'Jews survived thanks to brit milah, Niddah'

Anthropologist Melvin Konner views male circumcision, family purity as two mitzvot which can explain Jewish people's survival to this day. And yes, it has to do with Darwin's theory

Tzofia Hirschfeld

The history of the world is filled with empires that controlled the world, but the Jewish people were never one of those. Jews have always been a minority, and for long periods of time – a persecuted minority.

Seemingly, in light of the wars, exiles and destruction, the Jewish people should have disappeared by now – but they haven't. How did Jews survive?

Anthropologist Melvin Konner of Emory University, Atlanta, attributes the Jewish people's survival to their devotion to some of the mitzvot of the Torah, which he says were specifically suited to guarantee the continued existence of the children of Abraham.

 According to Prof. Konner, circumcision and practicing family purity (Niddah) are mitzvot which allowed and encouraged the birth of a greater number of offspring, contributing to the people's continued existence.

He adds that the model of prolific mothers matches Darwin's Natural Selection theory, according to which many offspring improve the chances of survival. In other words, "be fruitful and multiply" is a winning formula.

   Relevant mitzvotKonner presented his theory last week at the conference on "Judaism in Evolutionary Perspective" at the Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem.

"The existence of the Jewish people throughout history, in light of the exiles and persecution, is a real challenge," says Konner. "Religious people see this as divine intervention.

"There is no doubt that their commitment to religious texts helped, but if we look