From Abraham to America: A History of Jewish Circumcision

(Paperback)

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Description

Silverman's new book is a comprehensive overview of Jewish circumcision throughout history. Beginning with Genesis, the author traces paradoxes and tensions in biblical-Jewish circumcision as seen both within Judaism and from the dominant, non-Jewish culture. Topics include rabbinic literature, early Christianity, Medieval notions of menstruating Jewish men and the blood libel, the relic of ChristOs foreskin, modern notions of the Jewish body and Jewish manhood, and the current debate over Jewish and routine medical circumcision in America.

Reviews

A remarkable, stimulating and wide-ranging study of Jewish circumcision...This book is a must-read for professionals practicing in the Jewish community as well as scholars of Judaism and religious studies. * Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal Of Jewish Studies *
Putting modern objections to circumcision in the context of previously non-Jewish attacks provides a useful comparison. * Jewish History *
Eric Silverman's From Abraham to America: A History of Jewish Circumcision finally supplies a comprehensive overview of the Western debates about circumcision from its ritual form as practice by the Jews to its present day "American" appearance as a ubiquitous medical practice. How do we get from "Abraham" to "America" With great finesse and some polemic, Silverman enables us to follow the circuitous path that encompasses Jewish-Christian relationships from the early Church to the present. An important and engaging book on a topic of ongoing fascination. -- Sander L. Gilman, Distinguished Professor of the Liberal Arts and Sciences, Emory University
Silverman's book demystifies much of the meaning and context of circumcision by delivering a comprehensive and intricate analysis of this Jewish practice....A vast bibliography, insightful references, additional layers of anthropological, theological and political analyses, spiced with mythological stories as well as a good portion of humor, make this book not only comprehensive, but also satisfying. * Men and Masculinities *

Author Bio

Eric Silverman is associate professor of anthropology at DePauw University.