Description
Book SynopsisA study to examine why circumcision holds such an important place in the Jewish psyche. The text traces the symbolism of circumcision through history, examining its evolution as a symbol of the covenant in the post-exilic period of the Bible and its meaning in the era of Mishnah and Talmud.
Table of Contents1: Circumcision as Symbol in the Jewish Psyche 2: Bible and Birth: Some Priestly Public Meanings 3: Interlude from Priests to Rabbis: Origins of a Liturgy 4: Reconstructing the Rite 5: Reconstructing the Rabbinic Meaning System 6: Wine, Blood, and Salvation in Rabbinic Judaism 7: Blood, Salvation, Works, and Faith: Circumcision in Early Judaism and Christianity 8: Gender Opposition in Rabbinic Judaism: Free-flowing Blood in a Culture of Control 9: Control and Transformation: "The Raw and the Cooked" in Rabbinic Culture 10: Women's Spirituality and the Presence of Mothers in Rabbinic Ritual 11: Medieval Rabbinism and the Ritual Marginalization of Women Afterword: Brit or Milah? Circumcision in American Culture Notes Index
