MIKE, at "Culture Forum" on September 15, 1998, you started,
To: the pompous "Uber chuchem" ('over wise') who thinks he knows everything, but he actually knows nothing.
So, "Dr. Ghitis" (I still don't believe you are a Dr. No real Dr. would bother to write MD all the time in a "wacho" place like this), you think you know everything about Judaism , and circumcision and so on and so forth.
Mike, I write in many places; this is the minor of them. My purpose: to observe the reaction of the whacko humanoids at Sabranet. I know a lot about Judaism, including the MILA, which means, "the act of removing part or all of the foreskin." In Latin, this word was incorrectly rendered into 'circumcision,' which means, "cutting around."
You are saying that before the Macabees there was no actual "circumcision", but rather, a small, unnoticed "prickling".
You, being a Major Wacko, do not know how to read. I did not say that.
Have you heard about the word "orla" (foreskin), which is mentioned in the Bible time and again? Have you heard about the term "Arelim" (those who have foreskin), the way Jews used to call non-Jews?
In English, they are called "uncircumcised." But in Hebrew, "arel,' as an individual, means "not having undergone the Mila rite." 'Arel' actually should be taken as meaning, "not being of our people," and also, "not acceptable to our people." Separately, I'll cite ALL Bible's references to 'orlah' (foreskin).
How King David called the Philistines, "Arelim." ("Az ta'alozna bnot ha'arelim", from "Kinat Saul".)
You saw it in Eben Shoshan's dictionary, under "orlah." Now you wag your tail as a happy doggy.
Here's what Encyclopedia Britannica writes about King Antiochus and the Anti-Jewish Laws. You can see that it is not the Jews who suddenly invented circumcision, but rather, the Greeks who forbade a hundreds year old Jewish practice. Anyway, what can we expect from one who claims to know more about quantum mechanics than Heizenberg?
Heisenberg. You are not making sense, as usual.
At least, about Judaism, every child can mock you.
This is a typical expression of the Sabra menagerie.
Israel, its prophets proclaimed, was the chosen instrument of the
transcendent God, whose name was Yahweh.
E.B.' contributor is wrong. I know how the Tetragrammaton was pronounced. It is a question of being savvy about how to look for it in a good dictionary. A few select knew that it was pronounced in Greek in a manner derived from Vris'comme, following the equivalent Hebrew root, meaning "to exist."
Yahweh was utterly "other" than man, that is to say, he was "holy." It was God....
As for "I am," the Greek root is pronounced something like "ergo," from which the Latin "ego' (I, the first person) was derived. If you do not believe me, ask any child. The Kabbala has much to do with the subject of "Exist." The Hassidim avoid any word related to the root HWH. The Habad Rabbi avoided even the word "ani" (I am).
I do not see the relevancy of showing your intellectual capacity for posting directly from the E.B.
...He (Antiochus IV) forbade the observance of the Sabbath and of the traditional feasts. All sacrifices were to come to an end. He forbade the reading of the Law of Moses and gave orders to burn any copies that could be found. He forbade the practice of circumcision... In place of these practices, Antiochus encouraged the development of cultural clubs called gymnasia, in which people gathered to study, to learn, and to enjoy each other's company.
After some other irrelevancies, you continued citing,
Had he been a mench, those encouragements would have been welcome, as they are nowadays...
...(athletic) activities were performed naked. A circumcised Jew taking part in the games in a gymnasium could not hide where his loyalty lay.
Absurd! No 'loyalty' here, but simply uncapped glans.
Finally, in 168 BCE, Antiochus invaded Jerusalem...
Mike, what for all this well known history? Cease the waggling! Now, read the post I wrote for Hillel on RITES and RITUALS.