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Talk:BPP (complexity)

Untitled
Some examples of BPP / BPP-complete problems might be appreciated

What does this 1/4-clause mean in long run ? That chance of failure in many runs is (1/4)^N, 1/2*(1/2)^N or what ? --Taw
 * The idea is that running it n times and choosing the answer that occurred most often (a "majority vote") will almost always be correct for relative small n (like say, 20-50). The calculations aren't quite as simple as you describe, but are a consequence of the Chernoff bound. Deco 10:31, 24 Mar 2005 (UTC)

I'm not familiar with Wikipedia customs, and English is not my mother tongue, so I may not express myself clearly enough, but let me ask a question to all the editors of this page: Those who don't understand computational complexity theory why don't just shut up here? I quote: "The existence of certain strong Pseudorandom number generators imply that P=RP=BPP. This implication is conjectured to be true."

Jesus. The implication is true, it is not a conjecture, it is a theorem by Nisan and Wigderson. The existence of those generators is the conjecture, which depends on certain hardness assumptions. There are several such results, I think the latest and strongest is by Impagliazzo and Wigderson from 1997, who prove that P=BPP if E contains a language which has 2^Omega(n) circuit complexity for almost every n.

This even got a corrected version: "It has been conjectured that the existence of certain strong pseudorandom number generators implies that P=RP=BPP." Just as stupid as the previous one.

Let me politely ask everyone here not to edit this page if he/she doesn't have a clue about the subject.

 * Please, no personal attacks. Your change is correct to my knowledge, and we appreciate the help. The original editor's knowledge may have been out-of-date, since this is not a classical result, or it may have been referring to some stronger result based on a stronger definition. I'm not really sure what happened, but even experts make incorrect statements in their area. Deco 04:47, 4 Jan 2005 (UTC)

The above commenter may know one thing about complexity theory, but does not know anything about manners. He/she definitely does not represent the complexity theory community, which I know to mostly contain very nice and respectful people. --Boaz, March 21, 2005.

Hmm. There is some subtle difference between P and BPP. Example: Let we have probabilistic algorithm for adding two binary numbers of length n. This algorithm uses rnd somewhere. On non-deterministic turing machine, this algorithm will have probability of success A, that can be made close to 1 by computing it many times (it is never 1 , but with some luck i can expect to get correct results).

On deterministic turing machine, one has to use pseudorandom number generator always seeded with same value(otherwise algorithm isn't deterministic), and this algorithm will fail for some inputs. Thus it is not an universal algorithm for adding binary numbers. The difference is subtle, but it is there. It has nothing to do with complexities, it's purely linguistical; it's just that P algorithm for addition of binary numbers does solve one problem (for pair of binary numbers, compute sum), and "BPP" algorithm using pseudorandom numbers solves other problems (for SOME pairs of binary numbers, give out sum, for some pairs, give out garbage)

So: If there is no algorithm that solves certain problem A in polynomial time, there could quite well be BPP algorithm for doing same thing _sometimes_(sometimes it will solve and sometimes it will fail)in polynomial time. And using strong pseudorandom number generator, there will be deterministic polynomial time algorithm for solving this problem for some inputs. But generally speaking, this algorithm will not be the solution to original problem A, because it will only work for some inputs.

My point is that "there is P algorithm to some problem A" and "there is BPP algorithm for some problem A" mean different things and you can not use pseudorandom number generator to turn latter into former (you will get "P algorithm that solves A for some restricted set of inputs and gives out garbage for other set")

--DL, December 03, 2005.
 * You are correct that ordinary pseudorandom number generators cannot (as far as we know) be used to produce polynomial-time algorithms based on BPP algorithms; instead, a source of "true" randomness is required. It has been proven that some probabilistic algorithms can solve a problem in polynomial time given only a small number of random bits, just enough for a "seed". It is an open question in research whether P=BPP, and research in this direction has generally followed the idea of producing pseudorandom generators sophisticated enough to actually replace truly random bits in certain applications. But to claim as a matter of fact that P≠BPP is really jumping the gun - there's convincing evidence to the contrary. Deco 19:29, 3 December 2005 (UTC)
 * I think you have not read what I wrote well enough. Issue has nothing to do with strength of pseudorandom numbers(longer explanation on bottom of page). Yes, with strong pseudorandom numbers you can emulate non-deterministic machine, and for sake of this talk i can assume that you emulate it perfectly. But it only let you turns what we name "BPP solutuion to problem A" into what is named "P solution for problem A that gives out garbage for certain inputs", and latter is NOT equivalent to "P solution for problem A [it is implied that it'll work for all inputs]". It's classic example of English terminology being not accurate enough to clearly specify the difference between "being able to emulate BPP on deterministic machine", and "BPP solution to problem A" being equivalent to "P solution to problem A". I agree with you that with strong pseudorandom number generator you can run BPP algorithms on deterministic machine. But it is not related to what i argue about.

P=NP or P=BPP?
Is it really true that one of P=NP or P=BPP is true? I find this a bit hard to believe. Who added this claim (regarding exponential size circuits for EXPTIME) and where's your reference? Thanks. Deco 19:37, 3 December 2005 (UTC)

 * I've commented out that paragraph, since it's most likley wrong. P=NP would imply P=BPP, so the disjunction (P=NP or P=BPP) would in turn imply P=BPP unconditionally.  This is not known to be the case. --MarkSweep (call me collect) 18:18, 4 December 2005 (UTC)

BPP and P terminology/linguistics
My point is that:

Let I have developed "BPP algorithm for adding two binary numbers", and "P algorithm for adding two binary numbers" (i.e. both algorithms works in polynomial time but former fails with probability 1/3). Them are in fact solving two different problems:

"BPP algorithm" solves the problem SOMETIMES, and "P algorithm" solves it ALWAYS.

On deterministic machine, result depends soliely to input. If you "convert" BPP to P using pseudorandom number generator, no matter how strong, you will get "P algorithm that gives out sum for SOME pairs of binary numbers (and for some it gives garbage)". (unless you believe that with your pseudorandom number genrator it will work way better than it worked with true random numbers :-) )

So, there is "P algorithm that gives sum for ANY pair of binary numbers", and "P algorithm that gives sum for SOME pairs of binary numbers (and garbage for other pairs)".

It is clear that these two algorithms are solving _different_ problems. It has precisely nothing to do with strength of pseudorandom number generator, as long as it is deterministic.

You could even use "ultimately strong" (pseudo?)random number source, such as file with data obtained from true random number generator. (we can say that this file is part of algorithm :-) It's as close to true randomness as you can get on deterministic machine (even to the point that some people would argue it isn't deterministic :-) ). But the _only_ property i use is that with same seed it gives same sequence, so my argumentation will work regardless of strength of random number generator, or even with true random numbers if them is written to file for repeatability.

If you are thinking about using different seeds and "inheriting" seed from previous run like how you do that in software, then you get "P algorithm that takes seed and pair of binary numbers, and for some parameters gives out sum of binary numbers (for other, garbage), and the final random seed" (It's not original problem at all.)

In summary, my point is: If we say that "there is BPP solution to problem A" it doesn't imply that we can say "there is P solution to problem A". However, with strong pseudorandom numbers, we can run same BPP algorithm on deterministic machine and get P solution to problem A that gives correct result for SOME inputs, and garbage for other. But it's not what we can name "P solution to problem A" because this BPP-like solution would give garbage for other inputs. If number of possible inputs is infinite, no matter from how many trials you compute majority vote, there will be some inputs when this algorithm will give out garbage.

Anyway, it absolutely doesn't matter what I think on subject and what logical reasoning i do have. If there is no references to research where it is shown that "existence of strong pseudorandom number generaturs implies BPP=P", or that "NP=P or BPP=P", these claims is "original insight", and it's way worse than "original research". Or maybe these claims is really trivial(i don't think it is the case), then whoever inserted them must provide proof. Sure, if it's so trivial that it doesn't need reference he shouldn't have problems proving it in few lines.

My point is related to terminology and linguistics. The problem is that when we say that "problem is BPP" and when we say "problem is P" it has different meanings regardless of random number generators. It is related to the human language. I actually agree that (most likely) problems that are in BPP are in "P that is allowed to fail for some inputs".

--DL, December 04, 2005. (will register soon.)

 * I'm not sure I begin to understand your objection, but this won't stop me from trying to say something: Don't confuse problems with algorithms. Take a problem such as SATISFIABILITY: it asks whether a given propositional formula has a satisfying truth assignment. Now we can build several algorithms which work on this problem. Some of them will always return the correct answer while potentially taking a very long time. Some of them will return the correct answer most of the time while never requiring an unreasonable amount of time. Some of them will almost never return the correct answer, but will be blazingly fast.

 * The class BPP is a class of problems. It consists of those problems for which algorithms exist which, loosely speaking, produce the correct solution more often than not, and in reasonable time. So a direct way of showing that a given problem is in BPP is to exhibit a polynomial-time algorithm with a better-than-average chance of obtaining the correct answer.

