Covenant of Blood: Circumcision and Gender in Rabbinic Judaism

1. Circumcision as symbol in the Jewish psyche -- 2. Bible and birth : some priestly public meanings -- 3. Interlude from priests to rabbis : origins of a liturgy -- 4. Reconstructing the rite -- 5. Reconstructing the rabbinic meaning system -- 6. Wine, blood, and salvation in Rabbinic Judaism -- 7. Blood, salvation, works, and faith : circumcision in early Judaism and Christianity -- 8. Gender opposition in Rabbinic Judaism : free-flowing blood in a culture of control -- 9. Control and transformation : "The raw and the cooked" in Rabbinic culture -- 10. Women's spirituality and the presence of mothers in Rabbinic ritual -- 11. Medieval Rabbinism and the ritual marginalization of women -- Afterword: Brit or Milah? : circumcision in American culture -- Notes -- Index.