Corpus-Paul

["Hyam Maccoby" <h.z.maccoby AT leeds.ac.uk>]

Dear Bob,

Many thanks for your letter which contains several points which need careful
clarification.

1.  The sucking of the infant's blood from the circumcision wound by the
mohel, who immediately spat it out, never had any sacramental significance.
The Talmud (Shabbat 133b) carefully defines it as a medical practice
intended for the health of the child;  later, modern suction instruments
were substituted without the slightest objection from religious authorities.
The process may be compared with the sucking of venom from a snake-bite.
The giving of wine to the infant again has no sacramental significance
(being accompanied by no ritual blessing).  It is merely a form of comfort
and anaesthetic for the child.  If it is not done, the circumcision is in no
way invalidated.
2.  As I wrote in my book THE SACRED EXECUTIONER, Judaism contains certain
peripheral relics of blood-superstitions and blood-sacraments.  This was
inevitable in a religion which was striving to depart from the vast
blood-superstitions central in ancient pagan religion.  But these relics are
very unimportant in Judaism, and can easily be exaggerated, as they are by
Hoffman.
3.  The drinking of wine at Passover has no symbolic blood-significance.  It
is similar to the drinking of wine at the Kiddush of every other Jewish
festival and Sabbath:  it expresses the joy of the festival, in accordance
with the biblical dictum: 'Wine maketh glad the heart of man.'
4.  I have argued in THE SACRED EXECUTIONER,  from an anthropological
viewpoint, that Christianity is the religion which reinstated the
blood-centrality which Judaism had almost completely banished.

With best regards,

Hyam
----------------------------------

Dr.Hyam Maccoby
Research Professor
Centre for Jewish Studies
University of Leeds
Leeds.LS2
Direct lines: tel. +44 (0)113 268 1972
                   fax +44 (0)113 225 9927
e-mail: h.z.maccoby AT leeds.ac.uk
               hyam.maccoby AT btopenworld.com

----- Original Message -----
From: "Bob MacDonald" <bobmacdonald AT shaw.ca>
To: "Corpus-paul" <corpus-paul AT franklin.metalab.unc.edu>
Sent: Sunday, October 06, 2002 5:42 PM
Subject: [corpus-paul] Re: The blood of the covenant


> Dear Hyam
>
> A month ago you wrote: >>However, there is no mystique in Judaism about
the
> blood of circumcision, which does not figure in any rite, whether in the
> Temple or outside it.  There is a legend, however (as pointed out by
> Lawrence Hoffman in his COVENANT OF BLOOD, p. 100) that blood of
> circumcision played a part in the exemption of the Israelites from the
tenth
> plague of Egypt.  This legend, however, appears only in one rather late
> source, Pirqei de-Rabbi Eliezer, which also sees redemption from sins as
> resulting from the first circumcision, that of Abraham.
> >>
>
> Now I have read this remarkable book and re-read Hoffman's arguments for
> showing significant dominant symbolism in circumcision and in the seder of
> wine as blood. I find his arguments and reasonings very compelling.
>
> In chapter 6 Wine, Blood, and Salvation in Rabbinic Judaism, he traces the
> Pirqei deRabbi Eliezar to earlier roots. I think he conclusively shows
that
> wine is a dominant symbol of blood in both Babylon and Palestine of the
> first century.
>
> This would agree with accounts I have read of a resettling of Palestine
from
> Babylon (150-100 BCE) especially in the area of Nazareth. (Pixner as I
> recall has suggested this as well as influence of Nazirites from Babylon
> having an influence within the family of Jesus). This would lead me to
think
> that a circumcision ritual similar to what Hoffman details could have been
a
> reality in Palestine at the time of Jesus youth - he may even have
attended
> some in the silent years.
>
> In other words, the symbolism of wine as blood and the symbolic drinking
of
> the blood by Mohel, Infant, and the attending ne'arim is potentially
current
> in Judaism before the death of Jesus. Similarly the wine of the seder
points
> to the blood of the Passover lamb.
>
> I have written of this briefly in an article under 'unpacking the liturgy'
> accessible from my home page.
> http://bmd.gx.ca/understanding_the_content_of_wor.htm
>
> Bob
>
> mailto::BobMacDonald AT shaw.ca
> + + + Victoria, B.C., Canada + + +
>
> Catch the foxes for us,
>    the little foxes that make havoc of the vineyards,
> for our vineyards are in flower.   (Song 2.15)
> http://bobmacdonald.gx.ca
>
>
> ---
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