 * As discussed above, a key issue is to quantify the computational advantage provided by a truly random source over a deterministically generated pseudorandom sequence. One way of proving P=BPP would be to show that there exist strong pseudorandom number generators that cannot be distinguished from a truly random source by an algorithm that is constrained to run in a certain amount of time. --MarkSweep (call me collect) 18:36, 4 December 2005 (UTC)

 * Okay, say we define a class ErrorP of problems such that some instances can be solved correctly in polynomial time, while other instances are solved incorrectly. In this case, your argument does clearly verify that BPP is contained in ErrorP. Unfortunately, this isn't very useful, because just about every problem is in ErrorP (just hard code the answer to one instance and return no for the rest). You can try to specify that it's only rarely wrong, but if you choose an arbitrary random number generator, it may so happen that you choose one that happens to get many instances wrong, perhaps almost all instances.
 * Related is the idea of universal hashing, which says that, with high probability, any hash function from a class of functions is unlikely to produce long chains on random inputs. If one doesn't work, we can change to another and hope it works. Simple linear congruential random number generators are an example of such a class. But I don't know of any way to ensure that you will get a hash function that won't produce long chains or to show that this is unlikely if you choose a generator at random. Deco 19:25, 4 December 2005 (UTC)

 * The trick to showing that P = BPP is that, while any one seed may fail for certain inputs, a "good" random number generator will work for any input, given the correct seed. Then it's just a matter of looping over all possible seeds, which can be done in polynomial time, provided the required seed size is at most logarithmic in the problem size. Ben Standeven 00:43, 24 March 2006 (UTC)

 * That would only work for P = RP. To show P = BPP, you need to be able to decide that a particular seed was one of the correct seeds.
 * JumpDiscont (talk) 20:15, 13 July 2010 (UTC)
 * Most seeds are correct. You are supposed to loop over all possible seeds, and (for BPP) take a majority vote among the answers received.—Emil J. 11:42, 14 July 2010 (UTC)

 * Is your idea that it _should_ be easy to show that most seeds are correct, or that someone has already shown that for some specific (hopefully nonempty) class of prngs, most seeds are correct?
 * JumpDiscont (talk) 20:20, 14 July 2010 (UTC)
 * It's not my idea, it's the definition of a pseudorandom generator. See e.g. the classical Nisan–Wigderson paper.—Emil J. 10:08, 15 July 2010 (UTC)

BPP and Monte Carlo
Is BPP equivalent to Monte Carlo? We have elsewhere ZPP is equivalent to Las Vegas. -Ozga 20:18, 27 March 2006 (UTC)

 * Yes, BPP-algorithms are equivalent to one of those casino towns. -- EJ 22:39, 27 March 2006 (UTC)

Would it be a good thing to mention this in the article? I think so. -- Ozga 05:36, 28 March 2006 (UTC)

Papdimitriou defines Monte Carlo as equivalent to RP. Hmm. Ozga 17:06, 30 March 2006 (UTC)

BPP is referred to as "Atlantic City," not Monte Carlo or Las Vegas. Sadeq 04:44, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

Bounds
The bound e−k/18 on the error for k runs is suboptimal, it seems to be an artifact of whatever general version of Chernoff's bound was used to derive it. The actual value is of the order $$\frac1{\sqrt k}\left(\frac{2\sqrt2}3\right)^k$$, which is about $$e^{-k/16.98}\,$$. It does not make any practical difference (especially since the convention of using 1/3 for the error of one run is itself completely arbitrary), but still I think that it is a bit misleading to give arbitrary numbers in the table which make a false impression of being tight. — Emil J. 19:07, 11 November 2009 (UTC)

 * I agree. What do you suggest? Putting in the value "16.98" also seems pretty pointless. --Robin (talk) 22:00, 11 November 2009 (UTC)
 * I'm not quite sure what would be the best way to solve it. Maybe just say something like "2−ck for some constant c > 0", and leave the exact value unspecified? — Emil J. 11:44, 12 November 2009 (UTC)
 * The phrase "for some constant c > 0" seems too long to put in the infobox. But I have no other ideas, so go ahead with this. Maybe someone will think of something better. --Robin (talk) 13:01, 12 November 2009 (UTC)
 * OK, I've implemented the change. Feel free to fix it if you get a better idea. — Emil J. 13:20, 12 November 2009 (UTC)

k runs
In the table next to the intro/definition, I believe the 2^{-ck} error bounds for k runs are incorrect, because majority voting doesn't converge that fast. This should be 2^{-c*sqrt(k)} I believe. 62.166.189.223 (talk) 10:33, 25 January 2023 (UTC)
 * See the above section. I think the table is correct and this is the result you get from Chernoff bounds or "probability amplification" or "majority voting" or whatever you want to call it. I did a search and saw a few different lecture notes that I think give equivalent results to $$2^{-ck}$$ e.g. $$e^{-k/18}$$, depending on the precise Chernoff bound. — Bilorv ( talk ) 13:41, 28 January 2023 (UTC)

title: Talk:BPP (complexity)


text:
The Ballad of the Green Berets

"The Ballad of the Green Berets" is a 1966 patriotic song in the ballad style about the United States Army Special Forces. Written and performed by Staff Sergeant Barry Sadler, it was one of the few popular songs of the Vietnam War years to cast the military in a positive light. Sadler's version became a major hit in January 1966, reaching No. 1 for five weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 and four weeks on Cashbox. It was also a crossover hit, reaching No. 1 on Billboard Easy Listening chart and No. 2 on Billboard Country survey.

Sadler began writing the song when he was training to be a Special Forces medic. The author Robin Moore, who wrote the book The Green Berets, helped him write the lyrics and later sign a recording contract with RCA Records. The demo of the song was produced in a rudimentary recording studio at Fort Bragg, North Carolina with the help of Gerry Gitell and LTG William P. Yarborough.

The lyrics were written, in part, in honor of U.S. Army Specialist 5 James Gabriel Jr., a Special Forces operator and the first native Hawaiian to die in Vietnam. Gabriel was killed by Viet Cong gunfire while on a training mission with the South Vietnamese Army on April 8, 1962. One verse mentioned Gabriel by name, but it was not used in the recorded version.

Sadler recorded the song and eleven other tunes with Sid Bass at RCA's 24th Street Studios in New York City on December 18, 1965. The song and album, Ballads of the Green Berets, were released in January 1966. He performed the song on television on January 30, 1966, on The Ed Sullivan Show, and on other TV shows including The Hollywood Palace and The Jimmy Dean Show.

Popularity
In the United States, "The Ballad of the Green Berets" topped the Billboard Hot 100 in March 1966, staying at No. 1 for five weeks. It placed tenth on the year-end Hot 100 chart published by Billboard in December 1966. When Billboard later revised its year-end rankings for 1966, the song was re-ranked at No. 1; since then, Billboard has recognized "The Ballad of the Green Berets" as the top Hot 100 song of that year. On Cash Box 1966 year-end chart, "The Ballad of the Green Berets" tied for first with "California Dreamin'" by the Mamas and the Papas. It was also the No. 21 song of the 1960s as ranked by Joel Whitburn. The single sold more than nine million copies; the album, more than two million.

"The Ballad of the Green Berets" has been one of the four primary marching tunes of the Fightin' Texas Aggie Band since at least the 1980s.

In film
The song is heard in a choral rendition by Ken Darby in the 1968 John Wayne film The Green Berets, based on Robin Moore's book. The film's score was not released as an album until Film Score Monthly released it in 2005. A movie tie-in featuring artwork from the film and a cover version by Ennio Morricone was released in Europe, though the album's other tracks were from A Fistful of Dollars and For a Few Dollars More. In The Many Saints of Newark, while Dickie Moltisanti is driving over in his car to meet Harold McBrayer for the first time, "The Ballad of the Green Berets" is playing on the radio.

The cast of the 2018 movie 12 Strong sing the tune as their Chinook helicopter takes off.

This song is featured in the 1979 film More American Graffiti, during the first sequence of Terry the Toad's New Year's Eve in 1965 Vietnam.

The song is featured prominently as a prop (with French lyrics unrelated to the American lyrics), in the opening scene of the French-produced Netflix biopic miniseries about Bernard Tapie eponymously titled Tapie.

Other versions derivatives
Many other American recording artists did their own versions of the song ranging from Kate Smith and Duane Eddy to unknown artists singing on various drugstore records.

Many versions in other languages are rewritten to reference local units; these include:

 * A German version (Hundert Mann und ein Befehl), sung by Freddy Quinn and later again by Heidi Brühl had considerable success in Germany. The German version is a song against the war. Freddy Quinn sings the song from the point of view of a reluctant but forced soldier, Heidi Brühl from the point of view of the crying girlfriend of the soldier. Freddy Quinn's version was later recorded by Welle: Erdball and also by Cryptic Wintermoon.
 * The Royal Netherlands Army's Korps Commandotroepen (KCT) use the original lyrics with a couple changes referencing the Netherlands. This version is sung to recruits who have successfully completed the harsh Basic Commando Training (ECO), and who receive their Green Beret.
 * The Residents recorded a cover of the song for the album The Third Reich 'n Roll as a part of "Hitler was a Vegetarian"
 * Rhodesian singer-songwriter John Edmond recorded the "Ballad of the Green Berets" with reference to the soldiers of the Rhodesian Light Infantry (RLI), commando-style fireforce units of Rhodesian Security Forces who wore berets of green color, with a slight difference in the chorus, saying "These are men, of The Fatherland’s Best." & "Make him one of The Fatherlands best" A "Ballad of the Red Beret" was sung by the Rhodesian Ministry of Internal Affairs at their battlecamp in Chikurubi. In South Africa, the "Ballad of the Green Berets" was recorded as the "Ballad of the Maroon Berets". The Maroon beret is a symbol of the South African Special Forces Brigade and the South African 44 Parachute Regiment. Also this song was re-recorded by South African opera singer Leonore Veenemans as "My Land Suid-Afrika".
 * The Swedish version "Balladen om den blå baskern" is a salute to the Swedish soldiers serving in the United Nations' peace-keeping forces (the Blue Berets). It was sung by Anita Lindblom.
 * The Italian version is called La Ballata del Soldato, sung by Quartetto Cetra.
 * Since 2004, the Infantry Officer's School of the Swiss Armed Forces uses a quadrlingual (German, French, Italian and Rumansch) version of the song, Die Infanterieballade (The Infantry Ballad), as their anthem. The lyrics were written by cadets from all linguistical regions of Switzerland. It is sung everyday onwards to the morning roll call, before the National Anthem.
 * In 1966, Bernard Tapy (real name Bernard Tapie, businessman and politician), recorded an adaptation in French as "Passeport pour le soleil"
 * The official song of the Portuguese Paratroopers a.k.a. "Boinas Verdes" ("Green Berets") uses the melody with Português-language lyrics
 * The Ukrainian version 2015 100 Soldiers. Lyrics by Oleksa Nehrebets'kyi.
 * The Finnish version titled "Balladi punaisista bareteista" was released in 1966 by Kivikasvot.
 * The Norwegian version "Balladen om den grønne beret" (both Norwegian and English lyrics) is about the Garrison of Sør-Varanger (GSV). They monitor the border between Norway and Russia 24/7. Their motto is "VOGT OG VERN" (GUARD AND PROTECT).

