"A remarkable, stimulating and wide-ranging study of Jewish circumcision...This book is a must-read for professionals practicing in the Jewish community as well as scholars of Judaism and religious studies."—L. M. Barth, Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies 27 (2008) 109-111. "Eric Silverman's From Abraham to America: A History of Jewish Circumcision finally supplies a comprehensive overview of the Western debates about circumcision from its ritual form as practice by the Jews to its present day "American" appearance as a ubiquitous medical practice. How do we get from "Abraham" to "America"? With great finesse and some polemic, Silverman enables us to follow the circuitous path that encompasses Jewish-Christian relationships from the early Church to the present. An important and engaging book on a topic of ongoing fascination."—Sander L. Gilman, Distinguished Professor of the Liberal Arts and Sciences, Emory University. "Silverman is well aware that his even-handed approach is not likely to please any one group: while his interpretations of the ancient texts are likely to make traditionalists squirm, his interpretations of the modern medical debates will probably annoy anti-circumcision activists. Throughout, he traces the ‘dissonant dimensions of the rite that both affirm and resist dominant meanings’ (p. xxv). In this respect, he joins a tradition, both Talmudic and Bakhtinian, which has been extended by recent scholars such as Mieke Bal, Daniel Boyarin, Jonathan Boyarin and Ilana Pardes. Unlike an earlier generation of feminist criticism which sometimes attempted to give minor (less patriarchal) texts and (female) characters more prominence, these scholars suggest that even the most central and patriarchal of texts and traditions imply tensions and conflicts. Thus, rather than simply introducing texts which explicitly criticize circumcision, Silverman integrates these with the most ‘traditional’ of texts, showing that the sides of the ‘debate’ are not necessarily so clear…By emphasizing the tensions and dialogues within the tradition, this scholarly approach suggests that the structure of the tradition itself can be maintained even in the face of conflict and ambivalence." Eliza Slavit, Theology & Sexuality 13  (2007)  319-26. Click  to see the book at Rowman & Littlefield Click   to read the book at google.books