BRIS WINS by Rabbi Jacob Shechet, Mohel An attorney said “When arguing a case: If you have the law on your side, pound the law.  If you have the facts on your side, pound the facts. If you have neither, pound the table.” We have been hearing a constant pounding on the table by those opposed to circumcision and Bris.  I would like to set the record straight.  Let me explain. There seems to be a very vociferous and aggressive anti-circumcision movement who based on their subjective opinion pound the table to stop circumcision and Bris.  They somehow equate circumcision with child abuse. They summarily discount the medical value of circumcision.  If they had their way, circumcision and Bris would have been outlawed. They singled out circumcision for criticism and are totally silent about rhinoplasty (nose surgery), ear piercing, tattooing, etc. which have no medical value. Since I do newborn, adult and special Bris, I have a keen interest in all information concerning circumcision.   I wanted to study the data on which the anti-circumcision movement base their stand. I read some of their literature and heard some of their talk shows.  It seems that instead of offering facts they cast aspersions and deny any medical value for circumcision.  On that basis, they conclude that circumcision has no medical value.  They speak as if their denial obviates all problems of the uncircumcised.  The ostrich sticks its head into the ground and claims that there are no hunters around. The American Academy of Pediatrics in March of 99 issued a circumcision policy statement which said: “....The procedure is not essential to the child’s current well being.”  Don’t children grow up?  What effect will their policy have on the child’s well being in the long run? They too did not publish any data supporting their contention. Some pediatric urologists contend that routine circumcision has no medical value, however, all adult urologists with whom I spoke disagree with them. Adult urologists are the ones to whom the uncircumcised go for resolution of their medical problems. The best gauge to evaluate whether circumcision has medical value, is to study the problems of the uncircumcised. We actually did such a study.  I want to offer some facts without going into great technical details.  We reviewed the records of a group of 480 uncircumcised recent Russian immigrants on whom I did Bris.  They ranged in age from 1 1/2 months to 66 years. By and large, they are a healthy group who keep good personal hygiene.  Prior to their Bris they had a 61% rate of the problems of the uncircumcised, i.e. Balanitis, Posthitis, Phimosis, Frenular Chordee, etc. Our findings are not exceptional.  They are in line with other published reports in the medical literature.  Our study did not include cases with Penile Carcinoma, as they don’t come to us.  Also not included in our study were cases with Urinary Tract Infection (UTI), because they were treated by physicians before coming to us for Bris. It is of interest that patients who developed problems of the uncircumcised in adulthood requested a Bris “right now.”  Patients living with a given condition from infancy assumed it was the normal state. Through Bris our patient’s problems of the uncircumcised were resolved. This indicates that besides spiritual value, Bris affords mundane benefits. We submitted our study to the medical journal, “Pediatrics” as a response to their circumcision policy statement.  It was printed without comments in the March 2000 issue. In conclusion, it should be said that we the Jewish people do Bris solely because it is the sign of the covenant between G-d and the Jewish people.  To us, mundane advantages of Bris are only fringe benefits. The mundane benefits derived from Bris and all of the Commandments of the Torah in general, are only an indication that He who created the world gave us the Torah and He who gave us the torah created the world. They complement each other. Thank G-d for Bris and for the Torah.  Rabbi Shechet does newborn, adult and special Bris including cases with von Willebrands, Chordee, Hypospadias, etc. Rabbi Shechet can be reached at 800-2Mohel1 or 323-656-3938.