Legacy of the Dreams

Chapter 74 - The Bris

Everyone in the Abernathy family was at the Burbank Airport early on Saturday morning. Their flight left before it was light and the plane touched down in Oakland moments before the sun came up over the horizon. Since they had no luggage with them, it was a simple matter to catch the shuttle to the rental car office to pick up a car. Twenty minutes after landing, Greg, Susan, Matt, Zackary, Jessie, and Melody were all on their way to the synagogue in Oakland, the same place Alan and Cindy were married five years before and regularly attended services. Everyone in the family had been there at least once before, while Greg and even Jessie had been there many times.

"What will they do, Papa?" Jessie asked from the back seat as they drove across town.

"A person called a mohel will perform a special procedure called circumcision as part of the ceremony," Greg told her.

"Like God asked Abraham to do?" Jessie asked.

"Exactly," Greg said.

Jessie thought about that for a moment. "Okay, but what do they do?"

"They cut off part of his penis," Zack told her.

Jessie's eyes grew round. "Doesn't he need that to go to the bathroom?" she asked in astonishment.

"They're not going to cut all of it off, just a little bit at the end," Matt told her.

"It's a bit of skin called a foreskin, Jessie," Susan tried to explain. "It's a very common procedure for baby boys to have done in the United States."

"In temple?" Jessie asked.

"No. Most kids get it done in the hospital before they go home," Matt told her.

"Like who?"

"I did," Matt said.

"Me too," Zack added.

"Does it hurt?" Jessie asked the boys.

"Probably ... but I don't remember it," Matt told her.

"Me neither," Zack agreed.

"Why do some people have it done in the hospital and some get it done in synagogue?" Jessie asked.

"Because, for Jewish people, circumcision is part of following the Lord's commandments," Greg told her. "It is part of our religion and tradition. Because it is considered a religious act of obedience to God, Jewish people do it in temple as part of a ceremony rather than in a hospital as part of a surgical procedure."

Jessie frowned. "But Zack and Matt aren't Jewish."

"There are other reasons besides being Jewish for boys to be circumcised, Jessie. Some do it for hygienic reasons," Susan told her. "For some it is cultural. Not everyone has a religious reason for doing it."

"Who decided we should be circumcised, Mom?" Zack asked curiously.

"Your father did. I told him when you were born that it was totally his decision, because I considered it a 'guy thing'," Susan told them. "You'll have to ask him the reasons behind the decision he made, but I suspect it was cultural."

"Why cultural?" Zack asked.

"Dad is, so we are," Matt told his brother. "He probably thought it was a good idea because of that."

Zack shrugged. "Yeah, I guess. It still seems weird to be doing something like that in a place of worship, as a part of a service rather than at a hospital."

"It does to me too," Matt said. "But the weirdest part is there is someone besides a doctor doing it."

"Is a mohel a doctor, Greg?" Zack asked.