Written Through Blood the Moral Complexities of Jewish Ritual Circumcision
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Written through Blood The moral complexities of Jewish ritual circumcision Na’ama Carlin A thesis in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of Social Sciences Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences August 2016 Copyright © 2016 Na’ama Carlin All rights reserved THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES Thesis/Dissertation Sheet Surname or Family name: Cartin First name: Na'ama Other name/s: Abbreviation for degree as given In the University calendar: School: School of Social Sciences Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Title: Writtenthrough Blood: The moral complexities of Jewish ritual circumcision al male circumcision Neonat has been practiced for centuries. Contemporary debate is dominated by those who claim circumcision necessary f r hea th re !s � ! �sons, and those who argue that it violates autonomy and inflicts harm. Jews are beginning to interrogate their ancient _ ritual and question whether it is a necessary violence, and whether this violence can be absolved? The purpose of t is dis rtat on is to consider the relationship between circumcision, violence, and morality. My research problem � �� ! _ asks: Beca��e c1�cumc1�1�n 1s v1ole�t, does it necessarily mean that circumcision is immoral? Is there another way of conc�ptuahsmg circumc1s1on that thinks violence differently? In other words, can something that is violent be ethical? My questions are: 1. What is violence? What are the typical features and attributes of violence? 2. What is circumcision and why is it practiced? What moral commitments guide the practice? 3. How does Jewish ritual circumcision reveal the limitations and possibilities of conventional understandings of violence? What implications does Jewish ritual circumcision have for those who consider circumcision as violent and immoral? To address these questions, I adopt textual method of analysis that is inspired by Jacques Derrida who defines text as a means of accessing the world. This perspective allows me to treat circumcision as a text. I look at three different versions of this text: proponents of circumcision, anti-circumcision activists, and Jewish ritual circumcision. My argument uses different perspectives on violence (such as Sigmund Freud and Rene Girard, along with Derrida), in addition to a range of Jewish scholarly texts (such as the Torah, Talmud and a Kabbalistic narrative). I argue that contemporary arguments about circumcision exhibit attributes of division, externality, and inflexible moral values, and my intervention into the debate seeks to explore how we can think of the violence of circumcision beyond opposition or externality. I argue that the Jewish ritual allows us to think of violence as generative, such that there is violence inherent in the making of text, ·and the making of bodies. Declaration relating to disposition of project thesis/dissertation a. I hereby grant to the University of New South Wales or its agents the right to archive and to make available my thesis or dissertationin whole or in part in the University libraries in all formsof media, now or here after known, subject to the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968. I retain all property rights, such as patent rights. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articlesor books) all or partof this thesis or dissertation. b. c. r also authorise University Microfilms to use the 350 word abstract of my thesis in Dissertation Abstracts International(this is applicable to doctoral theses only). ..... ....... ......................... : Witness Signature..3 .. 1 ...Y ... /.G ..........Date. The University recognises that there may be exceptional circumsta�ces ��quiring restrictions on copyin? or condit�o�s on use. Requests for restriction for a period of up to 2 years must be made m wr1tmg. Requests for a longer penod of restnction may be considered in exce tional circumstances and re uire the a roval of the Dean of Graduate Research. FOR OFFICE USE ONLY Date of completion of requirements for Award: THIS SHEET IS TO BE GLUED TO THE INSIDE FRONT COVER OF THE THESIS ORIGINALITY STATEMENT ‘I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and to the best of my knowledge it contains no materials previously published or written by another person, or substantial proportions of material which have been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma at UNSW or any other educational institution, except where due acknowledgement is made in the thesis. Any contribution made to the research by others, with whom I have worked at UNSW or elsewhere, is explicitly acknowledged in the thesis. I also declare that the intellectual content of this thesis is the product of my own work, except to the extent that assistance from others in the project's design and conception or in style, presentation and linguistic expression is acknowledged.’ Signed ……………………………………………........... Date 31/08/2016 3 COPYRIGHT STATEMENT ‘I hereby grant the University of New South Wales or its agents the right to archive and to make available my thesis or dissertation in whole or part in the University libraries in all forms of media, now or here after known, subject to the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968. I retain all proprietary rights, such as patent rights. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis or dissertation. I also authorise University Microfilms to use the 350 word abstract of my thesis in Dissertation Abstract International (this is applicable to doctoral theses only). I have either used no substantial portions of copyright material in my thesis or I have obtained permission to use copyright material; where permission has not been granted I have applied/will apply for a partial restriction of the digital copy of my thesis or dissertation.' Signed Date ........................... AUTHENTICITY STATEMENT ‘I certify that the Library deposit digital copy is a direct equivalent of the final officially approved version of my thesis. No emendation of content has occurred and if there are any minor variations in formatting, they are the result of the conversion to digital format.’ Signed Date ........................... Table of Contents Acknowledgements 7 Introduction 9 Circumcision as text: Judaism 14 Circumcision as text: Circumcision activists 14 Circumcision as text: Intactivists 15 Theory as text: Violence 17 Theory as text: Jacques Derrida 19 Derrida and text 19 Derrida and circumcision 20 Theory as text: Judaic Scholarship 20 The body as text 21 Thesis argument 23 Chapter 1. Morality and the Primordial Moment of Violence 27 Introduction 27 What is Violence? 28 Freud 35 Totem and Taboo 36 Unity through Flesh 37 Girard 44 Desire and Violence 45 Sacrifice and Victim 47 Derrida’s Response 49 Derrida’s Ontology 50 Biblical Sacrifice 57 Manichaean Violence Reconsidered 61 Chapter 2. Conceptualising Circumcision 65 Introduction 65 What is circumcision? 66 Image 1. Uncircumcised and circumcised penis 67 Image 1. Surgical circumcision devices 69 Image 3. Jewish ritual circumcision instruments 70 The landscape of a predicament 70 Terms of the contemporary circumcision debate 71 Circumcision, health, autonomy: Activists and Intactivists 74 4 Circumcision advocates: activists 75 1. The medicalisation of circumcision 76 2. The moralisation of sexual health 78 3. Fear of HIV transmission 81 4. The social responsibilisation of health 86 Intactivists 86 Image 4: Incidence of in-hospital newborn male circumcision in the USA 1999–2010 90 1. Circumcision and the violation of bodily integrity 90 2. Circumcision and the human right to autonomy 94 Conclusion 98 Chapter 3. The Genesis of Jewish Ritual Circumcision 100 Introduction 100 Jewish ritual circumcision and the Hebrew Bible 101 Genesis 17 101 Great is Circumcision 103 Blood: A Gendered Dichotomy 105 One Positive Mitzvah 108 Mitzvah of circumcision 109 Covenant of Circumcision/Word 111 The Jewish ritual: procedural elements 112 On the eighth day 113 The circumciser 114 The cut 115 Naming 118 Embodiment and circumcision 120 Circumcision: a moral quandary 125 Conclusion 129 Chapter 4. Writing and Authorship 130 Introduction 130 Derrida and the Question of Writing 132 Writing in General 135 The Supplement 136 Circumfession 140 The question of authorship 148 Judaism and writing 152 Kabbalah 155 Textual Building Blocks 157 Image 5. The Sefirot 159 Image 6. The Sefirot and the body 160 5 Judaism and the question of authorship 161 From speech to writing 163 The layout of a Talmud page 164 Image 7. Page of the Talmud 166 Conclusion 168 Chapter 5. From Rite to Write 169 A conceptual alternative: the cut 170 Infinite to finite: Creation and fracture 176 Circumcision as God’s Signature 176 The Primordial Cut 178 Milah, circumcision and creation 185 Conclusion 189 Conclusion: The Cut that Makes Whole 191 Bibliography 196 6 Acknowledgements Writing a dissertation can be a solitary endeavour, as the process often lends itself to introspection, self-criticism, and doubt. These moments can overshadow the pleasure that comes with working at problems and indulging in fascinating texts and ideas. In my years of research I was fortunate to have several people walk besides me, making the journey far more bearable. Here, I express my gratitude. First, it is important to me that my supervisor at the University of New South Wales, Dr Melanie White, receives the acknowledgement she deserves. Her dedication, kindness, encouragement, and enthusiasm for my project were incomparable. If the dissertation road took an especially lonely turn, her unrelenting faith in my work gave me courage and kept me going. I cannot imagine having a more thoughtful, generous, and insightful reader and mentor than Dr White; working under her tutelage these past few years has been an absolute privilege. This dissertation owes everything to our lengthy conversations and to her truly infinite patience, unparalleled guidance, and exceptional advice. Despite being on the other side of the world, my family has always managed to walk by my side every step of the way.