[HANASHIR:1363] Re: Songs for Circumcision

[Rachel Gurevitz <rgurevit...>]

Am I getting my midrash muddled, or is circumcision linked to Abraham's
near sacrifice of Isaac?  If it is then Joan Baez (I thought you'd like
that, Jess) sings a great acoustic number called Abraham and Isaac which
retells the story on the 'Play Me Backwards' album.  If you don't have it
and it is actually relevant, give me a call and I'll bring it with me to
Finchley Reform tomorrow (and pop it in to you on the way home if you're
not there).

Circumcision also comes up with relation to Moses - he may well not have
made it back to Egypt to tell Pharoah to let the people go if his wife
hadn't insisted on circumcising their son, thereby saving him from death
from a serious illness.  So maybe a tangental link could be made to
anything to do with Moses, highlighting the extent to which the ritual was
valued in that telling of history in the Torah.

Likewise, the rape of Dinah leads to Joseph's brothers first insisting on
the circumsion of an entire tribe in order that the man responsible can
honour the family by marrying her, and then killing the males of an entire
community in revenge whilst they were still 'weak' from having had the chop
- but maybe you don't want to sing about that :-)

BTW - mazeltov to the family! (I'm not sure if Jess has announced this to
the list, but she is an aunty again - her brother and his wife have just
had a baby - Oliver).  I assume that's why you're asking, Jess?

Rachel G

At 18:30 17/09/98 +0000, you wrote:
>Just wondering (on the off chance) whether anyone has any songs (prob.
>paradies I guess) on circumcision.
>
>(ouch)
>
>Jess
>
>
>