Wine, the founder of the Society for Humanistic Judaism.}}

There is no universally agreed upon form of Brit Shalom. Some involve the washing of the baby's feet, called Brit rechitzah. Brit shalom ceremonies are performed by a rabbi or a lay person; in this context, rabbi does not necessarily imply belief in God, as some celebrants belong to Humanistic Judaism.{{Cite web |date=2016-01-22 |title=LCSHJ Resolutions |url=https://iishj.org/lcshj/lcshj-resolutions/ |access-date=2022-08-02 |website=International Institute for Secular Humanistic Judaism |publisher=Society for Humanistic Judaism |language=en-US |publication-place=Farmington Hills, Michigan |quote=We, the Leadership Conference of Secular and Humanistic Jews, mindful of both our commitments to Jewish identity and to gender equality, affirm that:
• We welcome into the Jewish community all who identify with the history, culture and fate of the Jewish people. Circumcision is not required for Jewish identity.
• We support parents making informed decisions whether or not to circumcise their sons.
• We affirm their right to choose, and we accept and respect their choice.
• Naming and welcoming ceremonies should be egalitarian. We recommend separating circumcision from welcoming ceremonies.
Approved April 2002}}

The actual number of brit shalom ceremonies performed per year is unknown. Filmmaker Eli Ungar-Sargon, who is opposed to circumcision, said in 2011, regarding its current popularity, that "calling it a marginal phenomenon would be generous."{{Cite web |last=Lowenfeld |first=Jonah |date=2011-08-02 |title=Little-known non-cutting ritual appeals to some who oppose circumcision |url=https://jewishjournal.com/community/94746/ |access-date=2022-08-03 |website=Jewish Journal |language=en-US}} This was confirmed by a survey conducted by the Jewish Journal among mohalim and brit shalom celebrants in the Los Angeles area. Its popularity in the United States, where it has been promoted by groups such as Beyond the Bris and Jews Against Circumcision,{{Cite web |title=The Circumcision Debate |url=https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/jewish-opposition-to-circumcision-a-brief-history/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210812035023/https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/jewish-opposition-to-circumcision-a-brief-history/ |archive-date=2021-08-12 |access-date=2022-07-30 |website=My Jewish Learning |language=en-US |quote=According to a 2017 New York Times article, while “the great majority of Jewish parents still circumcise, and opting out remains almost taboo in much of the mainstream,” the practice is quietly coming under scrutiny from some Jews. The article noted that “a number of parents” who opted out of the circumcision “did not want to speak on the record about their decision, and some rabbis who had done alternative bris ceremonies asked not to be named publicly.”}}{{Cite news |title=Jewish Voices: The Current Judaic Movement to End Circumcision |url=http://salem-news.com/articles/august262011/jewish-anti-circ.php |date=2011-08-26 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220306032251/http://www.salem-news.com/articles/august262011/jewish-anti-circ.php |archive-date=2022-03-06 |access-date=2022-07-30 |newspaper=The Salem News}} is increasing, however.{{Cite news |last=Greenberg |first=Zoe |date=2017-07-25 |title=When Jewish Parents Decide Not to Circumcise |language=en-US |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/25/well/family/cutting-out-the-bris.html |access-date=2022-07-31 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=2017-09-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170914124825/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/25/well/family/cutting-out-the-bris.html |url-status=live}}{{Cite news|last=Bradley Hagerty |first=Barbara |title=Circumcision: Rite Faces Modern Concerns |date=2011-07-25 |language=en|newspaper=NPR|url=https://www.npr.org/2011/07/25/138620685/circumcision-age-old-rite-faces-modern-concerns|access-date=2022-08-02}}{{Cite news |last=Silvers |first=Emma |date=2012-01-06 |title=Brit shalom is catching on, for parents who dont want to circumcise their child |url=https://jweekly.com/2012/01/06/alternative-ritual-sans-snip-catching-on-in-bay-area/ |access-date=2022-07-30 |newspaper=J. The Jewish News of Northern California |publisher=San Francisco Jewish Community Publications Inc. |language=en-US |archive-date=2022-07-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220729051056/https://jweekly.com/2012/01/06/alternative-ritual-sans-snip-catching-on-in-bay-area/ |url-status=live}} Even in Israel, more and more parents choose not to circumcise their sons.{{Cite news |title=Even in Israel, More and More Parents Choose Not to Circumcise Their Sons |language=en |newspaper=Haaretz |first=Netta |last=Ahituv |date=2012-06-14 |url=https://www.haaretz.com/2012-06-14/ty-article/even-in-israel-more-and-more-parents-choose-not-to-circumcise/0000017f-f77f-ddde-abff-ff7f1fb70000 |access-date=2022-07-31 |archive-date=2022-05-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220525211251/https://www.haaretz.com/2012-06-14/ty-article/even-in-israel-more-and-more-parents-choose-not-to-circumcise/0000017f-f77f-ddde-abff-ff7f1fb70000 |url-status=live}}

