Editing Circumcision and law (section)

=== Soviet Union ===
Before [[glasnost]], according to an article in [[The Jewish Press|''The Jewish Press'']], Jewish ritual circumcision was forbidden in the [[Soviet Union]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Soviet Jews Of All Ages Seek Circumcision|url=https://friendsofrefugees.org/about/media/jp9.php|access-date=2022-08-01|website=friendsofrefugees.org|archive-date=26 December 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231226101816/https://friendsofrefugees.org/about/media/jp9.php}}</ref> However, David E. Fishman, professor of Jewish History at the [[Jewish Theological Seminary of America]], states that, whereas the ''[[Cheder|heder]]'' and ''[[yeshiva]]'', the organs of Jewish education, "were banned by virtue of the law separating church and school, and subjected to tough police and administrative actions", circumcision was not proscribed by law or suppressed by executive measures.<ref>David E. Fishman, "Judaism in the USSR, 1917–1930: The Fate of Religious Education", in: Yaacov Ro'i, ed., ''Jews and Jewish Life in Russia and the Soviet Union'' (Cummings Center Series; London: Cass, 1995), 251–262; pp. 251–252.</ref>
Jehoshua A. Gilboa writes that while circumcision was not officially or explicitly banned, pressure was exerted to make it difficult. ''[[Mohel]]s'' in particular were concerned that they could be punished for any health issue that might develop, even if it arose some time after the circumcision.<ref>"There was no official prohibition of circumcision and, on the whole, even the propaganda attacks on it were relatively restrained, apparently out of consideration for the presence of many millions of Moslems ... in the Soviet Union. But at the same time numerous pressures were exerted to make observance of this precept [i.e., circumcision] difficult. Needless to say, Jewish members of the [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Communist Party]] were in an embarrassing situation when they personally faced the question whether to circumcise their sons ... And the uncertainty weighed heaviest on the ''mohalim'' themselves ... Any health problem developing in the baby some time after circumcision could serve to incriminate the ''mohel''. It is easy to imagine, for example, the impact of news items on the death of children because of ... circumcision (and the punishments imposed on ''mohalim''), even if there were no explicit legal bans on circumcision." Jehoshua A. Gilboa, ''A Language Silenced: The Suppression of Hebrew Literature and Culture in the Soviet Union'' (London: Associated University Press, 1982), pp. 34–35.</ref>