The Meaning of Circumcision for Strangers in Rabbinic Literature

THE MEANING OF CIRCUMCISION FOR STRANGERS IN RABBINIC LITERATURE

Korbinian Spann

1. Introduction

On the face of it, circumcision seems to express the essence of Jew- ishness. Male Jews must be circumcised as demanded in Gen 17:10. Because of the eternal covenant, Jews circumcise their male children until today. Circumcision therefore is an important ritual1 and a basic ingredient of Jewish identity building since antiquity. Of course, circumcision is not only a sign of Jewishness but also of difference, because strangers such as Christians are not circumcised. The ritual of circumcision refers to a cultural border between Jews and non-Jews. So circumcision is not only a positive claim for Jewishness but also a negative criterion. But in antiquity, the ritual of circumcision was not only performed by Jews. As Herodotus tells us, ancient peoples such as the Egyptians were circumcised2 and some early Christians seem to have been cir- cumcised as well. And, as Shaye Cohen has pointed out, Jewish women are not circumcised, but still Jewish.3 This fact contradicts the claim that circumcision is an exclusive rite solely for Israel. The biblical ritual of circumcision is modified in rabbinic litera- ture. Circumcision is mentioned in tractates of the Mishnah and the Tosefta, and increasingly in Talmud Yerushalmi and Talmud Bavli. In tractates like Šabbat or Yebamot the time and procedure are discussed at length. There is a lot of discussion about when and how a Jewish child should be circumcised.4 If we have a closer look at the texts of

(מילה) Circumcision refers in this case to the biblical process of circumcision 1 in Gen 17:10–14. This process is called a ritual, because it is a standardized act of symbolic power. On the other hand, we do not know much about the early biblical ritual. Since the time of the Maccabees circumcision is obviously a sign of difference. Circumcision as a differentiating ritual is also described in Philo and Josephus. 2 See Herodotus, Hist. 2.37. 3 Shaye J. D. Cohen, Why Aren’t Jewish Women Circumcised? Gender and Covenant in Judaism (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2005). 4 Compare the Rabbinic discussion in Šabb. 19. 226 korbinian spann rabbinic literature we notice that circumcision is not only a ritual for Jews. In some cases circumcision refers to proselytes, the gerim. In these cases the ritual seems to indicate a border between Jews and non-Jews.5 But it remains unclear if circumcision represents the gen- eral difference between Israel and the nations. The meaning of circumcision for strangers in rabbinic literature will now be analyzed. It is interesting to know the meaning circumcision has for the halakhic debate about strangers and Jewish group building. Circumcision is of course not the only criterion for being Jewish, but it descends directly from the Torah and is therefore important like the shabbat or kashrut. Before examining the texts, it will be necessary to specify the extent of this study. In rabbinic literature, several terms are used to describe outsiders and strangers. The termsgoy and nokhri for gentiles are mentioned most of the time in different layers of rabbinic literature. The termzar , meaning a non-priest, is like ger, the proselyte, a term for strangers in Biblical Hebrew. All of these terms define strangers in relation to rabbinic society.6 While goy and nokhri are strangers and foreigners, ger and zar belong to Israel. There are two categories of strangers, one non-Jewish and one Jewish, and these terms must be distinguished according to their relevance. A normal stranger, such as a goy, is different by definition from a non-priest, zara . For all of these strangers circumcision has a different meaning. A zar is circumcised, and a proselyte, a ger, must be circumcised, but goyim and nokhrim are not circumcised. Circumcision can be a sign of difference between strangers and Jews but also between Jews and gerim. Someone who is not circumcised can still be close to Judaism and willing to convert.7 It is now necessary to explain how far and under which circum- stances circumcision is a sign of difference in rabbinic literature.8 It

5 Daniel Boyarin, Border Lines. The Partition of Judeo-Christianity (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2004), 21 argues that Jews and Christians are seper- ated “by a dialectic clustering through the choice of specific indicia of identity and the diffusion and clustering of such indicia (such as circumcision/no circumcision) were groups gradually congealing into Christianity and Judaism”. 6 See Korbinian Spann, “Fremde in einer Priestergesellschaft. Die Beschreibung des Fremden im Traktat Schabbat”, Judaica 65 (2009): 323–38. 7 Shaye J. D. Cohen, “Crossing the Boundary and Becoming a Jew”, HTR 82 (1989): 13–33, at 15–23. 8 Altogether there is less literature on circumcision in rabbinic literature alone. Beside Shaye Cohen’s study the work of Lawrence A. Hoffman must be mentioned,