thanks MOSHE- I know about the medical reasons given- the discussions, etc.... I don't think however this was a reason these ancient men agreed to be circumcised- any of the reasons you are quoting would hardly be important for a 90 year, LOL Today, these reasons might be valid with cancer and AIDS etc... but again, for the sake of the origin and meaning of circumcision this would not be a good argument. #28 Yonason: thank you for the short and precise definition and explanation. It is what I wanted to know- and what makes sense. As you can probably guess, I am not Jewish, but I want to learn about Judaism...not passing curiosity, but serious study. Thank you.

Lisa, the reason Avraham was circumcised (he circumcised himself in fact) was because G-D commanded him to do this. No reason was given. His faith in G-d was so huge that he did not question it. His age at the time played no part. We see a similar act of faith when G-d commanded him to do the binding of Isaac. This is why the Jewish people do circumcisions - it is G-d's commandment to us all

Sorry but you might have got it wrong. A person is defined as Jewish if he/she is born of a Jewish mother and for a man he will also have to get a bris. Even if he does not live according to the Halacha he is still Jewish

GOd created the foreskin fr a reason...if we didnt need it,dont u think we would have been born without it?! Would you remove ur ear lobe? Everything we are born with serves a purpose. Stop hacking away!