Circumcision is a surgical procedure, up until very recently performed without anesthetic, that removes the foreskin hooding the end of the penis, thereby exposing its tip, the glans.

The operation of circumcision is usually done within days of birth, preferably before the age of two months, with or without local anesthetic or painkillers, at the surgeon's discretion. Some Jewish families have the circumcision performed by a specially trained rabbi called a mohel, as part of a ceremony held on...