Antisemitism, atheistic Communism, and penile cancer

Communism is a variant of Marxism, a far-left ideology motivated by economic and religious antisemitism. According to The Jewish Press:

“	In On the Jewish Question, Marx contemptuously criticized Judaism (and, to a lesser extent, Christianity) from the standpoint of social emancipation, regarding Jews as the embodiment of capitalism and the creators of its evils. This equation of Judaism with capitalism, together with his pronouncements on Jews, strongly influenced socialist movements and shaped their anti-Semitic attitudes and policies toward the Jews. Most agree that On the Jewish Question influenced Nazism, Soviet anti-Semitism, and Arab Jew-hating.	”
—Saul Jay Singer, May 8, 2019

The Soviet Union, an atheistic Communist state, was known for rampant, religiously motivated antisemitism, which included the prohibiting of ritual male circumcision. Compared to other countries, penile cancer was recorded to have accounted for 0.5–1% of all cancers identified among males.

Judaism, circumcision and penile cancer prevention

See also: Atheism, circumcision and penile cancer, Circumcision, and The Bible and health

The prophet Moses authored the book of Leviticus.

Max Neuberger, writing in his "History of Medicine" states concerning the Mosaic laws:

“

The commands concern prophylaxis and suppression of epidemics, suppression of venereal disease and prostitution, care of the skin, baths, food, housing and clothing, regulation of labour, sexual life, discipline of the people, etc. Many of these commands, such as Sabbath rest, circumcision, laws concerning food (interdiction of blood and pork), measures concerning menstruating and lying-in women, and those suffering from gonorrhoea, isolation of lepers, and hygiene of the camp, are, in view of the conditions of the climate, surprisingly rational.

”

According to the American Cancer Society:

“

Circumcision removes all (or part) of the foreskin. This procedure is most often done in infants, but it can be done later in life, too. Men who were circumcised as children may have a much lower chance of getting penile cancer than those who were not. In fact, some experts say that circumcision as an infant prevents this cancer. The same protective effect is not seen if circumcision is done as an adult. The reason for the lower risk in circumcised men is not entirely clear, but it may be related to other known risk factors. For example, men who are circumcised can’t develop the condition called phimosis, and they don’t accumulate material known as smegma (see the next section). Men with smegma or phimosis have an increased risk of penile cancer. The later a man is circumcised, it's more likely that one of these conditions will occur first. In weighing the risks and benefits of circumcision, doctors consider the fact that penile cancer is very uncommon in the United States, even in uncircumcised men. Although the American Academy of Pediatrics has stated that the health benefits of circumcision in newborn males outweigh the risks, it also states these benefits are not great enough to recommend that all newborns be routinely circumcised. In the end, decisions about circumcision are highly personal and often depend more on social and religious factors than on medical evidence.

”

Religious antisemitism in the Soviet Union

Contrary to fantasies surrounding the Judeo-Bolshevism myth, the Soviet Union viciously persecuted religious Jews. According to Ruth R. Wisse:

“	Regarding Jews and Judaism, Soviet Communism forbade the practice of religion and the study of Hebrew. The Jewish section of the Communist Party took the lead in persecuting rabbis and teachers, killing some, sending others to certain death. The Soviets hailed the 1929 Arab massacres of Jews in Palestine as the start of the Arab Communist Revolution and formulated the slogans of anti-Zionism that are the basis of anti-Semitism in America today. Soviet propaganda accused Jews of imperialism in the 1930s and (with the Arabs) of racism in the 1970s. It lured Jews with false promises to an outpost in Birobidzan and demonized the Jewish yishuv in the Land of Israel. The Soviets used the Jewish anti-Fascist Committee to win American support during the Second World War and then executed its leadership in 1952. Might Gornick say that in these ways Communism prodded Jews into becoming the righteous people they always aspired to be?	”
—Tablet Magazine, October 22, 2017

Jews under Soviet rule were divided between devoutly religious groups and those willing to abandon their faith for atheistic Communist sympathies. During the Russian Civil War, the White Army, consisting of right-wing monarchist factions, perpetrated anti-Jewish pogroms which were, at the time, denounced by Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin. However, when Communism was instituted, religious Jews were frequently scapegoated and targeted for abuse. Often times, secular Jews with Communist sympathies persecuted religious Jews.

According to Rabbi Bronstein, who testified in the hearings of the House Un-American Activities Committee in June 1968:

“	My first visit to western Poland was in 1958. At that time, Dr. Michael D. Tress, the executive vice president of Agudath Israel in America returned from a short visit in Poland. He found out that 20,000 former Polish citizens who had been repatriated from the Soviet Union back to Poland on their way to Israel, not to remain in Poland, and and begged him to see to it that a rabbi should come to Poland to circumcise the adult boys who had no opportunity to be circumcised in Russia since the Soviet Union forbids circumcision.	”
—Hearings of the House Committee on Un-American Activities, June 19, 1968

See also

• Atheism and penile cancer