Who gets circumcised?

Answer 1

Someone specially trained, both religiously and medically. The Hebrew title is Mohel.

The truth is however that circumcisions generally are done by people that do not necessarily have any particular training that would pass muster in medical practice. the larget number of circumcisions world wide are done in country where poverty and ignorance are far more prevalent then in For example is real and the USA. most of these people work in a handyman culture.

Answer 2

The vast majority of men in the world are uncircumcised. In most of the world circumcision is extremely rarely practiced. For example in most of Europe, South America, Central America, Africa, and Asia, probably 98 out of 100 men would be uncircumcised. However, in some countries a small minority of the population is circumcised. For example in places like Canada and Australia, around 10% of newborn babies are circumcised.

Circumcision is very common in Israel, where there is a large Jewish population. Circumcision is also practiced among some, but not all, Muslims.

In the United States 25 years ago, the vast majority of men were circumcised, but today a minority of infants are circumcised. Circumcision rates have been falling in the United States since the 1970s. In the 1980s, over 80% of newborn male infants were circumcised. By 2007, when the most recent data from the American Academcy of Pediatrics was released, less than 40% of newborn male infants were circumcised, meaning that of boys born today in the United States, more are uncircumcised and circumcised.

Circumcision rates vary widely by region in the United States. In the Midwest and southeast, circumcision rates remain as high as 65%, while in the western united states, circumcision rates are generally well below 25%.

Answer 3

It depends on the context which you're asking about. If it's the simple act of circumcision, certain peoples practiced circumcision in very ancient times. If you're referring to a command by God, then this answer (which had been deleted) is relevant:

Abraham was was 99 years old when God told him to circumcise himself and all the male members of his family (Genesis ch.17). This was centuries before the Israelites sojourned in Egypt. It was given as a sign of God's covenant and has been continued by Jews since then; and is also practiced by Muslims.

Answer:

Needles to say though that the authenticity of the torah is a point of contention even among the Jews

The fist tangible record (i.e a record not based on unsubstantiated sources such as the Judaic religious writings Bible) record of circumcision that is available exists in art work done by the ancient Egyptians. It is thought that they did this to differentiate the upper class from the rest of the people it is reasonable to assume that the Jews followed suit. I am myself not Jewish and therefor I shall point you towards a site that Contests the authenticity of the torah. and let you settle it for your self Even according to the Jews this blood ritual did not begin until after they left Egypt and as it was an Egyptian cultural practice, it would be unreasonable to assume the Egyptian elite would copy the practice of their under class It would be reasonable to assume that the practice was done a longtime before that time as it is done by several primitive cultures throughout the world. For more information on Jewish circumcision and circumcision in general Go to the related link below, Circumcision: A Source of Jewish Pain Dr Ronald Goldman

130,000 BCE Modern humans: complete with foreskin

10,000 (?) BCE Aboriginal tribes in central and desert regions of Australia introduce circumcision of boys as puberty rite

6000 (?) BCE Circumcision (male and female) practised as puberty rite by tribes in north-eastern African and Arabian peninsula

3100 BCE Egypt invaded from the south, perhaps by African tribes bringing circumcision with them.

2300 BCE Egyptian bas-relief which may show some form of genital mutilation being performed. The relief is eroded and hard to interpret. More commonly seen as modern reconstruction. One interpretation is that it just shows the pubic hair being shaved. Contrary to some reports, no circumcised mummies have been found, but some statues show what may be a superincision (cutting a slit in the upper side of the foreskin, or dorsal slit).

600 BCE First five books of Hebrew Bible (Torah) compiled, including Genesis with its reference to Yaweh's command to Abraham to circumcise himself, his sons and his slaves and servants. Circumcision enforced by priests among Jewish people as sign of the Covenant.

450 BCE Greek historians note prevalence of circumcision and other penile mutilations among the Arabs and other Middle Eastern tribes. Herodotus (485-420 BCE) observes and deplores circumcision among the Colchians, Ethiopians, Phoenicians, Syrians, and Macrones, as well as the Egyptian priestly caste. He criticises the fanatical ritual cleanliness of the Egyptian priests: "They [even] practice circumcision for the sake of cleanliness, considering it better to be clean than handsome" - a perverse sacrifice in Greek eyes. (The context is things Egyptians do that are the reverse of what other, more sensible, people do.) He reports that the salutary influence of Greek culture led the Phoenicians to abandon circumcision. (See Frederick Hodges, "The ideal prepuce", including excellent illustrations from Greek art and sculpture).

170 BCE The Seleucid king Antiochus IV Epiphanes (175-165 BCE) consolidates Alexander's empire, and attempts to impose Greek civilization, including a ban on ritual circumcision. Some Jews seek foreskin restoration.

