3. Body in Hebraism

Source n 1
Leviticus 11, 44-45 For I am the Lord your God, and you shall sanctify yourselves and be holy, because I am holy, and you shall not defile yourselves through any creeping creature that crawls on the ground. For I am the Lord Who has brought you up from the land of Egypt to be your God. Thus, you shall be holy, because I am holy.
Leviticus 19, 1-2 1 The LORD said to Moses: 2 Speak to the whole Israelite community and tell them: Be holy, for I, the LORD your God, am holy. 19, 27-28 Do not cut the hair at the sides of your head or clip off the edges of your beard. 28 Do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the Lord. (Bible, New International Version)

Leviticus is a book of the Hebrew Bible characterized by its instructions on ritual, moral and legal practices. It describes rituals and laws to avoid sin and impurity whenever possible. Some of that law concerns body care

Bible, New International Version, NIV® The NIV®, TNIV®, NIrV® may be quoted in any form (written, visual, electronic or audio) up to and inclusive of five hundred (500) verses without the express written permission of the publisher, providing the verses quoted do not amount to a complete book of the Bible nor do the verses quoted account for more than 25 percent (25%) or more of the total text of the work in which they are quoted.
URL http://www.biblica.com/en-us/about-us/terms-of-use/(03/09/2014)

Source n 2

Photo of a modern orthodox bath Mikvah

The picture shows a modern Mikvah, a bath used by conservative Jewish Communities for ritual immersion.
Photo of a modern Orthodox bath Mikvah (Creative Commons License)

Source n 3

Record of a circumcision ceremony in US nowadays.

“On a Tuesday morning in the Abrams' home in downtown Chicago, the father of the newborn nervously moves around the living room greeting his parents and in-laws, his sister, his wife’s siblings and the small group of close friends who have gathered. As the group settles down and takes seats, the baby’s mother begins the ceremony by lighting candles. When the baby’s aunt brings the son into the room on a pillow, the small congregation rises. They stand while the mohel, a man in his sixties who has been a member of the family’s congregation for many years, explains the meaning of the Jewish covenant with God and gives a brief description of what is about to happen. Then the baby is placed in the arms of an uncle who sits with him on Elijah’s chair, symbolizing the aspiration and prayer that he will grow up in a world of peace and righteousness. Finally, the little boy is given to the sondek, or the man who has the honor of holding the baby while the mohel says a blessing and performs the circumcision. In this ceremony, one of the grandfathers has been given the honor. After the circumcision, the baby formally receives his Jewish name. The gathered family and friends adjourn to the dining room where a kosher brunch is laid out, a joyous feast ending with a special grace recited for the brit milah.
In America today, similar naming ceremonies for baby girls are becoming increasingly popular. Traditionally, girls would be named and presented in the synagogue thirty days after birth, but today many communities observe a ceremony marking entry into the covenant eight days after birth. Except for the circumcision, it is similar to the brit milah and is called brit ha-hayim, or “the covenant of life,” in the Reform tradition. Even Orthodox Jews have today developed similar celebrations, but as Orthodox writer Blu Greenberg summarized in How to Run an Orthodox Jewish Household: “The ceremony is so new that there is no standard procedure, not even a single name by which it goes. Simchat Habat, ‘the rejoicing of the daughter,’ is most widely used.”

The text records a circumcision ceremony which took place nowadays in New York.

Text, Record of a circumcision ceremony in US nowadays, produced by “Pluralism Project” Harvard University .
http://pluralism.org/religion/judaism/experience/brit-milah

Courtesy of “Pluralism Project”, Harvard University.