Ritual circumcision for Jews came under heavy fire in October. First, an article came out in The New Yorker in which writer Gary Shteyngart recalled his own botched circumcision and how it pains him to this day. That same week, by coincidence, an organization called Bruchim went live. Their mission: advocating on behalf of Jews who don’t feel comfortable with circumcision.
It’s a sensitive subject. But Eliyahu Ungar-Sargon, a founding member of the board of Bruchim and filmmaker who created a documentary about circumcision, doesn’t shy away from these discussions. He joins our weekly current affairs podcast, Bonjour Chai, to discuss the taboo topic.
Plus: We have a guest appearance by Margaret Atwood, who explains why she loves the Book of Job, and the hosts dig into the second selection in our month-long book club: Gideon’s Bible by Rick Salutin.
What we talked about
- Read Gary Shteyngart’s article, “A Botched Circumcision and Its Aftermath”, at newyorker.com
- Learn about Bruchim at bruchim.online
- Ilana Zackon’s report from the Giller Prize
Credits
Bonjour Chai is hosted by Avi Finegold, Ilana Zackon and David Sklar. Michael Fraiman is the producer. Andrew Goulet is the technical producer. Our theme music is by Socalled. The show is a co-production from The Jewish Learning Lab and The CJN, and is distributed by The CJN Podcast Network. Find more great Jewish podcasts at thecjn.ca.
