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Dossier of the Central Council of Jews in Germany on the issue of circumcision
Why do Jews circumcise their children?
The basis for Jews to circumcise their sons is found in the bible (Genesis 17, 10-14), where it says: "This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; every man child among you shall be circumcised".
The circumcision of newborn Jewish boys belongs to the essence of Judaism, it marks the entry into the Jewish community and symbolises the ties between God and Abraham and between God and the Jews. The command is compulsory for Jews.
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Press release/June 26th, 2011
On the decision of the District Court of Cologne concerning circumcision of boys
The Central Council of Jews in Germany regards the decision of the District Court of Cologne saying that circumcising young boys on religious grounds amounts to bodily harm as an unprecedented and dramatic intervention in the right of religious communities to self-determination.
The President of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, Dr. Dieter Graumann, said: "This court decision is an outrageous and insensitive act. Circumcision of newborn boys is an inherent part of the Jewish religion and has been practiced worldwide for centuries. This religious right is respected in every country in the world."
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Statement/January 27th, 2012
The Message of January 27
The world has yet to fully grasp the lessons of the Holocaust – By Dieter Graumann
It has taken decades for the international community to deal with the Shoah in a really serious way. Perhaps a new generation had first to emerge with sufficient courage to ask about the causes of the “Final Solution of the Jewish Question in Europe” and to look into the abyss of its inconceivable barbarity. Today, Holocaust commemorations have become an integral part of political culture, at least in Western democracies. In November 2005, the General Assembly of the United Nations established the International Holocaust Remembrance Day and fixed its date on January 27 – the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. This year marks its sixth commemoration.
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Media service of the Central Council of Jews in Germany: Jewish immigration
Judaism, Jewish life in Germany, and current issues that are of interest to the Jewish community as well as to the entire German public are topics that are regularly covered by the German media. In order to contribute to the information flow on these topics, the Central Council of Jews in Germany provides its media service. This issue of the media service gives an account of Jewish immigration from the USSR that began after the fall of the Berlin Wall twenty years ago.