Parodies or humorous use

 * The melody and rhyme pattern were adapted by Filipino musician Eddie Tallada recording the Ballad of Subic Bay describing Vietnam war sailors' liberty in the town of Olongapo adjacent to the Subic Bay Naval Base.
 * In 1968, The Beach Bums, an ad hoc group featuring a young Bob Seger, recorded "The Ballad of the Yellow Beret", chronicling the adventures of a draft dodger. The record was withdrawn after a cease and desist letter from Sadler.
 * The Residents parodied the song on their Third Reich & Roll album.
 * Another parody was used on an episode of Saturday Night Live that William Shatner hosted in 1986, called "Ollie North, The Mute Marine". Shatner participated in the sketch, outfitted in a USMC Class A uniform, alluding to Oliver North's refusal to speak about his participation in the Iran-Contra Affair; Shatner spoke no words.
 * The song is used to humorous effect in Michael Moore's film Canadian Bacon as ill-informed Americans prepare for an invasion by Canada.
 * In the film Caddyshack, Bill Murray mumbles the song under his breath while he is connecting the wires to the plunger as he prepares for his final battle with his gopher nemesis.
 * In an episode of Cheers, Cliff Clavin aborts his plans to emigrate to Canada with his love interest when Sam, Woody, and Frasier appeal to his patriotic side by singing the song.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: The Ballad of the Green Berets


text:
Talk:Ballad

Archived discussion

 * Some older or moot discussion from this page has been archived. Future archivers, please link the archive page in this section, and add a summary of the material you archived.the lead section, a possible link to a Smithsonian site, and specific ballads to mention or not...— Turangalila''  (talk) 12:37, 7 April 2007 (UTC)

Worldwide view
The article does not reflect a worldwide (or "time-wide") view. The ballad originated in the article). They are usually considered identical to the Swedish medieval "folkvisor" as well (see the Swedish wiki article), which in later centuries came to parallel the "broadsheet" phenomenon described in this article. --[[User:194.145.161.227|2006 (UTC)

See also the Britannia Concise articles Ballad. This is one of the (I guess few) topics where Wikipedia still lags far behind. --194.145.161.227 20:43, 23 December 2006 (UTC)

Modern usage (Ballad (music))
I don't think this article as it stands adequately addresses the use of the term ballad in contemporary musical contexts. The traditional sense of ballad persists among folk musicians, but in pop and especially jazz it has a totally different meaning: it denotes a love song, or a sentimental song in a personal tone, or a slow song in general. This is vaguely alluded to in the artlce at present but not defined in all its variety.

I've created a new article called Ballad (music) which endeavors to address this. I know the traditional definition usually means a song, and I'm not married to the name, but I think some clarification/elaboration was necessary, and I'm not even sure ballad should redirect here. I've added tags for that & other things to this article for now.

The confusion is demonstrated, I think, by "What links here" and especially by the lists in the article under "Famous ballads", particularly "Modern". People seem totally unclear about the difference between "Traditional" and "Popular" definitions; the list as a whole is just a mess. What exactly does "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" have in common with "Joe Hill"? How about "Stardust" and "American Pie"? What is "November Rain" doing on both lists? What are "On Top of Spaghetti" or "Space Oddity" doing there at all?! I think the relevant WikiProjects, or just interested editors, should try to address the whole issue. — Turangalila (talk) 18:08, 10 April 2007 (UTC)

I think that the article also ignores the rather substantial differences between ballads in different types of popular music. Some ballads are narrative stories, most pop ballads are love songs, while in heavy metal they are almost always about death (except in glam, whose status as metal is debatable anyway), and the different types differ in their musical structure as well--a tender acoustic pop piece bears little musical resemblance to the continuous crescendo and bleak, dirgelike tone of a typical metal ballad or the winding, progressive structure of Bob Dylan's "Hurricane". 75.66.80.108 (talk) 00:52, 15 March 2010 (UTC)

poem ballads
A little more on poem type ballads may have been appriciated, as a lot is tied up in other sections, and the actually poem bit is only a few lines. Just a thought... —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 83.67.55.204 (talk) 14:17, 13 May 2007 (UTC).

List
Why are there ballads in the list that have no article to go with them? Tythesly 21:08, 26 October 2007 (UTC)

Since Wikipedia discourageds lists perhaps the list could be removed to another page or a link to the category English Ballads. --Sabrebd (talk) 11:53, 19 February 2009 (UTC)

Rinaldo alleged to be the first ballad opera
Rinaldo is a normal Italian opera. It does *not* have "racy and often satirical spoken (English) dialogue, interspersed with songs that are deliberately kept very short", as the text defines ballad opera (correctly, AFAIAC).--91.148.159.4 (talk) 14:46, 3 July 2009 (UTC)

Cannot find the source cited to check what it says but a quick search of sources suggest the confusion is that The Beggars Opera stole some of its music, but its not a ballad opera, but an Italianate one. Lets just delete it. If anyone ever finds different with a good source we can always put it back.--Sabrebd (talk) 16:09, 3 July 2009 (UTC)

Merger
For discussion on the possibility of merger from Ballad (music) to here see Talk: Ballad (music).--Sabrebd (talk) 14:02, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

Power ballads..?
How does Meat Loaf not get a mention in the section on power ballads? His full name is Meat Power-Ballad Loaf. Aboctok (talk) 03:49, 16 July 2010 (UTC)

Dire Straights
Would a lot of Dire Straights music be ballads? Particularly Romeo and Juliet and Telegraph Road? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 118.210.242.245 (talk) 23:36, 23 October 2010 (UTC)

Not Colonial
Referring to the Native American Ballads section: The ballads of Jesse James and Davy Crockett are 19th and 20th century creations, not from the colonial era. James and Crockett were both 19th-century figures. 70.179.92.117 (talk) 16:45, 11 December 2010 (UTC)

 * I suppose it should read "colonial and post-colonial", but its easier just to drop the terms so I have removed the word. I think the meaning (i.e. not in Britain) is still clear.--''' SabreBD  (talk ) 17:16, 11 December 2010 (UTC)

Here's the part on Music ballads I tried to add
But some loser keeps erasing it. so I put it here. I'm sure it will get erased as well. I think it's good.

 * Please note No personal attacks. Also there is no need to duplicate text here that you have already added back to the article, even if it is removed that text can be found in the article history. If you add very large sections of unsourced text they are pretty much bound to be removed. It is a much better idea to work on them in a sandbox until they are ready and then post them, or you could flag up the fact you are going to add sources on the article talkpage first. If you are not used to providing citations you can always ask for help and some Wikipedian will almost certainly oblige. As it stands at this moment the added text just needs a few more citations and then it will be fine. I will wait until you have finished and then format the citations for you.--''' SabreBD  (talk ) 08:12, 12 October 2011 (UTC)
 * Also please note that citations need page numbers please.--''' SabreBD  (talk ) 08:32, 12 October 2011 (UTC)
 * This section is still dubiously sourced and may have to be edited down to avoid WP:OR.--''' SabreBD  (talk ) 06:41, 19 October 2011 (UTC)

Undoing of Ballad Format Revision
I've noted that you undid my revision of the ballad example in the Ballad article, with the reason being that "This [notation on meter] is the point of this example." However, this reason is not based on fact but on presumption, considering the context of the example:

''Usually, only the second and fourth line of a quatrain are rhymed (in the scheme a, b, c, b), which has been taken to suggest that, originally, ballads consisted of couplets (two lines) of rhymed verse, each of 14 syllables. As can be seen in this stanza from ‘Lord Thomas and Fair Annet’: [example] However, there is considerable variation on this pattern in almost every respect, including length, number of lines and rhyming scheme, making the strict definition of a ballad extremely difficult.''

Despite the single sentence referencing meter prior to the given context, both the consideration of rhyme scheme before the example and the phrase after the example, which mentions far more than meter, allude the purpose of this example to be on rhyme, namely, and the variation in ballads. The emphasis of rhythm over other aspects contrasts this provision, insinuating that attention should be given to something already in accordance with the description in the preceding paragraph.

Furthermore, the example with notations is exhibited exceedingly poorly. The use of the letter "l" (rather than an emphasized |) to denote feet is poor practice and confusing in various circumstances, and in a context where rhyme scheme is discussed directly prior to the example, enunciation of stressed syllables — with an improper scansion system, mind — only adds confusion to those expecting that the momentary topic may be observed in the example. Pastaguy12 (talk) 16:07, 1 December 2013 (UTC)

 * It is not presumption, given that I put the example in in 2009, I am pretty confident about why it was put in. The example does a variety of things, but stress was the major one. Using bold is one of the accepted ways of indicating stress, there are others but they are difficult to do with precision on Wikipedia. Nevertheless I am open to suggestions. As for the use of the letter "l", you are mistaken, it is not the letter but "|". I do not think there is any reason to put bold on this. It seems clear enough and the standard way of emphasising feet in verse.--  SabreBD  (talk ) 17:28, 1 December 2013 (UTC)

New article needed: Katherine Jackson French
A new article needed for Kentucky ballad collector Katherine Jackson French. Source 76.190.208.61 (talk) 22:29, 7 January 2021 (UTC)

title: Talk:Ballad


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Baroque dance

Baroque dance is dance of the Baroque era (roughly 1600–1750), closely linked with Baroque music, theatre, and opera.

