Arutz Sheva
October 20, 2016
by Haim Lev
The father who took his newborn son and ran out of a synagogue in Bnei Brak on Tuesday, just before the child was to be circumcised, has agreed to explain his motives.
The father explained he wanted to "redeem his son's foreskin with money" in order to avoid fulfilling the commandment to circumcise newborn boys. In the end, after he was told the circumcision (brit) would happen with or without him, the father agreed to circumcise his son that day or on a subsequent day. In the end, the circumcision took place as planned.
"Just like every other circumcision, there's a lot of blood and a crying baby. It doesn't matter how good the mohel is, cutting a limb is cutting a limb, and it hurts. I decided it's not going to happen, I'm not circumcising my son, and I won't circumcise my next son, if I have one," the father wrote on his blog.
"I thought," he said, "I'll go in with the baby in a carseat, and I'll ask to redeem the foreskin with money instead of doing a circumcision. It's true that there is no such [redemption] procedure and I made it up on the spot, but today everyone makes up laws and rules that are appropriate for the times, so I figured, why not?"
"And if they don't let me do that, which is what I figured would happen, I thought I'd just walk out with the carseat, get in the first taxi I see and travel to Rishon LeZion with the baby," he said.
Later, the father told how his plan failed, and explained that he had no complaints against the haredi mohel or Rabbi Kanievsky, who served as sandak (the person who honored with holding the baby during the circumcision).
"I trust Rabbi Diament, the mohel and Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky. I'm just against physically hurting a baby. The circumcision is what bothers me," he said.
Circumcision involves a minimal amount of blood and the baby, given a cloth with ceremonial wine on it to suck - and in some places, aspirin - at first, quiets down and is handed back to his mother for a feeding. It is the commandment given to the Patriarch Abraham as a sign of the Jewish People's covenant (brit) with the Almighty.
October 20, 2016
Dad explains why he kidnapped baby
Father who ran off with baby just before circumcision explains his motives.by Haim Lev
The father who took his newborn son and ran out of a synagogue in Bnei Brak on Tuesday, just before the child was to be circumcised, has agreed to explain his motives.
The father explained he wanted to "redeem his son's foreskin with money" in order to avoid fulfilling the commandment to circumcise newborn boys. In the end, after he was told the circumcision (brit) would happen with or without him, the father agreed to circumcise his son that day or on a subsequent day. In the end, the circumcision took place as planned.
"Just like every other circumcision, there's a lot of blood and a crying baby. It doesn't matter how good the mohel is, cutting a limb is cutting a limb, and it hurts. I decided it's not going to happen, I'm not circumcising my son, and I won't circumcise my next son, if I have one," the father wrote on his blog.
"I thought," he said, "I'll go in with the baby in a carseat, and I'll ask to redeem the foreskin with money instead of doing a circumcision. It's true that there is no such [redemption] procedure and I made it up on the spot, but today everyone makes up laws and rules that are appropriate for the times, so I figured, why not?"
"And if they don't let me do that, which is what I figured would happen, I thought I'd just walk out with the carseat, get in the first taxi I see and travel to Rishon LeZion with the baby," he said.
Later, the father told how his plan failed, and explained that he had no complaints against the haredi mohel or Rabbi Kanievsky, who served as sandak (the person who honored with holding the baby during the circumcision).
"I trust Rabbi Diament, the mohel and Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky. I'm just against physically hurting a baby. The circumcision is what bothers me," he said.
Circumcision involves a minimal amount of blood and the baby, given a cloth with ceremonial wine on it to suck - and in some places, aspirin - at first, quiets down and is handed back to his mother for a feeding. It is the commandment given to the Patriarch Abraham as a sign of the Jewish People's covenant (brit) with the Almighty.
