Originally posted by Zentai
I dunno much about circumsicion, but I do know all my japanese relatives were circumsised. Atleast the more recent ones. Ive never
heard of japanese not being circumsised. That was probably a longer
time ago than now. \/ \/ \/
Are your relatives Japanese-Americans? If so, then I'd believe that they might be circumcised, but it's not a common custom in Japan.
The practice of circumcision has more of a cultural/religious meaning than anything else today. 4,000 or so years ago in the middle east, men might go unwashed for days or weeks in the desert, so eliminating the foreskin would keep the organ cleaner. So it had a hygienic purpose back then, which eventually became a part of the Jewish tradition.
However, today, when people bathe daily or almost daily, leaving the organ uncircumcised does not pose any serious health risks. In fact, men with uncircumcised organs experience greater sexual pleasure from the movement of the foreskin.
It's similar to the practice of not eating any type of shellfish, or taking meat and milk at the same time. Shellfish spoiled very easily in the middle east so they were deemed non-Kosher. Meat requires an acidic environment in the stomach for proper digestion, and milk and dairy products are alkaline so eating them at the same time could cause digestive problems. There was also a religious significance but also was made non-Kosher, and became part of the culture.
Now for some light humor:
Did you hear about the Rabbi who did not charge for performing circumcisions?
But he took tips.
Last Jewish
Samurai
Once upon a time a powerful Emperor of the Rising Sun advertised for a new Chief Samurai. After a year, only three applied for the job: a Japanese, a Chinese and a Jewish samurai. "Demonstrate
your skills!" commanded the Emperor. The Japanese samurai stepped forward, opened a tiny box and released a fly. He drew his katana and swish, the fly fell to the floor, neatly divided in two.
"What a feat!" said the Emperor. "Samurai Number Two, show me what you do." The Chinese samurai bowed, stepped forward and opened a tiny box, releasing a fly. He drew his katana and swish, swish, the fly fell to the floor neatly quartered. "That is skill!" nodded the emperor. "How are you going to top that, Samurai Number Three?" The Jewish samurai stepped forward, opened a tiny box, releasing one fly, drew his katana and swoooooosh, flourished his katana so mightily that a gust of wind blew through the room. But the fly was still buzzing around! In disappointment, the Emperor said, "What kind of skill is that? The fly isn't even dead." "Dead, schmead," replied the Jewish samurai. "Dead is easy. Circumcision . . . that takes skill!"
What did the director yell out during the filming of a circumcision scene?
"Cut ! ! ! !"