ISRAEL: Jewish Mom Makes Case for Intactivism

What kind of a state is this?! What is this? Where do we live? Could the Religious Court force upon me anything during the divorce? In particular, religious oppression, unnecessary cutting of the penis of a helpless baby?

Jewish mother and Israeli Intactivist Elinor holds a sign that reads "The right of the human over his own body”.

(TEL AVIV) - “Help! I’m asking for the help of the public! I am a mother to a baby. The Rabbinical Court is forcing me to cut my year old son against my will (circumcise him) while subjecting me to heavy financial sanctions daily!

After my exposure to the information regarding circumcision, I refuse to mutilate my baby. I don’t have the right and I do not agree! He was born whole and he will stay whole! His integrity is his full right! The Religious Court has no right to do that! No one in the whole world is authorized to force me to mutilate my son, to cut his penis!

What kind of a state is this?! What is this? Where do we live? Could the Religious Court force upon me anything during the divorce? In particular, religious oppression, unnecessary cutting of the penis of a helpless baby? A non-reversible surgical operation! A foreskin does not renew itself!

The baby can not express his own will. The right to decide is his alone. It is his body! The right, is not mine, nor anyone else’s in the entire world, but his own only!

I am pleading for help! I love my son very much! I do not want to hurt him! Please pass this message on to anyone possible so it won’t be a precedent for future divorce cases in the Rabbinical Court which authorizes itself to force religious oppression upon a nonreligious divorcing person! Why does the religious court take advantage of its monopoly on marriage?! It’s a degrading abuse of power, used for religious oppression! Religion has to be voluntary from the heart, not by force and financial penalties!

Where do we live? Where is the supervision? Where is the government?! I am crying for help! Unfortunately, here, in the state of Israel!”

- Elinor

You can support Elinor here: http://www.gonnen.org/?p=393 and here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/543519205741168/

Jewish Intactivism - A Male Human Rights Movement!

Links related to Judaism and Israeli Intactivism

Israeli Intactivist Groups (Mostly in Hebrew)
The Israeli Association Against Circumcision / Intact Son
Protect the Child
Kahal (Group for Israeli Parents of Intact Sons)
Intactivism Spreads in Israel. This Time by Jews.

Jewish Intactivist Resources and Groups
Cut: A Movie by an Orthodox Intactivist.
Questioning Circumcision: A Jewish Perspective By Ron Goldman, Ph.D.
Beyond the Bris by Rebecca Wald.
Jews Against Circumcision

Peaceful Covenant Texts for Jewish Parents.
What is a Jewish Brit Shalom (Covenant Without Cutting)? A 'Bloodless Bris' is Becoming Popular Among American Jews
HowJudaic is the circumcision? An Israeli Hebrew scholar on Biblical intactivism.
100+ Rabbis who lead covenant without cutting ceremonies worldwide.  
Song for an Intact Jewish Boy’s Welcoming.
Brit B'lee Milah Ceremony
A Brit Shalom Ceremony

Judaism, the Foreskin and Human Rights.
Rabbis on a Covenant without Circumcision
Humanistic Judaism is Increasingly Intactivist
Jewish Religion, the Foreskin, & Human Rights | Part 1.
Jewish Religion, the Foreskin, & Human Rights | Part 2.
Jewish Religion, the Foreskin, & Human Rights | Part 3.

Jewish Intactivist Families: Jewish Parents' Experiences Keeping their Sons Intact.
Jewish Family in Canada Opts for a Brit Shalom
Following Our Hearts: A Jewish Father's Brit Shalom Journey
Laura Shanley: A Jewish Woman Denounces Circumcision
Moshe Rothenberg: Ending Circumcision in the Jewish Community?
Michael Kimmel: The Kindest Un-Cut: Feminism, Judaism, and My Son's Foreskin | Published in Tikkun.
Circumcision Questions (letter from an intact Jew). | Published in the Northern California Jewish Bulletin.
Outlawing Circumcision: Good for the Jews? By Eli Ungar-Sargon. Published in the Jewish Daily Forward. 
Dear Elijah: A Conservative Jewish Father's Letter to His Intact Son | Published on Peaceful Parenting.
Stacey Greenberg: My Son: The Little Jew with a Foreskin | Published in Mothering Magazine.