Moshe Yagur
University of Michigan
Circumcision, which was constructed as a marker of identity already in biblical writings, became all the more crucial in rabbinic teachings, in the context of conflict with the pagan, Hellenistic, uncircumcised surrounding society. The rabbis were familiar with other ethnic groups which practiced male circumcision (“Arabs,” “Gibeonites”), but their place in the rabbis’ worldview was marginal, and the rabbis constructed a clear dichotomy between Jewish/circumcised and non- Jewish/uncircumcised, regardless of the actual physical reality.
This reality changed considerably in late antiquity, with the rise of Islam. Gradually, the majority of the surrounding society in the Middle East also began practicing circumcision and ascribed to it social and theological meanings that were quite similar to the Jewish ones. The purpose of this paper will be to analyze how Jewish attitudes and practices in the medieval Islamicate world responded to this new reality. I will show that the Geonim, leaders of the Jewish ‘academies’ of Babylon in the early Islamic period, attempted to preserve the old rabbinic dichotomy between circumcised and uncircumcised, but that eventually this attitude could not hold, and other, more nuanced approaches emerged. During the high Middle Ages some even expressed far- reaching theories concerning circumcision, like Maimonides in the 12th century, who described circumcision as a marker of a shared, monotheistic, “Abrahamic” covenant, which superseded ethnic and religious boundaries.
The fact that circumcision could not be portrayed as a unique marker of Jewish identity led to what Freud called “narcissism of minor differences” concerning the specifics of the circumcision ceremony: who could perform it, on whom, and when. Should a Jewish circumciser be allowed to circumcise Muslim children? Can a Jewish boy be circumcised by a Muslim? The ritual of circumcision allows for a certain violation of the Sabbath, but should one desecrate the Sabbath to circumcise the children of slaves, Karaites, or apostates? These questions concerning the limits of the ritual and its meanings reflect the medieval debates concerning the boundaries of Jewish identity and community. These issues demanded the attention and creativity of the Jews living under Medieval Islam, as will be demonstrated based on Cairo Genizah documents and contemporaneous responsa.
Overall, I shall trace how Jewish understandings of the circumcision ritual evolved during the said time and place and describe the ways in which circumcision continued to function as a Jewish identity marker in a changing world.