English country dance
The majority of surviving choreographies from the period are English country dances, such as those in the many editions of Playford's The Dancing Master. Playford only gives the floor patterns of the dances, with no indication of the steps. However, other sources of the period, such as the writings of the French dancing-masters Feuillet and Lorin, indicate that steps more complicated than simple walking were used at least some of the time.

English country dance survived well beyond the Baroque era and eventually spread in various forms across Europe and its colonies, and to all levels of society.

The French Noble style
The great innovations in dance in the 17th century originated at the French court under Louis XIV, and it is here that we see the first clear stylistic ancestor of classical ballet. The same basic technique was used both at social events, and as theatrical dance in court ballets and at public theaters. The style of dance is commonly known to modern scholars as the French noble style or belle danse (French, literally "beautiful dance"), however it is often referred to casually as baroque dance in spite of the existence of other theatrical and social dance styles during the baroque era.

Primary sources include more than three hundred choreographies in Beauchamp–Feuillet notation, as well as manuals by Raoul Auger Feuillet and Pierre Rameau in France, Kellom Tomlinson, P. Siris, and John Weaver in England, and Gottfried Taubert in Germany (i.e. Leipzig, Saxony). This wealth of evidence has allowed modern scholars and dancers to recreate the style, although areas of controversy still exist. The standard modern introduction is Hilton.

French dance types include:

 * Allemande (Descendant of a traditional German dances)
 * Bourrée
 * Canarie (Canary) (Of Spanish origin)
 * Chaconne (Actually of Spanish origin)
 * (French) Courante
 * Entrée grave
 * Forlane (Forlana)
 * Gavotte
 * Gigue
 * Loure (slow gigue)
 * Menuet (minuet)
 * Musette
 * Passacaille|Pasacalle (passacaglia) (Of Spanish origin, traditionally a guitar piece)
 * Passepied
 * Polonaise (Of Polish origin)
 * Rigaudon
 * Sarabande (Of Spanish origin)
 * Tambourin

The English, working in the French style, added their own hornpipe to this list.

Many of these dance types are familiar from baroque music, perhaps most spectacularly in the stylized suites of J. S. Bach. Note, however, that the allemandes, that occur in these suites do not correspond to a French dance from the same period.

Theatrical dance
The French noble style was danced both at social events and by professional dancers in theatrical productions such as opera-ballets and court entertainments. However, 18th-century theatrical dance had at least two other styles: comic or grotesque, and semi-serious.

Other social dance styles
Other dance styles, such as the Italian and Spanish dances of the period, are much less well studied than either English country dance or the French style. The general picture seems to be that during most of the 17th century, a style of late Renaissance dance was widespread, but as time progressed, French ballroom dances such as the minuet were widely adopted at fashionable courts. Beyond this, the evolution and cross-fertilisation of dance styles is an area of ongoing research.

Modern reconstructions
The revival of baroque music in the 1960s and '70s sparked renewed interest in 17th and 18th century dance styles. While some 300 of these dances had been preserved in Beauchamp–Feuillet notation, it wasn't until the mid-20th century that serious scholarship commenced in deciphering the notation and reconstructing the dances.

Perhaps best known among these pioneers was Britain's Melusine Wood, who published several books on historical dancing in the 1950s. Wood passed her research on to her student Belinda Quirey, and also to Pavlova Company ballerina and choreographer Mary Skeaping (1902–1984). The latter became well known for her reconstructions of baroque ballets for London's "Ballet for All" company in the 1960s.

The leading figures of the second generation of historical dance research include Shirley Wynne and her Baroque Dance Ensemble which was founded at Ohio State University in the early 1970s and Wendy Hilton (1931–2002), a student of Belinda Quirey who supplemented the work of Melusine Wood with her own research into original sources. A native of Britain, Hilton arrived in the U.S. in 1969 joining the faculty of the Juilliard School in 1972 and establishing her own baroque dance workshop at Stanford University in 1974 which endured for more than 25 years.

Catherine Turocy (b. circa 1950) began her studies in Baroque dance in 1971 as a student of dance historian Shirley Wynne. She founded The New York Baroque Dance Company in 1976 with Ann Jacoby, and the company has since toured internationally. In 1982/83 as part of the French national celebration of Jean Philippe Rameau's 300th birthday, Turocy choreographed the first production of Jean-Philippe Rameau's Les Boréades - it was never performed during the composer's lifetime. This French supported production with John Eliot Gardiner, conductor, and his orchestra was directed by Jean Louis Martinoty. Turocy has been decorated as Chevalier in the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government.

In 1973, French dance historian Francine Lancelot (1929–2003) began her formal studies in ethnomusicology which later led her to research French traditional dance forms and eventually Renaissance and Baroque dances. In 1980, at the invitation of the French Minister of Culture, she founded the baroque dance company "Ris et Danceries". Her work in choreographing the landmark 1986 production of Lully's 1676 tragedie-lyrique Atys was part of the national celebration of the 300th anniversary of Lully's death. This production propelled the career of William Christie and his ensemble Les Arts Florissants. Since the Ris et Danseries company was disbanded circa 1993, choreographers from the company have continued with their own work. Béatrice Massin with her "Compagnie Fetes Galantes", along with Marie-Geneviève Massé and her company "L'Eventail" are among the most prominent. In 1995 Francine Lancelot's catalogue raisonné of baroque dance, entitled La Belle Dance, was published.

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Borzoi

The Borzoi or Russian Hunting Sighthound is a Russian breed of hunting dog of sighthound type. It was formerly used for wolf hunting, and until 1936 was known as the Russian Wolfhound.

Etymology
The system by which Russians over the ages named their sighthounds was a series of descriptive terms rather than actual names. Borzoi is the masculine singular form of an archaic Russian adjective that means 'fast'. Borzaya sobaka ('fast dog') is the basic term for sighthounds used by Russians, though sobaka is usually dropped. The name psovaya derived from the word psovina, which means 'wavy, silky coat', just as hortaya (as in hortaya borzaya) means shorthaired. In modern Russian, the breed commonly called the Borzoi is officially known as russkaya psovaya borzaya. Other Russian sighthound breeds are stepnaya borzaya (from the steppe), called stepnoi; and krimskaya borzaya (from the Crimea), called krimskoi.

History
The Borzoi originated in the sixteenth century Russia by crossing Saluki and European sighthounds with thick-coated Russian breeds.

The Borzoi was popular with the Tsars before the 1917 revolution. For centuries, Borzois could not be purchased but only given as gifts from the Tsar. Grand Duke Nicholas Nicolaievich of Russia bred countless Borzoi at Perchino, his private estate.

The Russkaya Psovaya Borzaya was definitively accepted by the Fédération Cynologique Internationale in 1956.

Appearance
Borzois are large Russian sighthounds that resemble some central Asian breeds such as the Afghan hound, Saluki, and the Kyrgyz Taigan. Borzois come in a variety of colours. The Borzoi coat is silky and flat, often wavy or slightly curly. The long top-coat is quite flat, with varying degrees of waviness or curling. The soft undercoat thickens during winter or in cold climates, but is shed in hot weather to prevent overheating. In its texture and distribution over the body, the Borzoi coat is unique. There should be a frill on its neck, as well as feathering on its hindquarters and tail.

Temperament
The Borzoi is an affectionate and athletic breed of dog with a calm temperament.

In terms of obedience, Borzois are selective learners who quickly become bored with repetitive, apparently pointless activity, and they can be very stubborn when they are not properly motivated. For example, food rewards, or "baiting", may work well for some individuals, but not at all for others. Nevertheless, Borzois are definitely capable of enjoying and performing well in competitive obedience and agility trials with the right kind of training.

Health
A 2024 UK study found an average life expectancy of 12 years for Borzois, with a sample size of 43, compared to 12.7 for purebreds and 12 for mongrels.

An American study looking at echocardiographs of clinically healthy Borzoi found 53.8% to have heart murmurs, 30.2% to have trace or mild mitral regurgitation, 36.1% to have mild tricuspid regurgitation, and 14.4% to have cardiac disease.

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Basenji

The Basenji is a breed of hunting dog. It was bred from stock that originated in central Africa. The Fédération Cynologique Internationale places the breed in the Spitz and primitive types. The Basenji produces an unusual yodel-like sound, due to its unusually shaped larynx. This trait also gives the Basenji the nickname the 'barkless dog.'

Basenjis can run up to 30-35 miles per hour and share many distinctive traits with pariah dog types. Basenjis come into estrus only once annually similar to dingoes, New Guinea singing dogs and Tibetan Mastiffs, when compared with other dog breeds which may have two or more breeding seasons each year. They lack a distinctive odor, and are prone to howls, yodels, and other vocalizations over the characteristic bark of modern dog breeds. The breed's original foundation stock came from Congo.

Name
The Azande and Mangbetu people from the northeastern Congo region describe a Basenji, in the local Lingála language, as mbwá na basɛ́nzi, meaning "dog of the savages" or "dog of the villagers". In the Congo, the Basenji is also known as the "dog of the bush".

The dogs are also known to the Azande of South Sudan as ango angari.

The word basɛ́nzi itself is the plural form of mosɛ́nzi.

