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[quote=Anonymous]I know this is going to be a controversial post, but I'm going to ask anyway to try and sort out what I think about this. We are about to have a boy. My husband is Jewish, and I am not.  I come from a culture where it's quite common not to circumcise. I never planned to, and as recent research seems to show it doesn't have medical advantages in developed nations as long as good hygiene is practiced and can interfere with sensitivity, etc., I assumed I would not.  Now my husband is not pushing it and says he wants to look at the research and decide.  But I know part of him feels it would be a rite of passage associated with his Jewish identity.

Here's the thing -- I've tried very hard to be open to Judaism, celebrating holidays and participating in the Jewish community, but there are some things that really bother me. My children are not considered half-Jewish because I'm not Jewish. There's this whole thing about the chosen people and outsiders/insiders. I hear it in all the liturgy. I just don't feel I can connect with it, and I also don't want to give my children the burden of thinking they are Jewish when many Jews won't consider them so. My husband is from Israel and we would not have been allowed to get married there because I am not Jewish, unless I underwent a full orthodox conversion. I was at one point willing to convert but my husband is not religious and he told me he preferred I would not. Regardless, it strikes me as a discriminatory practice that I don't feel comfortable with (on the part of the state), and it really underscored to me that I would not be considered a member of the community in many ways as we got married.

I don't really want my "issues" with this religious crap to confound the decision about circumcision. I want to keep an open mind. I know it is very important to Jewish identity and so on, and I also know there are several countries where it's becoming a human rights/consent issue. It's just getting to the point that I don't even know what I am thinking about and need something concrete to ground me. If you've read this far, and you have any similar experiences in coming to a decision, would appreciate hearing them. Thanks. [/quote]

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