ANNO DOMINI or Christian Era Jesus born and circumcised in accordance with Jewish practice.

43 St Paul convinces a meeting in Jerusalem that circumcision is not required for Christian converts.

45 Philo (c.15 BCE to c.50 CE), a Jewish philosopher in Alexandria, defends circumcision on the ground that it is a valuable curb on sexual indulgence:

"The legislators thought good to dock the organ which ministers to such intercourse, thus making circumcision the symbol of excision of excessive and superfluous pleasure."

132 Roman Emperor Hadrian (98-138 CE) extends a previous ban, by Emperors Domitian (81-96) and Nerva (96-98), on the castration of citizens or slaves throughout the Roman Empire, to include circumcision.

140 Mishnah (commentary on Torah) first written down. Gives details of Periah, or radical circumcision, involving tearing back the foreskin and ripping it from the glans, (not just cutting off the tip, as done previously.) Thought to be instituted then to prevent Jews who did not like being circumcised from stretching the remnants of their foreskin so as to cover up the glans and thus being able to pass as uncircumcised and take part in Greek athletic contests and other Graeco-Roman social life. Emperor Antoninus Pius lifts the legal prohibition on circumcision, but only for Jews, not their slaves, servants or other non-Jews (as prescribed by Genesis and Jewish law).

Answer 4

A mohel.

The origin of Jewish circumcision is in the Torah, which is the foundation of Judaism. God told Abraham "every male among you shall be circumcised" as part of the covenant between God and the Jewish people (Genesis ch.17).

• Link: About Abraham
  

Since that time, virtually all Jews have observed the command of circumcision for close to four millennia, even in times of religious persecution under the Greeks, Romans, Spaniards, and Soviets. Circumcision is the indelible sign of God's covenant and is just as important as Yom Kippur in terms of the stringency which the Torah places upon it. And similar to Yom Kippur, it is one of the observances which are common to Orthodox, Conservative and Reform Jews alike.
It may be noted that while we do not keep God's commands because of physical benefits, it is still interesting that circumcision has been known to offer virtually complete protection from penile cancer. According to a recent article in the New England Journal of Medicine, none of the more than 1,600 persons studied with this cancer had been circumcised in infancy. In the words of researchers Cochen and McCurdy, the incidence of penile cancer in the U.S. is "essentially zero" among circumcised men.

Also, research at Johns Hopkins University Medical School in Baltimore have shown that circumcised men are six to eight times less likely to become infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Researchers believe that protection is due to the removal of the foreskin, which contains cells that have HIV receptors which scientists suspect are the primary entry point for the HIV virus (Reuters, March 25, 2004).

Several studies reported that circumcised boys were between 10 to 39 times less likely to develop urinary tract infections during infancy than uncircumcised boys. In addition, circumcision protects against bacterial, fungal, and parasitic infections and a variety of other conditions related to hygiene.

The extremely low rate of Cervical cancer in Jewish women (9 to 22 times less than among non-Jewish women) is thought to be related to their husbands' being circumcised. As a result of studies like these, a number of prestigious medical organizations such as the California Medical Association have recognized the benefits of circumcision.

As an operation, circumcision has an extremely small complication rate. A study in the New England Journal of Medicine (1990) reported a complication rate of 0.19 percent when circumcision is performed by a physician. When performed by a trained mohel, the rate falls to 0.13 percent or about 1 in 800. When a complication occurs, it is usually due to the bleeding, which is easily correctable. No other surgical procedure can boast such figures for complication-free operations.
One reason why there are so few complications involving bleeding may be that the major clotting agents, prothrombin and vitamin K, do not reach peak levels in the blood until the eighth day after a baby is born. Prothrombin levels are normal at birth, drop to a lower level in the next few days, and return to normal at the end of the first week. One study showed that by the eighth day, prothrombin levels reach 110 percent of normal. In the words of Dr. Armand J. Quick, author of several works on the control of bleeding, "It hardly seems accidental that the rite of circumcision was postponed until the eighth day by the Mosaic law."See also the other Related Links.

Link: About Jewish circumcision

Link: Jewish circumcision: a guide

Link: What is Jewish circumcision?

Answer 5

People who have a certain type of a religion or culture like Jewish people. Anyway usually people that don't have a certain type of religion or culture, don't get circumcised.

Answer 6

Traditionally, a mohel. In non-Orthodox ceremonies, a doctor may perform the actual procedure as long as a Rabbi officiates over the ceremony.

Answer 7

usualy a surgeon or a Mohel who does the jewish circumcision.