by Daniel Eisenberg, M.D.
Why should circumcision be the sign of the covenant between the Jews and God?
Dear Dr. Eisenberg: Someone told me that Jews believe that an infant doesn't become fully human until the eighth day after birth, hence the timing of circumcision. Would you please comment on this?
B.D. University of Texas
Dear B.D,
A fetus in utero lacks only one degree of "full humanity" in that its life is subordinated to that of the mother if the fetus presents a threat to the mother's life (See "Abortion in Jewish Law"). However, a baby is considered to be a full-fledged human being from the moment of birth.[1] Nevertheless, the baby does not have a "chazaka", or assumption, that it will survive long-term until it has reached the age of 30 days. For this reason, a baby who dies within 30 days is comparable to a stillborn baby and there is limited mourning in such a case.
While Jews perform the circumcisions of their sons on the eighth day because the Torah commands it, there are multiple reasons given for why the bris mila (circumcision ceremony) is performed on the eighth day.[2] None of these reasons are related ...   more »

Arrival feels more like a crash than a landing. Takeoff knocks the air out of you.
The US government has flown a group of Israeli dignitaries to the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier as part of this week's celebrations for Israel's 60th birthday.
Fighter jets swooped on and off the 330-meter, nuclear-powered carrier Sunday in a spectacular show of high-tech airpower some 160 kilometers off the coast of Israel.
The carrier's Jewish commander, Capt. Herm Shelansky, had the idea of inviting the Israelis when he realized the Truman would be passing near the Israeli coast just as Israel was commemorating its 60th. His ship is named after the US president who recognized the new Jewish state only moments after it declared its independence on May 14, 1948.
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THE WASHINGTON TIMES EDITORIAL - Make no mistake about it, the quick, brutal display of raw military power by Hezbollah in the past six days is a window into the grim future of Lebanon and the broader Middle East: a future in which Iran and Syria are ascendant and have lost much of their fear of the United States and Israel. It sends a message to President Bush, who arrives in Israel Wednesday to commemorate that nation's 60th birthday: that Tehran and Damascus can project power whenever they want in places like Lebanon, and the United States and it's allies can't do anything about it.
At least 44 people were killed and another 128 wounded in the fighting — the worst outbreak of sectarian violence inside Lebanon since the 1975-1990 civil war. Although domestic Lebanese issues played a role in the violence, they are inseparable from the larger geopolitical issues. Ever since the Feb. 14, 2005, assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, which eventually forced Damascus to remove its occupation troops, Syrian President Bashar Assad has wanted to reclaim power in Lebanon. So, on Friday, after several days of street clashes between pro-government forces and opposition forces, all-out warfare ...   more »

By Joshua Mitnick - RAMALLAH, West Bank — Hezbollah's dramatic gains in Lebanon last week are just part of a regional process that began last year in the Gaza Strip and will continue in Jordan and Egypt, a Hamas official in the West Bank told The Washington Times.
Sheik Yazeeb Khader, a Ramallah-based Hamas political activist and editor, said militant groups across the Middle East are gaining power at the expense of U.S.-backed regimes, just as Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip from forces loyal to U.S.-backed Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
"What happened in Gaza in 2007 is an achievement; now it is happening in 2008 in Lebanon. It's going to happen in 2009 in Jordan and it's going to happen in 2010 in Egypt," Sheik Khader said in an interview.
"We are seeing a redrawing of the map of the Middle East where the forces of resistance and steadfastness are the ones moving the things on the ground."
His remarks highlight how a growing alliance linking Hamas, Iran and Hezbollah straddles the Shi'ite-Sunni rift.
The notion of new countries falling under Islamist influence reflects a goal of Hamas' parent group, the Muslim Brotherhood, of replacing secular Arab ...   more »

An Israeli technology firm established in 2003 with the express purpose of developing a system to identify individuals intent on causing mayhem is close to releasing a deployable product.
WeCu (text messaging lingo for "we see you") was set up by leading Israeli researchers at the height of the Palestinian suicide bombing campaign in order to find a technological solution to Israel's growing security problems.
The company's new system, as reported by Ha'retz, can be set up in public areas where it would quietly and quickly scan people without their knowledge. The system uses biometric sensors to determine if an individual is planning to carry out a terror attack, even if the suspect is not carrying a bomb or other weapons at that time. Many terrorists case their targets at least once before carrying out an attack.
If successful, the system would greatly ease the pressure on Israel's security forces and private security firms hired to protect public and private establishments from schools to cafes.
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