In Swahili, another Bantu language, from East Africa, mbwa shenzi translates to "savage dog". Another local name is m'bwa m'kube, 'mbwa wa mwitu "wild dog", or "dog that jumps up and down", a reference to their tendency to jump straight up to spot their quarry.

Lineage
The Basenji has been identified as a basal breed that predates the emergence of the modern breeds in the 19th century. DNA studies based on whole-genome sequences indicate that the basenji and the dingo are both considered to be basal members of the domestic dog clade.

In 2021, the genome of two basenjis were assembled, which indicated that the basenji fell within the Asian spitz group. The AMY2B gene produces an enzyme, amylase, that helps to digest starch. The wolf, the husky and the dingo possess only two copies of this gene, which provides evidence that they arose before the expansion of agriculture. The genomic study found that similarly, the basenji possesses only two copies of this gene.

History

The Basenji originated on the continent of Africa. Europeans first described the breed in 1895 in the Congo. These local dogs, which Europeans identified as a distinct breed and called basenji, were prized by locals for their intelligence, courage, speed, and silence.

Several attempts were made to introduce the breed into England, but the earliest imports succumbed to disease. In 1923 six Basenjis were taken from Sudan, but all six died from distemper shots received in quarantine. It was not until the 1930s that foundation stock was successfully established in England, and then in the United States by animal importer Henry Trefflich. It is likely that nearly all the Basenjis in the Western world are descended from these few original imports. The breed was officially accepted into the AKC in 1943. In 1990, the AKC stud book was reopened to 14 new imports at the request of the Basenji Club of America. The stud book was reopened again to selected imported dogs from 1 January 2009 to 31 December 2013. An American-led expedition collected breeding stock in villages in the Basankusu area of the Democratic Republic of Congo, in 2010. Basenjis are also registered with the United Kennel Club.

The popularity of the Basenji in the United States, according to the American Kennel Club, has declined over the past decade, with the breed ranked 71st in 1999, decreasing to 84th in 2006, and to 93rd in 2011.

Appearance

Basenjis are small, short-haired dogs with erect ears, tightly curled tails and graceful necks. A Basenji's forehead is wrinkled, even more so when it is young or extremely excited. A Basenji's eyes are typically almond-shaped. Basenjis typically weigh about 20–24 lb and stand 16–18 in at the shoulder. They are a square breed, which means they are as long as they are tall with males usually larger than females. Basenjis are athletic dogs, and deceptively powerful for their size.

They have a graceful, confident gait like a trotting horse, and skim the ground in a double suspension gallop, with their characteristic curled tail straightened out for greater balance when running at their top speed. Basenjis come in a few different colorations: red, black, tricolor, and brindle, and they all have white feet, chests and tail tips. They can also come in trindle, which is a tricolor with brindle points, a rare combination.

Temperament and behavior
The Basenji is alert, energetic, curious and reserved with strangers. The Basenji tends to become emotionally attached to a single human. Basenjis may not get along with non-canine pets. Basenjis dislike wet weather, much like cats, and will often refuse to go outside in any sort of damp conditions. They like to climb, and can easily scale chain wire/link fences.

Basenjis often stand on their hind legs, somewhat like a meerkat, by themselves or leaning on something; this behavior is often observed when the dog is curious about something. Basenjis have a strong prey drive. According to the book The Intelligence of Dogs, they are the second least trainable dog, when required to do human commands (behind only the Afghan Hound). Their real intelligence manifests when they are required to actually solve problems for the sake of the dogs' own goals (such as food, or freedom).

Basenjis are highly prey driven and will go after cats and other small animals.

Health
There is only one completed health survey of dog breeds, including the Basenji, that was conducted by the UK Kennel Club in 2004. The survey indicated the prevalence of diseases in Basenjis with dermatitis (9% of responses), incontinence and bladder infection (5%), hypothyroidism (4%), pyometra and infertility (4%).

Longevity
Basenjis in the 2004 UK Kennel Club survey had a median lifespan of 13.6 years (sample size of 46 deceased dogs), which is 1–2 years longer than the median lifespan of other breeds of similar size. The oldest dog in the survey was 17.5 years. The most common causes of death were old age (30%), urologic (incontinence, Fanconi syndrome, chronic kidney failure 13%), behavior ("unspecified" and aggression 9%), and cancer (9%).

Fanconi syndrome
Fanconi syndrome, an inheritable disorder in which the renal (kidney) tubes fail to reabsorb electrolytes and nutrients, is unusually common in Basenjis. Symptoms include excessive drinking, excessive urination, and glucose in the urine, which may lead to a misdiagnosis of diabetes. Fanconi syndrome usually presents between 4 and 8 years of age, but sometimes as early as 3 years or as late as 10 years. Fanconi syndrome is treatable and organ damage is reduced if treatment begins early. Basenji owners are advised to test their dog's urine for glucose once a month beginning at the age of 3 years. Glucose testing strips designed for human diabetics are inexpensive and available at most pharmacies. A Fanconi disease management protocol has been developed that can be used by veterinarians to treat Fanconi-afflicted dogs.

Other Basenji health issues
Basenjis sometimes carry a simple recessive gene that, when homozygous for the defect, causes genetic hemolytic anemia. Most 21st-century Basenjis are descended from ancestors that have tested clean. When lineage from a fully tested line (set of ancestors) cannot be completely verified, the dog should be tested before breeding. As this is a non-invasive DNA test, a Basenji can be tested for HA at any time.

Basenjis sometimes suffer from hip dysplasia, resulting in loss of mobility and arthritis-like symptoms. All dogs should be tested by either OFA or PennHIP prior to breeding.

Malabsorption, or immunoproliferative enteropathy, is an autoimmune intestinal disease that leads to anorexia, chronic diarrhea, and even death. A special diet can improve the quality of life for afflicted dogs.

The breed can also fall victim to progressive retinal atrophy (a degeneration of the retina causing blindness) and several less serious hereditary eye problems such as coloboma (a hole in the eye structure), and persistent pupillary membrane (tiny threads across the pupil).

In popular culture

 * In Nyanga mythology, Rukuba was a talking Basenji and the pet of the fire god Nyamuriri. A man named either Nkhango or Mikhango convinced Rukuba to help him steal fire for his people. Angered by this, Nyamuriri sent his dog away. In some versions, he also takes the dog's ability to speak. In most versions, Rukuba is still able to speak when he goes to live with the Nyanga, but refuses to do so anymore once Nkhango tries to make him a messenger for the village.
 * The title character of the 1954 novel Good-bye, My Lady, by James H. Street, is a Basenji (female). The book was made into a film of the same name in 1956, with a cast that included Brandon deWilde, Walter Brennan, and Sidney Poitier. Several Basenjis were used in the lead role, the main "star" being "My Lady of the Congo" a six-month-old Basenji bred by Veronica Tudor-Williams of Molesey, England. She was followed by four other young Basenjis to act as doubles including her sibling, "My Lord of the Congo", and "Flageolet of the Congo", (who would become an International Champion). "My Lady" did most of the scenes.
 * The true story of a Basenji was featured in the episode "The Cat Came Back" on the radio program This American Life.
 * Basenjis are featured in the fourth episode ("Tyler Tucker, I Presume?") of the third season of the animated television series The Wild Thornberrys. Nigel Thornberry encounters a group of tribesmen along with their Congolese hunting dogs. The series's director, Mark Risley, owns several Basenjis, and his dogs provided the recorded voices for their animated counterparts.
 * An episode of Pound Puppies, "The Pups Who Loved Me", revolves around a Basenji secret agent character by the name of Bondo. The dog is drawn with an appropriate likeness, but appears to bark, which is uncharacteristic of the breed.
 * Basenjis are featured in the first part of The Apu Trilogy (India).
 * A Basenji dog is one of the main protagonists of the novel August Magic by Veronica Anne Starbuck.
 * Anubis, the barkless dog, is a Basenji dog featured in the horror movies Soulmate and Tales of Halloween.
 * Yodels, Wails and Basenji Tails – the 1998 book that features a compilation of Basenji stories.
 * The Story of Tongdaeng by His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand features one of his pets Tongdaeng, the Basenji dog.
 * So Quiet on the Canine Front and Trader Hound, movie shorts of the Dogville Comedies series, contain trained dogs as actors, two of which are Basenjis.

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Brit milah

The brit milah (, Modern Israeli:, Ashkenazi: ; "covenant of circumcision") or bris is the ceremony of circumcision in Judaism and Samaritanism, during which the foreskin is surgically removed. According to the Book of Genesis, God commanded the biblical patriarch Abraham to be circumcised, an act to be followed by his male descendants on the eighth day of life, symbolizing the covenant between God and the Jewish people. Today, it is generally performed by a mohel on the eighth day after the infant's birth and is followed by a celebratory meal known as seudat mitzvah.

Brit Milah is considered among the most important and central commandments in Judaism, and the rite has played a central role in the formation and history of Jewish civilization. The Talmud, when discussing the importance of Brit Milah, considers it equal to all other mitzvot (commandments). Jews who voluntarily fail to undergo Brit Milah, barring extraordinary circumstances, are believed to suffer Kareth in Jewish theology: the extinction of the soul and denial of a share in the world to come. Judaism does not see circumcision as a universal moral law. Rather, the commandment is exclusive to followers of Judaism and the Jewish people; Gentiles who follow the Noahide Laws are believed to have a portion in the World to Come.

