Not Banning The Covenant Poem by gershon hepner

Banning the covenant between
Almighty God and Jews He chose,
on Abraham extremely keen,
is what some Germans now propose.
They don't explicitly intend
to ban the covenant, but just
the ancient means towards its end,
which signifies: 'In Jews God trust.'

The means, which is of course the bris,
is as important as the end;
without the means the Jews would miss
the link with Abraham, God's friend,
as in Isaiah he's described.
With circumcision Jews affirm
this friendship won't be circumscribed,
for it is far more than long term.

Eternal, it should not be banned,
especially not by the Germans.
When, aged eight days, Jews are manned,
this process is not based on sermons,
but on the circumciser's knife,
ensuring that the small one will
be great, a Jew for all his life,
on a path that is uphill.

The ritual is not mere removal
of foreskin, but an affirmation
of all the celebrants' approval
of the choice of Jewish nation
that's made for Jewish males before
they learn of God's still stranger choice,
the Jews, and in their law and lore
they, just like Abraham, rejoice.

Inspired by a poem that Rabbi David Wolpe sent before Shabbat pinhas 5772, responding to the proposed ban on circumcision in some German provinces:
German Law Banning Circumcision

BY RABBI DAVID WOLPE
In Germany there is a move
To outlaw circumcision.
I take to verse to summarize
This outrage with concision.
The WHO recommends
That no male miss a bris
The snip that saves, WHO raves
Does not diminish bliss.
Far from disfigurement, it is
A sacred, ancient rite.
A covenant crossing untold ages
Father Abraham's requite.
And yet, today, in Germany
— the ironies abound —
This Jewish practice meets a sanction
Where once indeed was found
Many who were circumcised
And versed in Jewish lore.
Perhaps the Germans have forgotten
For they are there no more.

A version of this column appeared in the Washington Post's On Faithwebsite