Recently it came to my attention that a Non-Jewish millionaire fathered a Jewish baby. This millionaire does not want the boy to have a circumcision.
If the mother is halachicly Jewish the baby is considered Jewish by Halacha, regardless of the religious status of the father!
Therefore Halacha requires a circumcision for the baby boy starting from his 8th day of life (unless there is a valid medical excuse not to circumcise) regardless of the wishes of the Non-Jew.
The fact that the Jewish mother is facing this situation is one of the many pitfalls of intermarriage (or similar intimate relationships).
As the Torah points out in Deuteronomy chapter 7 as translated by The Koren Jerusalem Bible
Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give to his son, nor shalt thou take his daughter to thy son.
For they will turn away thy son from following me that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of the Lord be inflamed against you, and he will destroy thee speedily.
What can I suggest for the Jewish mother, who is already in this situation?
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- If the mother needs the legal consent of the father, she could try raising the medical benefits of the procedure. See https://medlineplus.gov/circumcision.html
- According to one web site: Circumcision is one of the most common surgeries done worldwide. In the United States, the rate of circumcision is up to 80%, while globally, it’s about 38%.
- The main reason that one would want a circumcision is if he believes the Bible as interpreted by the Jews is true. There are several articles and videos on this web site that might convince such an individual about this fact. It would also be helpful to inform him that Judaism does not obligate Gentiles to observe most of the Bible. Only the 7 universal commandments given to Noah. In other words the Non-Jew is not obligated in difficult commandments like circumcision or the observance of the Sabbath.
- My advice to the Gentile that wishes to be a really righteous person, is to influence Jews to observe all the laws incumbent upon them. And this idea is reflected in the Biblical verses of Deuteronomy chapter 29 verses 23 and 24. “And all the gentiles shall say, Why did G-d do this to the land?
What was the reason for this great display of anger?
And they shall say, It is because they abandoned the covenant that G-d, the L-rd of their fathers, made with them when he brought them out of Egypt.”In the book of Genesis, after the Bible records that Cain murdered his brother Abel (Hevel), the L-rd, then speaks to Cain and says, “What have you done?
The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground.” According to Rashi’s analysis of the text, the L-rd was telling Cain that not only would he be held guilty for Abel’s murder, he would also be held guilty for having shed the blood of all the future generations that would have been born from Abel and his wife. The Chafetz Chaim commented that if a man can be punished for the effects of his actions on future generations, how much more so will he be rewarded for spiritually saving someone. When the newly religious man raises other generations in a religious lifestyle, the credit for the entire family’s good deeds is attributed to the original teacher.
This blog post was written by Shlomo Moshe Scheinman. I am aware of the prohibition mentioned in Bava Batra 4a. The words of Deuteronomy chapter 29 verses 23 and 24 and the commentary of the Chafetz Chaim, suggest to me that the advice mentioned in this article is one of the exceptions to the rule.
In addition, the Chafetz Chaim in his book Machane Yisrael, (Volume I, comment 2 for chapter 33) rules that it is a mitzva to lobby the presumably Non-Jewish military officials in the Czar’s army to allow Jewish soldiers who were drafted into the army to observe the Sabbath. It appears that persuading Gentiles, who have the power to forbid or permit Jews to observe an important commandment takes precedence over the prohibition mentioned by Rambam, at the end of Hilchot Rotzeach, chapter 12.
Furthermore, there is room to argue that the type of good deed that Daniel mistakenly suggested that the King of Babylon perform was not an absolute requirement for Gentiles or was not intended as a rebuke against the King’s behavior, but just a suggestion of how to delay Divine punishment. However, according to the Chazon Ish to Shviit #24, a Gentile is required to believe that the nation of Israel is obligated in 613 commandments. Therefore lobbying a Gentile to allow circumcision for Jews (one of the 613 commandments) might be different. Lobbying the Gentiles to permit Jewish circumcision is a form of rebuking the Gentile to repent regarding a foundational belief that is an absolute requirement for Gentiles.
Kol Hator on Rebuke to Jews and Gentiles
In the second chapter of Kol HaTor (a book written by a disciple of the Vilna Gaon), we discover the 75th trait of Mashiach ben Yosef that should be performed by Jews involved with the ingathering of the exiles is the following:
(75) One who rebukes toward repentance (Mochi’ach leTeshuvah):
Not only for Israel, but also for the nations of the world, in the model of the prophet Yona (Jonah), who was the Mashiach ben Yosef of his generation, as explained in the Midrash and the Zohar. As it says:
- “And he shall judge among the nations…” (Isaiah 2)
- “But to those who rebuke, it will be pleasant, and a good blessing will come upon them” (Proverbs 24)
- “And with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth” (Isaiah 11)