Historical conflicts between Jews and European civilizations have occurred several times over Brit Milah, including multiple campaigns of Jewish ethnic, cultural, and religious persecution, with subsequent bans and restrictions on the practice as an attempted means of forceful assimilation, conversion, and ethnocide, most famously in the Maccabean Revolt by the Seleucid Empire. "In Jewish history, the banning of circumcision (brit mila) has historically been a first step toward more extreme and violent forms of persecution". These periods have generally been linked to suppression of Jewish religious, ethnic, and cultural identity and subsequent "punishment at the hands of government authorities for engaging in circumcision". The Maccabee victory in the Maccabean Revolt — ending the prohibition against circumcision — is celebrated in Hanukkah. Circumcision rates are near-universal among Jews.

Brit Milah also has immense importance in other religions. The Gospel of Luke records that Mary and Joseph, the parents of Jesus, had him undergo circumcision.

Origins (unknown to 515 BCE)
The origin of circumcision is not known with certainty; however, artistic and literary evidence from ancient Egypt suggests it was practiced in the ancient Near East from at least the Sixth Dynasty (c. 2345–2181 BCE). According to some scholars, it appears that it only appeared as a sign of the covenant during the Babylonian Exile. Scholars who posit the existence of a hypothetical J source (likely composed during the seventh century BCE) of the Pentateuch in Genesis 15 hold that it would not have mentioned a covenant that involves the practice of circumcision. Only in the P source (likely composed during the sixth century BCE) of Genesis 17 does the notion of circumcision become linked to a covenant.

Some scholars have argued that it originated as a replacement for child sacrifice.

Biblical references
According to the Hebrew Bible, Adonai commanded the biblical patriarch Abraham to be circumcised, an act to be followed by his descendants: "This is My covenant, which ye shall keep, between Me and you and thy seed after thee: every male among you shall be circumcised. And ye shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of a covenant betwixt Me and you. And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every male throughout your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any foreigner, that is not of thy seed. He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised; and My covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. And the uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken My covenant."

Leviticus 12:3 says: "And in the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised."

According to the Hebrew Bible, it was "a reproach" for an Israelite to be uncircumcised. The plural term ("uncircumcised") is used opprobriously, denoting the Philistines and other non-Israelites and used in conjunction with  (unpure) for heathen. The word ("uncircumcised" [singular]) is also employed for "impermeable"; it is also applied to the first three years' fruit of a tree, which is forbidden.

However, the Israelites born in the wilderness after the Exodus from Egypt were not circumcised. Joshua 5:2–9, explains, "all the people that came out" of Egypt were circumcised, but those "born in the wilderness" were not. Therefore, Joshua, before the celebration of the Passover, had them circumcised at Gilgal specifically before they entered Canaan. Abraham, too, was circumcised when he moved into Canaan.

The prophetic tradition emphasizes that God expects people to be good as well as pious, and that non-Jews will be judged based on their ethical behavior, see Noahide Law. Thus, Jeremiah 9:25–26 says that circumcised and uncircumcised will be punished alike by the Lord; for "all the nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in heart".

The penalty of willful non-observance is kareth (making oneself liable to extirpation or excommunication), as noted in Genesis 17:1-14. Conversion to Judaism for non-Israelites in Biblical times necessitated circumcision, otherwise one could not partake in the Passover offering. Today, as in the time of Abraham, it is required of converts in Orthodox, Conservative and Reform Judaism.

As found in Genesis 17:1–14, brit milah is considered to be so important that should the eighth day fall on the Sabbath, actions that would normally be forbidden because of the sanctity of the day are permitted in order to fulfill the requirement to circumcise. The Talmud, when discussing the importance of Milah, compares it to being equal to all other mitzvot (commandments) based on the gematria for brit of 612.

Covenants in ancient times were sometimes sealed by severing an animal, with the implication that the party who breaks the covenant will suffer a similar fate. In Hebrew, the verb meaning "to seal a covenant" translates literally as "to cut". It is presumed by Jewish scholars that the removal of the foreskin symbolically represents such a sealing of the covenant.

Reasons for biblical circumcision include to show off "patrilineal descent, sexual fertility, male initiation, cleansing of birth impurity, and dedication to God".

Mohalim
Mohalim are Jews trained in the practice of brit milah, the "covenant of circumcision". According to traditional Jewish law, in the absence of a grown free Jewish male expert, anyone who has the required skills is also authorized to perform the circumcision, if they are Jewish. Yet, most streams of non-Orthodox Judaism allow women to be (, plural of , feminine of ), without restriction. In 1984, Deborah Cohen became the first certified Reform ; she was certified by the Berit Mila program of Reform Judaism.

Time and place
It is customary for the brit to be held in a synagogue, but it can also be held at home or any other suitable location. The brit is performed on the eighth day from the baby's birth, taking into consideration that according to the Jewish calendar, the day begins at the sunset of the day before. If the baby is born on Sunday before sunset, the brit will be held the following Sunday. However, if the baby is born on Sunday night after sunset, the brit is on the following Monday. The brit takes place on the eighth day following birth even if that day is Shabbat or a holiday; however, if the baby is born on Friday night between sunset and nightfall, the Berit is delayed until the following Sunday. Furthermore, the berit is performed on the Sabbath only if it is a natural birth; if the birth is a Caesarean section, the berit is delayed until Sunday. A brit is traditionally performed in the morning, but it may be performed any time during daylight hours.

Postponement for health reasons
The Talmud explicitly instructs that a boy must not be circumcised if he had two brothers who died due to complications arising from their circumcisions, and Maimonides says that this excluded paternal half-brothers. This may be due to a concern about hemophilia.

An Israeli study found a high rate of urinary tract infections if the bandage is left on too long.

If the child is born prematurely or has other serious medical problems, the brit milah will be postponed until the doctors and mohel deem the child strong enough for his foreskin to be surgically removed.

Adult circumcision
In recent years, the circumcision of adult Jews who were not circumcised as infants has become more common than previously thought. In such cases, the brit milah will be done at the earliest date that can be arranged. The actual circumcision will be private, and other elements of the ceremony (e.g., the celebratory meal) may be modified to accommodate the desires of the one being circumcised.

Circumcision for the dead
According to Halacha, a baby who dies before they had time to circumcise him must be circumcised before burial. Several reasons were given for this commandment. Some have written that there is no need for this circumcision.

Anesthetic
Most prominent acharonim rule that the mitzvah of brit milah lies in the pain it causes, and anesthetic, sedation, or ointment should generally not be used. However, it is traditionally common to feed the infant a drop of wine or other sweet liquid to soothe him.

Eliezer Waldenberg, Yechiel Yaakov Weinberg, Shmuel Wosner, Moshe Feinstein and others agree that the child should not be sedated, although pain relieving ointment may be used under certain conditions; Shmuel Wosner particularly asserts that the act ought to be painful, per Psalm 44:23.

In a letter to the editor published in The New York Times on January 3, 1998, Rabbi Moshe David Tendler disagrees with the above and writes, "It is a biblical prohibition to cause anyone unnecessary pain." Rabbi Tendler recommends the use of an analgesic cream. Lidocaine should not be used, however, because lidocaine has been linked to several pediatric near-death episodes.

Kvatter
The title of kvater (קוואַטער) among Ashkenazi Jews is for the person who carries the baby from the mother to the father, who in turn carries him to the mohel. This honor is usually given to a couple without children, as a merit or segula (efficacious remedy) that they should have children of their own. The origin of the term is Middle High German gevater/gevatere ("godfather").

Seudat mitzvah
After the ceremony, a celebratory meal takes place. At the birkat hamazon, according to the Eastern Asheknazic rite, additional introductory lines, known as Nodeh Leshimcha, are added. These lines praise God and request the permission of God, the Torah, Kohanim and distinguished people present to proceed with the grace. When the four main blessings are concluded, special ha-Rachaman prayers are recited. They request various blessings by God that include:
 * 1) the parents of the baby, to help them raise him wisely;
 * 2) the sandek (companion of child);
 * 3) the baby boy to have strength and grow up to trust in God and perceive Him three times a year;
 * 4) the mohel for unhesitatingly performing the ritual;
 * 5) to send the Messiah in Judaism speedily in the merit of this mitzvah;
 * 6) to send Elijah the prophet, known as "The Righteous Kohen", so that God's covenant can be fulfilled with the re-establishment of the throne of King David.

According to the Western Ashkenazic rite, Nodeh Leshimcha is not recited. Elohim tzivita li-yedidcha bechiracha is recited during the second blessing, and a set of ha-Rachaman prayers, different from the ones in the Eastern Ashkenazic rite, are recited.

Uncovering, priah
At the neonatal stage, the inner preputial epithelium is still linked with the surface of the glans. The mitzvah is executed only when this epithelium is either removed, or permanently peeled back to uncover the glans. On medical circumcisions performed by surgeons, the epithelium is removed along with the foreskin, to prevent post operative penile adhesion and its complications. However, on ritual circumcisions performed by a mohel, the epithelium is most commonly peeled off only after the foreskin has been amputated. This procedure is called priah (פריעה), which means 'uncovering'. The main goal of "priah" (also known as "bris periah"), is to remove as much of the inner layer of the foreskin as possible and prevent the movement of the shaft skin, what creates the look and function of what is known as a "low and tight" circumcision.

According to Rabbinic interpretation of traditional Jewish sources, the 'priah' has been performed as part of the Jewish circumcision since the Israelites first inhabited the Land of Israel.

The Oxford Dictionary of the Jewish Religion states that many Hellenistic Jews attempted to restore their foreskins, and that similar action was taken during the Hadrianic persecution, a period in which a prohibition against circumcision was issued. The writers of the dictionary hypothesize that the more severe method practiced today was probably begun in order to prevent the possibility of restoring the foreskin after circumcision, and therefore the rabbis added the requirement of cutting the foreskin in periah.