Orthodox Jews consider an intended failure to follow this commandment as bringing forth the penalty of kareth, or being "cut off" from the community and from Hashem, as well as being indicative of a conscious decision to cut oneself off from one's people. However, even in the most Orthodox groups, Jewish identity is defined by matrilineal descent; a child born to a Jewish mother is recognized as Jewish, regardless of the status of the genitals.{{Cite news|first=Rebecca |last=Wald|newspaper=Times of Israel|title=Circumcision doesn't make someone Jewish|url=https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/as-israel-debates-free-circumcision-some-in-us-hope-to-join-tribe-without-it/|access-date=2022-08-02|language=en-US}}{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/4391-circumcision |title=Circumcision |last1=Kohler |first1=Kaufmann |last2=Hirsch |first2=Emil G. |last3=Jacobs |first3=Joseph |last4=Friedenwald |first4=Aaron |last5=Broydé |first5=Isaac |author1-link=Kaufmann Kohler |author2-link=Emil G. Hirsch |author3-link=Joseph Jacobs |author5-link=Isaac Broydé |publisher=Kopelman Foundation |encyclopedia=Jewish Encyclopedia |date=1906 |access-date=4 January 2020 |quote=Unlike Christian baptism, circumcision, however important it may be, is not a sacrament which gives the Jew his religious character as a Jew. An uncircumcised Jew is a full Jew by birth (Ḥul. 4b; 'Ab. Zarah 27a; Shulḥan 'Aruk, Yoreh De'ah, 264, 1). [...] In 1847 Einhorn, as chief rabbi of Mecklenburg, became involved in a controversy with Franz Delitzsch of Rostock, who denounced him for acting contrary to Jewish law in naming and consecrating an uncircumcised child in the synagogue. Einhorn, in an "opinion" published a second time in his "Sinai", 1857, pp. 736 et seq., declared, with references to ancient and modern rabbinical authorities, that a child of Jewish parents was a Jew even if uncircumcised, and retained all the privileges, as well as all the obligations, of a Jew. This view he also expressed in his catechism, his prayer-book, and his sermons, emphasizing the spiritual character of the Abrahamic covenant—"the seal of Abraham placed upon the spirit of Israel as God's covenant people." |archive-date=8 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200108122552/http://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/4391-circumcision |url-status=live}}

In Progressive Judaism, although refusing circumcision is frowned upon, uncircumcised boys are usually accepted for religious training and bar mitzvah if they are sons of a Jewish mother and have been raised with a Jewish identity. Movements that do not see Jewish law as binding, such as Reform Judaism and Humanistic Judaism, may permit it.{{Cite news |last=Moss |first=Lisa Braver |date=2014-02-14 |title=Choosing not to circumcise last frontier of Jewish inclusion |url=https://jweekly.com/2014/02/14/choosing-not-to-circumcise-last-frontier-of-jewish-inclusion/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211215152021/https://www.jweekly.com/2014/02/14/choosing-not-to-circumcise-last-frontier-of-jewish-inclusion/ |archive-date=2021-12-15 |access-date=2022-07-30 |newspaper=J. The Jewish News of Northern California |publisher=San Francisco Jewish Community Publications Inc. |language=en-US}}

• Bodily integrity
• Children's rights
• Circumcision controversies
• Ethics of circumcision

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