The foundation of living a Jewish life is disappearing.

"Each mother all the way back through history had had to hand
over her child to someone who was going to cut it, to mutilate it
basically, and you had to have this faith," says Youval.

She admits that "it was scary," but says she never considered
not performing the ritual, "which in the end means: 'That's it. He's a
member of the community and he can never deny it and the community can
never deny it.'"

That identification explains its nearly universal appeal,
according to Meyer. "There's a tremendous symbolic significance to brit
mila and I think people recognize that not only in Israel but in the
Diaspora as well," he says. "This is recognized as a mark of
distinction of being a Jew."

His answer - nothing - prompted him to create an alternative
to the brit mila, one in which the "painful, harmful, and dangerous"
aspects of removing the foreskin have nothing to do with welcoming a
child into the Jewish community.

His "brit shalom" ceremony takes its textual direction from
the verse in Leviticus, "And the Lord said, 'You shall not make
cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor imprint any marks upon you.' "


After declaring that "the covenant between God and the Jewish
people will continue after the symbolic token, circumcision, is
abandoned," the ceremony continues with familiar prayers and customs -
such as blessing a glass of wine and prominently featuring a sandak
(someone who holds the baby during the event) - performed with a twist
that emphasizes the baby's perfect form, sans circumcision.

Brit shalom, also called an alternative brit, brit b'li mila
(covenant without cutting) or brit haim (covenant of life), is
practiced among Jews - primarily in America - who oppose circumcising
their children, or who think that since the traditional practice only
welcomes males into the covenant, it's sexist.