According to Shaye J. D. Cohen, the Torah only commands milah. David Gollaher has written that the rabbis added the procedure of priah to discourage men from trying to restore their foreskins: "Once established, priah was deemed essential to circumcision; if the mohel failed to cut away enough tissue, the operation was deemed insufficient to comply with God's covenant", and "Depending on the strictness of individual rabbis, boys (or men thought to have been inadequately cut) were subjected to additional operations."

 * note: alternate spellings Metzizah or Metsitsah"In the first half of the nineteenth century, various European governments considered regulating, if not banning, berit milah on the grounds that it posed potential medical dangers. In the 1840s, radical Jewish reformers in Frankfurt asserted that circumcision should no longer be compulsory. This controversy reached Russia in the 1880s. Russian Jewish physicians expressed concern over two central issues: the competence of those carrying out the procedure and the method used for metsitsah. Many Jewish physicians supported the idea of procedural and hygienic reforms in the practice, and they debated the question of physician supervision during the ceremony. Most significantly, many advocated carrying out metsitsah by pipette, not by mouth. In 1889, a committee on circumcision convened by the Russian Society for the Protection of Health, which included leading Jewish figures, recommended educating the Jewish public about the concerns connected with circumcision, in particular, the possible transmission of diseases such as tuberculosis and syphilis through the custom of metsitsah by mouth.

Veniamin Portugalov, who—alone among Russian Jewish physicians—called for the abolition of circumcision, set off these discussions. Portugalov not only denied all medical claims regarding the sanitary advantages of circumcision but disparaged the practice as barbaric, likening it to pagan ritual mutilation. Ritual circumcision, he claimed, stood as a self-imposed obstacle to the Jews’ attainment of true equality with the other peoples of Europe." are also used to refer to this.

In the Metzitzah (מְצִיצָה), the guard is slid over the foreskin as close to the glans as possible to allow for maximum removal of the former without any injury to the latter. A scalpel is used to detach the foreskin. A tube is used for metzitzah In addition to ' (the initial cut amputating the akroposthion) and ' and subsequent circumcision, mentioned above, the Talmud (Mishnah Shabbat 19:2) mentions a third step, , translated as suction, as one of the steps involved in the circumcision rite. The Talmud writes that a "Mohel (Circumciser) who does not suck creates a danger, and should be dismissed from practice". Rashi on that Talmudic passage explains that this step is in order to draw some blood from deep inside the wound to prevent danger to the baby. There are other modern antiseptic and antibiotic techniques—all used as part of the brit milah today—which many say accomplish the intended purpose of metzitzah, however, since metzitzah is one of the four steps to fulfill Mitzvah, it continues to be practiced by Orthodox, Ultraorthodox and Hassidic Jews.

(oral suction)
The traditional method of performing metzitzah b'peh (מְצִיצָה בְּפֶה, abbreviated as MBP )—or oral suction —has become controversial. The process has the mohel place his mouth directly on the infant's genital wound to draw blood away from the cut. Many circumcision ceremonies no longer use metzitzah b'peh, but Haredi Jews continue to perform it, while traditional Karaites and Beta Israel never practiced it. The practice poses a serious risk of spreading herpes to the infant. Proponents maintain that there is no conclusive evidence that links herpes to Metzitza, and that attempts to limit this practice infringe on religious freedom.

The practice has become a controversy in both secular and Jewish medical ethics. The ritual of metzitzah is found in Mishnah Shabbat 19:2, which lists it as one of the four steps involved in the circumcision rite. Rabbi Moses Sofer, also known as the Chatam Sofer (1762–1839), observed that the Talmud states that the rationale for this part of the ritual was hygienic — i.e., to protect the health of the child. As such, the Chatam Sofer issued a ruling to perform metzitzah with a sponge instead of oral suction in order to safeguard the child from potential risks. He also cited a passage in Nedarim 32a as a warrant for the position that metzitzah b’peh was not an obligatory part of the circumcision ceremony. It relates the story that a mohel (who was suspected of transmitting herpes via metzizah to infants) was checked several times and never found to have signs of the disease and that a ban was requested because of the "possibility of future infections". Moshe Schick (1807–1879), a student of Moses Sofer, states in his book of Responsa, She’eilos u’teshuvos Maharam Schick (Orach Chaim 152,) that Moses Sofer gave the ruling in that specific instance only because the mohel refused to step down and had secular government connections that prevented his removal in favor of another mohel, and the Heter may not be applied elsewhere. He also states (Yoreh Deah 244) that the practice is possibly a Sinaitic tradition, i.e., Halacha l'Moshe m'Sinai. Other sources contradict this claim, with copies of Moses Sofer's responsa making no mention of the legal case or of his ruling applying in only one situation. Rather, that responsa makes quite clear that "metzizah" was a health measure and should never be employed where there is a health risk to the infant.

Chaim Hezekiah Medini, after corresponding with the greatest Jewish sages of the generation, concluded the practice to be Halacha l'Moshe m'Sinai and elaborates on what prompted Moses Sofer to give the above ruling. He tells the story that a student of Moses Sofer, Lazar Horowitz, Chief Rabbi of Vienna at the time and author of the responsa Yad Elazer, needed the ruling because of a governmental attempt to ban circumcision completely if it included metztitzah b'peh. He therefore asked Sofer to give him permission to do brit milah without metzitzah b'peh. When he presented the defense in secular court, his testimony was erroneously recorded to mean that Sofer stated it as a general ruling. The Rabbinical Council of America (RCA), which claims to be the largest American organization of Orthodox rabbis, published an article by mohel Yehudi Pesach Shields in its summer 1972 issue of Tradition magazine, calling for the abandonment of Metzitzah b'peh. Since then the RCA has issued an opinion that advocates methods that do not involve contact between the mohel's mouth and the infant's genitals, such as the use of a sterile syringe, thereby eliminating the risk of infection. According to the Chief Rabbinate of Israel and the Edah HaChareidis metzitzah b'peh should still be performed.

The practice of metzitzah b'peh posed a serious risk in the transfer of herpes from mohelim to eight Israeli infants, one of whom suffered brain damage. When three New York City infants contracted herpes after metzizah b'peh by one mohel and one of them died, New York authorities took out a restraining order against the mohel requiring use of a sterile glass tube, or pipette. The mohel's attorney argued that the New York Department of Health had not supplied conclusive medical evidence linking his client with the disease. In September 2005, the city withdrew the restraining order and turned the matter over to a rabbinical court. Thomas Frieden, the Health Commissioner of New York City, wrote, "There exists no reasonable doubt that 'metzitzah b'peh' can and has caused neonatal herpes infection....The Health Department recommends that infants being circumcised not undergo metzitzah b'peh." In May 2006, the Department of Health for New York State issued a protocol for the performance of metzitzah b'peh. Antonia Novello, Commissioner of Health for New York State, together with a board of rabbis and doctors, worked, she said, to "allow the practice of metzizah b'peh to continue while still meeting the Department of Health's responsibility to protect the public health". Later in New York City in 2012 a 2-week-old baby died of herpes because of metzitzah b'peh.

In three medical papers done in Israel, Canada, and the US, oral suction following circumcision was suggested as a cause in 11 cases of neonatal herpes. Researchers noted that prior to 1997, neonatal herpes reports in Israel were rare, and that the late incidences were correlated with the mothers carrying the virus themselves. Rabbi Doctor Mordechai Halperin implicates the "better hygiene and living conditions that prevail among the younger generation", which lowered to 60% the rate of young Israeli Haredi mothers who carry the virus. He explains that an "absence of antibodies in the mothers' blood means that their newborn sons received no such antibodies through the placenta, and therefore are vulnerable to infection by HSV-1".

Barriers
Because of the risk of infection, some rabbinical authorities have ruled that the traditional practice of direct contact should be replaced by using a sterile tube between the wound and the mohel's mouth, so there is no direct oral contact. The Rabbinical Council of America, the largest group of Modern Orthodox rabbis, endorses this method. The RCA paper states: "Rabbi Schachter even reports that Rav Yosef Dov Soloveitchik reports that his father, Rav Moshe Soloveitchik, would not permit a mohel to perform metzitza be’peh with direct oral contact, and that his grandfather, Rav Chaim Soloveitchik, instructed mohelim in Brisk not to do metzitza be’peh with direct oral contact. However, although Rav Yosef Dov Soloveitchik also generally prohibited metzitza be’peh with direct oral contact, he did not ban it by those who insisted upon it." The sefer Mitzvas Hametzitzah by Rabbi Sinai Schiffer of Baden, Germany, states that he is in possession of letters from 36 major Russian (Lithuanian) rabbis that categorically prohibit Metzitzah with a sponge and require it to be done orally. Among them is Rabbi Chaim Halevi Soloveitchik of Brisk.

In September 2012, the New York Department of Health unanimously ruled that the practice of metztizah b'peh should require informed consent from the parent or guardian of the child undergoing the ritual. Prior to the ruling, several hundred rabbis, including Rabbi David Niederman, the executive director of the United Jewish Organization of Williamsburg, signed a declaration stating that they would not inform parents of the potential dangers that came with metzitzah b'peh, even if informed consent became law.

In a motion for preliminary injunction with intent to sue, filed against New York City Department of Health & Mental Hygiene, affidavits by Awi Federgruen, Brenda Breuer,  and Daniel S. Berman  argued that the study on which the department passed its conclusions is flawed.

The "informed consent" regulation was challenged in court. In January 2013 the U.S. District court ruled that the law did not specifically target religion and therefore must not pass strict scrutiny. The ruling was appealed to the Court of Appeals.

On August 15, 2014, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the decision by the lower court, and ruled that the regulation does have to be reviewed under strict scrutiny to determine whether it infringes on Orthodox Jews' freedom of religion.

