Many Christian clients, including the Watsons, liked what they saw at a friend's brith milah, also known as a bris. Others are conservative Christians who want to follow Old Testament tradition or learned about holistic circumcisions from the Internet, their doctors or others, Kushner said.
Home Circumcisions Appealing to Christian Parents
Jewish Community's Mohels Infuse 'Holistic' Procedure With Spiritual Meaning
By Nicole Neroulias
Religion News Service
Saturday, August 23, 2008; B09
Mark Kushner pulled up to the Watson family's suburban Philadelphia home a week after the birth of their first son, Colin. In the dining room, he unpacked the tools of his trade: sterilized surgical instruments, topical anesthetic, prayer shawls and a small bottle of kosher wine.
The shawls went back into his black bag. But to Megan and Christopher Watson's happy surprise, the mohel -- pronounced "moyle," the title for a Jewish ritual circumciser -- had copies of several prayers appropriate for the Presbyterian parents to read for the occasion.
"We thank You for the miracle of human experience in the birth of our child," they recited while Kushner gently rocked their infant before the procedure.
Kushner, who is based in Philadelphia, and Philip Sherman, a mohel in the New York City area, say they have performed more than 30,000 circumcisions since training together in Israel in the 1970s. Most of their business comes from traditional brith milah ceremonies for 8-day-old Jewish boys. But in recent years, they have increasingly catered to Christian families who eschew a hospital procedure in favor of a $300 to $800 house call, a trend Sherman has dubbed "holistic circumcision."
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Think tribalism!
Think tribalism!
Tribalism? How so?
Tribalism? How so?
You're asking me a question
You're asking me a question about religion. I made a statement about their cultural practices.
No, I'm asking how you're
No, I'm asking how you're using the word "tribalism." Tribalism as in Jewish practices or just all these people returning to old traditions?
I meant it in two ways: The
I meant it in two ways: The first in the sense of a strong cultural or ethnic identity that separates oneself as a member of one group from the members of another and secondly in an ironic sense. The term tribalism is used so often, for example, to describe the behavior of peoples in Africa and Middle East but is almost never used to describe the behavior of people in more developed western nations.
Ohhh. Okay. So in the sence
Ohhh. Okay.
So in the sence that conservative Christians continue to put up barriers between themselves and others.
And flipping the script on members of the European diaspora.
In the words of the late Bernie Mac, "Nice. Real nice." Or, at least, that's what he'd say on his show.
"And flipping the script on
"And flipping the script on members of the European diaspora."
Are you referring to Irish Catholics here?
No. I mean that fact that
No. I mean that fact that tribalism isn't normally used on people of European descent.
Like, no one doesn't anthropological studies on people in the West. People in the West do anthropological studies of other peoples around the world. It's a matter of power. The people in power get to know and study the other. The other comes to know and study those in power as a matter of survival, but it's not treated with the same academic respect.
In this case you changed the power dynamic by studying conservative Christians and Jews, normally both are considered white and therefore members of "power" not part of the "other." By naming their tribalism as you did, you made the conservative Christians part of the "other." And I liked it.
And part of me wonders if this whole thing about not knowing enough about Obama harkens back to this power dynamic where those in power get to feel they know all there is to know about the other. Then again, maybe the charge of not knowing enough about a candidate is usual, and I'm just not used to it.
"And part of me wonders if
"And part of me wonders if this whole thing about not knowing enough about Obama harkens back to this power dynamic where those in power get to feel they know all there is to know about the other."
Ralph Ellison got it right nearly 60 years ago in the prologue to The Invisible Man. These folks can't see Obama because of a "peculiar disposition of their inner eyes."
Not to change the subject,
Not to change the subject, but I want to comment on ptc's statement. As a teacher of Art, I often tell my students that "The Eyes are blind to what the Mind does not see". If I could give credit to where I took this quote, I would; nonetheless, at times and as a way to add emphasis for those who refuse to allow themselves to see objects in a new way, I will say, "The Eyes are blind to what the Mind CAN NOT see"
I believe that there are lots of things out there about Obama that people should be seeing, but as ptc points out, folks can't really "see" Obama because Ralph Ellison is correct. In fact, many don't want to see so they refuse to allow themselves to open up.