What does "bar mitzvah" mean?

Almost all human societies have a tradition of entering adulthood through adult rituals.

Adult rituals are varied, usually painful and occasionally fatal. If you happen to be a member of the O Ohafi tribe in Nigeria, you need to go through the ceremony of shooting birds with bows and arrows. If you are a Masai, you need to go into the wilderness and kill a lion to complete the ceremony. Young people in the Ni-Vanuatu tribe have to endure the pain of stinging the penis with nettles, and then have their foreskins cut off with broken bamboo pieces; Bantu teenagers who have just been circumcised must spray Chili powder on their bare wounds. Timid boys really can't stand it.

Many anthropologists, sociologists and psychologists lament that there is no rite of passage in modern society. Indeed, there are not many ways for boys to prove that they have grown up, except getting drunk and damaging their health, taking a driver's license and losing their virginity (not necessarily in this order). Some social critics blame the gangs and violence flooding the streets on the surge of testosterone and the need to vent among teenagers. In the past, if there were stubborn teenagers, they had to be sent to the elders of the clan for discipline.

The stage of becoming an adult

Almost all adult ceremonies in traditional society include the following three stages:

In the first stage, boys should break away from their normal life and get rid of their childish characteristics. At this stage, it is usually necessary to cut off the dependence on the family-that is, to cut off the so-called nepotism-symbolically indicating that childishness has "died". Tikopian in Polynesia will coat the boy who receives the bar mitzvah with a bloody mixture of turmeric and coconut oil, symbolizing that the boy is "dead". The next day, the relatives of the boy began to mourn. In the meantime, they will always cry for the "dead" children.

The second stage is transformation. In the meantime, the teenager who accepts the adult ceremony should undergo some form of test to ensure that he is qualified as an adult. Circumcision or other forms of physical transformation, such as filing teeth or tattooing, are usually performed at this stage. In order to be recognized as a real man, young people of the Ku tribe in Africa have to kill a male and a female large animal respectively. After the animal is killed, cut a vertical wound on the young man's chest, back and arm respectively. Then take out the oil from the killed animal, mix it with herbs and apply it to the wound. The scar left after wound healing becomes a permanent symbol of adult male identity.

The last stage is the stage of returning to daily life. At this time, becoming a boy can not only improve his social status, but also be recognized again. At this stage, there is usually a social celebration including music, dance and artistic performances. In Mendes of Sierra Leone, when a young man is allowed to attend a mysterious polo meeting, a female official will pull him with a rope, symbolizing his liberation from the polo elves who surrounded him as a child. Such a ceremony symbolizes rebirth and the struggle between adolescence and adulthood.

This is the three stages from boy to man, and each stage is not easy.

Pesian solin

Next, let's talk about the sensitive issues of men. Well, it's a symbol of masculinity-circumcision. Circumcision ceremony is very common in human society all over the world.

Muslims, Jews and Australian aborigines all have circumcision customs. Melanesians and Polynesia also practice circumcision. Even the ancient Egyptians and some American Indians apparently practiced circumcision. "Circumcision" of course refers to the removal of the male foreskin, that is, the loose and curly skin that usually covers the sensitive penis.

However, before we begin to explain the specific steps of circumcision, let's look at why circumcision is necessary. As mentioned above, if you want to change from a boy to a man, you must make some changes in your body as a sign of adulthood. Luo of Kenya pulled out the lower front teeth of the boy who received the bar mitzvah. The adult ceremony of Lese people in Zaire is relatively loose, and only boys who accept the adult ceremony cut their hair. Young people in most other tribes have to endure the most ruthless knife in the world: circumcision. However, if a tribe circumcises for hygiene, it should be regarded as the most merciful. But one thing is certain-shaved hair can grow back, but the foreskin will never grow back.

In addition to symbolizing entering adulthood, circumcision is sometimes performed to enhance sexual ability. A Vanuatu folk story goes like this: A woman married two brothers at the same time. One of the husbands was working in the garden when he was accidentally cut off the skin at the top of his penis by a bamboo. Although he was injured, his and his wife's sex life improved dramatically because of the accident. The other husband of the woman is in great pain for her sexual ability. In order to be an equal with his brother in bed, he was circumcised!

Now let's see how circumcision works. As a rule, the machines used for circumcision are commonly used iron or steel tools that are easily available in society. When it comes to manual operation, people in Tang 'an usually peel the foreskin by hand, but sometimes they also use bamboo chips or mussels. In the historical archives of the Hebrews, there are records of circumcision with hard stones. Then, Jewish law in biblical times allowed the use of glass or any other tool except reed stalks for circumcision. In central Australia, the circumcision ceremony is first performed with a fire stick and then with a stone knife. (ouch! )

Have you ever wondered where all these foreskins have gone? Now you don't have to doubt!

In many ancient societies, people buried these foreskins in the soil to prevent them from being used for witchcraft, just like cutting nails. On the west coast of Africa, people will soak their foreskins in brandy, and then circumcised men will drink it. Arabs in Arghir will wrap the foreskin in cloth and put it on trees or animals as gifts for surgeons. Hova in Madagascar wraps the foreskin with banana leaves and feeds it to calves. In many other societies, people will let the foreskin dry, and then the original owner will wear it around his neck as an amulet, or give it to the man's mother as a sentimental souvenir (Oh, bah! ), which is no different from the baby's first tooth or the hair cut from the baby's head during the first haircut.

In Oceania, the anurak people (Anula) will bury the foreskin beside the pool to make the lotus blossom; The Wallamonga people will put it in a tree hole to attract the delicious edible insect food-moth larvae. Who says men are useless?