On September 9, 2015, after coming to an agreement with the community the New York City Board of Health voted to repeal the informed consent regulation.

Hatafat dam brit
A brit milah is more than circumcision; it is a sacred ritual in Judaism, as distinguished from its non-ritual requirement in Islam. One ramification is that the brit is not considered complete unless a drop of blood is actually drawn. The standard medical methods of circumcision through constriction do not meet the requirements of the halakhah for brit milah, because they are done with hemostasis, i.e., they stop the flow of blood. Moreover, circumcision alone, in the absence of the brit milah ceremony, does not fulfill the requirements of the mitzvah. Therefore, in cases involving a Jew who was circumcised outside of a brit milah, an already-circumcised convert, or an aposthetic (born without a foreskin) individual, the mohel draws a symbolic drop of blood (הטפת דם, ) from the penis at the point where the foreskin would have been or was attached.

Milah L'shem Giur
A milah l'shem giur is a "circumcision for the purpose of conversion". In Orthodox Judaism, this procedure is usually done by adoptive parents for adopted boys who are being converted as part of the adoption or by families with young children converting together. It is also required for adult converts who were not previously circumcised, e.g., those born in countries where circumcision at birth is not common. The conversion of a minor is valid in both Orthodox and Conservative Judaism until a child reaches the age of majority (13 for a boy, 12 for a girl); at that time the child has the option of renouncing his conversion and Judaism, and the conversion will then be considered retroactively invalid. He must be informed of his right to renounce his conversion if he wishes. If he does not make such a statement, it is accepted that the boy is halakhically Jewish. Orthodox rabbis will generally not convert a non-Jewish child raised by a mother who has not converted to Judaism.

The laws of conversion and conversion-related circumcision in Orthodox Judaism have numerous complications, and authorities recommend that a rabbi be consulted well in advance.

In Conservative Judaism, the milah l'shem giur procedure is also performed for a boy whose mother has not converted, but with the intention that the child be raised Jewish. This conversion of a child to Judaism without the conversion of the mother is allowed by Conservative interpretations of halakha. Conservative Rabbis will authorize it only under the condition that the child be raised as a Jew in a single-faith household. Should the mother convert, and if the boy has not yet reached his third birthday, the child may be immersed in the mikveh with the mother, after the mother has already immersed, to become Jewish. If the mother does not convert, the child may be immersed in a mikveh, or body of natural waters, to complete the child's conversion to Judaism. This can be done before the child is even one year old. If the child did not immerse in the mikveh, or the boy was too old, then the child may choose of their own accord to become Jewish at age 13 as a Bar Mitzvah, and complete the conversion then.
 * The ceremony, when performed l'shem giur, does not have to be performed on a particular day, and does not override Shabbat and Jewish Holidays.
 * In Orthodox Judaism, there is a split of authorities on whether the child receives a Hebrew name at the Brit ceremony or upon immersion in the Mikvah. According to Zichron Brit LeRishonim, naming occurs at the Brit with a different formula than the standard Brit Milah. The more common practice among Ashkenazic Jews follows Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, with naming occurring at immersion.

Where the procedure was performed but not followed by immersion or other requirements of the conversion procedure (e.g., in Conservative Judaism, where the mother has not converted), if the boy chooses to complete the conversion at Bar Mitzvah, a milah l'shem giur performed when the boy was an infant removes the obligation to undergo either a full brit milah or hatafat dam brit.

Visible symbol of a covenant
Rabbi Saadia Gaon considers something to be "complete" if it lacks nothing, but also has nothing that is unneeded. He regards the foreskin as an unneeded organ that God created in man, and so by amputating it, the man is completed. The author of Sefer ha-Chinuch provides three reasons for the practice of circumcision:
 * 1) To complete the form of man, by removing what he claims to be a redundant organ;
 * 2) To mark the chosen people, so that their bodies will be different as their souls are. The organ chosen for the mark is the one responsible for the sustenance of the species;
 * 3) The completion effected by circumcision is not congenital, but left to the man. This implies that as he completes the form of his body, so can he complete the form of his soul.

Talmud professor Daniel Boyarin offered two explanations for circumcision. One is that it is a literal inscription on the Jewish body of the name of God in the form of the letter "yud" (from "yesod"). The second is that the act of bleeding represents a feminization of Jewish men, significant in the sense that the covenant represents a marriage between Jews and (a symbolically male) God.

Other reasons
In Of the Special Laws, Book 1, the Jewish philosopher Philo additionally gave other reasons for the practice of circumcision.

He attributes four of the reasons to "men of divine spirit and wisdom". These include the idea that circumcision:
 * 1) Protects against disease,
 * 2) Secures cleanliness "in a way that is suited to the people consecrated to God",
 * 3) Causes the circumcised portion of the penis to resemble a heart, thereby representing a physical connection between the "breath contained within the heart [that] is generative of thoughts, and the generative organ itself [that] is productive of living beings", and
 * 4) Promotes prolificness by removing impediments to the flow of semen. "Is a symbol of a man's knowing himself".

Judaism, Christianity, and the Early Church (4 BCE – 150 CE)
The 1st-century Jewish author Philo Judaeus defended Jewish circumcision on several grounds. He thought that circumcision should be done as early as possible as it would not be as likely to be done by someone's own free will. He claimed that the foreskin prevented semen from reaching the vagina and so should be done as a way to increase the nation's population. He also noted that circumcision should be performed as an effective means to reduce sexual pleasure.

There was also division in Pharisaic Judaism between Hillel the Elder and Shammai on the issue of circumcision of proselytes.

According to the Gospel of Luke, Jesus was circumcised on the 8th day. "After eight days had passed, it was time to circumcise the child; and he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb."

According to saying 53 of the Gospel of Thomas,

"His disciples said to him, 'is circumcision useful or not?'. He said to them, 'If it were useful, their father would produce children already circumcised from their mother. Rather, the true circumcision in spirit has become profitable in every respect.'"

Foreskin was considered a sign of beauty, civility, and masculinity throughout the Greco-Roman world; it was custom to spend an hour a day or so exercising nude in the gymnasium and in Roman baths; many Jewish men did not want to be seen in public deprived of their foreskins, where matters of business and politics were discussed. To expose one's glans in public was seen as indecent, vulgar, and a sign of sexual arousal and desire.

Classical, Hellenistic, and Roman culture widely found circumcision to be barbaric, cruel, and utterly repulsive in nature. By the period of the Maccabees, many Jewish men attempted to hide their circumcisions through the process of epispasm due to the circumstances of the period, although Jewish religious writers denounced these practices as abrogating the covenant of Abraham in 1 Maccabees and the Talmud. After Christianity and Second Temple Judaism split apart from one another, Milah was declared spiritually unnecessary as a condition of justification by Christian writers such as Paul the Apostle and subsequently in the Council of Jerusalem, while it further increased in importance for Jews.

In the mid-2nd century CE, the Tannaim, the successors of the newly ideologically dominant Pharisees, introduced and made mandatory a secondary step of circumcision known as the Periah. Without it circumcision was newly declared to have no spiritual value. This new form removed as much of the inner mucosa as possible, the frenulum and its corresponding delta from the penis, and prevented the movement of shaft skin, in what creates a "low and tight" circumcision. It was intended to make it impossible to restore the foreskin. This is the form practiced among the large majority of Jews today, and, later, became a basis for the routine neonatal circumcisions performed in the United States.

The steps, justifications, and imposition of the practice have dramatically varied throughout history; commonly cited reasons for the practice have included it being a way to control male sexuality by reducing sexual pleasure and desire, as a visual marker of the covenant of the pieces, as a metaphor for mankind perfecting creation, and as a means to promote fertility. The original version in Judaic history was either a ritual nick or cut done by a father to the acroposthion, the part of the foreskin that overhangs the glans penis. This form of genital nicking or cutting, known as simply milah, became adopted among Jews by the Second Temple period and was the predominant form until the second century CE. The notion of milah being linked to a biblical covenant is generally believed to have originated in the 6th century BCE as a product of the Babylonian captivity; the practice likely lacked this significance among Jews before the period.

Reform Judaism
The Reform societies established in Frankfurt and Berlin regarded circumcision as barbaric and wished to abolish it. However, while prominent rabbis such as Abraham Geiger believed the ritual to be barbaric and outdated, they refrained from instituting any change in this matter. In 1843, when a father in Frankfurt refused to circumcise his son, rabbis of all shades in Germany stated it was mandated by Jewish law; even Samuel Holdheim affirmed this. By 1871, Reform rabbinic leadership in Germany reasserted "the supreme importance of circumcision in Judaism", while affirming the traditional viewpoint that non-circumcised Jews are Jews nonetheless. Although the issue of circumcision of converts continues to be debated, the necessity of Brit Milah for Jewish infant boys has been stressed in every subsequent Reform rabbis manual or guide. While the Reform movement does not require the circumcision of adult male converts, it is increasingly acknowledged and practiced by many Reform communities as an important part of the conversion process. Since 1984 Reform Judaism has trained and certified over 300 of their own practicing mohalim in this ritual. By 2001, the Central Conference of American Rabbis began to recommend that male converts who are already circumcized undergo hatafat dam brit.

In Samaritanism
Samaritan brit milah occurs on the eighth day following the child's birth at the father's home. In addition to special prayers and readings from the Torah pertaining to the ritual, an old hymn that invokes blessings for parents and children is sung.

According to 19th century British explorer Conder, in their circumcision hymn, Samaritans express their gratitude for a certain Roman soldier by the name of Germon, who was sent by an unknown Roman Emperor as a sentinel over the home of the Samaritan High Priest for his kindness in allowing the process of circumcision to take place. They tried to give him money, but he refused, just requesting to be included in their future prayers instead.

title: Brit milah