I'm a Physician, a Jew, a Father & Grandfather: My position on Circumcision

Mark D. Reiss, M.D.



I am a 72 year old retired physician, a Jew who is an active member of a Conservative synagogue, and a grandfather.

When I was in Medical School in the 1950s, almost all newborn males were circumcised. Despite the fact that prophylactic surgery was not generally performed, we were taught that circumcision was the correct and healthy thing to do. It was thought to control masturbation, decrease cancer risk, and help curtail sexually transmitted diseases. We learned nothing of foreskin anatomy and function. Infant nervous systems were thought to be undeveloped and their pain was so trivialized that it was almost ignored. As a young physician, I participated in many circumcisions. Over the years I’ve witnessed brit milah in the homes of friends and family. I was mildly uncomfortable with the practice, but like most physicians, and like most Jews, I said and did nothing to question circumcision.

Three years ago, as I was about to become a grandfather for the first time, my interest in the subject became more focused. I learned that more and more physicians now realize that any potential benefits of circumcision are far outweighed by its risks and drawbacks. The American Academy of Pediatrics has stated that “Routine circumcision is not necessary”. Whether done by a physician in the hospital, or a mohel in a ritual brit milah, the procedure has significant complication rates of infection, hemorrhage and even death. Mortality may actually be higher than thought since some of these deaths have not been attributed to circumcision, but listed only under their secondary causes, such as hemorrhage or infection. I’ve learned of the very important role the foreskin has in the protection of the head of the penis in the infant, and in sexual functioning in adulthood. It has also been shown that the newborn feels pain even more acutely than adults do, and that many of the infants who stop crying during circumcision are actually in a state of traumatic shock. To my amazement I learned that the USA is now the only country in the world routinely circumcising babies for non-religious reasons.

With these overwhelming reasons not to circumcise, I began to look at the practice of ritual circumcision in the Jewish community and I learned that: circumcision is not an identity issue. You do not need to be circumcised to be Jewish any more than the need to observe many other Jewish laws. The bottom line is this: if your mother is Jewish, you are Jewish, period. And in the Reform tradition, patrilineal descent is also accepted. Among Jews in Europe (only 40% of newborn Jewish boys in Sweden are being circumcised), South America, and even in Israel, circumcision is not universal. Growing numbers of American Jews are now leaving their sons intact as they view circumcision as a part of Jewish law that they can no longer accept. Alternative brit b’li milah or brit shalom ceremonies (ritual naming ceremony without cutting) are being performed by some rabbis. Increasing numbers of intact boys are going to religious school, having bar mitzvahs, and taking their place as young adults in the Jewish community.
As a Jewish grandfather, I want to assure young couples about to bring a child into the world, that there are other members of the Jewish “older” generation, including other Jewish physicians, and even some rabbis, who feel as I do. If your heart and instincts tell you to leave your son intact, listen!


  1. Wow. Thank you.

  2. Just goes to show, you are never to old to learn new information and change old methods of belief. With Dr Reiss now having read and absorbed the updated information on male circumcision many more baby boys may be saved and their parents educated.

  3. Thank you so much for speaking out!

  4. Its a good read but I would have loved for you to mention that this is bigger then what a mother and father feel is right in their hearts. This is about a childs right to his own body. No one else has any right on this matter and we need to be stronger on this. I say this as a Jewish mother to two intact sons. No mother has the right to 'choose' this.
    Adiya Freidman Australia

  5. I was interesting in knowing what his son/daughter did to his grandchild. Hopefully they left him intact.
    Great entry. I wish more physicians and practicing Jews would speak out against circ. Mostly because any time someone speaks against circ they are either labeled "Anti-Semetic" or their opinions are dismissed since "my doctor recommends it, a Dr wouldn't recommend it unless it was necessarry"!

  6. This article really made me question what is "right" and "good" based on what I've known to be "true" all of my life. As a Jewish woman hoping to bring a child into the world, this is something very important to consider. Thank you for the post, I appreciate your perspective.

  7. There may perhaps be a "transitional" possibility in the Jewish community. As an adult convert to Judasim, I had neither matrilineal nor patrilineal descent to "make" me a Jew. Since I was circumsized as a infant, the conversion process for me involved "hatafat dam brit" (covenant of a drop of blood) where a single drop was drawn from a needle prick of the skin in the area of my former prepuce. If Jews are not able to fully progress to a completely bloodless brit shalom for baby boys, a single needle prick is still a big step forward from a prepuce removal. Get more Jews to watch the videos and you will assuredly cut down the number of parents who will acquiesce to circumcision. Conservative rabbis also need to get on board.



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