Dienstvorschriften für Mohelim [“Regulations for Mohelim.”]

(CIRCUMCISION)

Malsch & Vogel

Karlsruhe

1897

Three anatomical illustrations.

Detailed directives for practitioners of ritual circumcision within the Grand Duchy of Baden, issued by the Jewish community in conformity with the requirements of the Ministry of the Interior. Oral suction, even through the medium of a cupping glass, is forbidden here by the state. Nonetheless, circumcision as such, is viewed by the government in a positive light, liable to promote hygiene and to discourage the vice of onanism. A single sheet addendum, pasted to the front board, provides instructions for the mandatory sterilization of equipment. For more on the controversies of the period, see Robin Judd, Contested Rituals: Circumcision, Kosher Butchering, and Jewish Political Life in Germany, 1843-1933 (2007).