The
Midrash of
Ki-Tetze () claims that
Moses was born aposthic. Other sources that
Jacob, his son
Gad and King
David were also born aposthic. The book Abot De-Rabbi Natan (The Fathers According to Rabbi Nathan) contains a list of persons from the Israelite Scriptures that were "born circumcised": Adam, Seth, Noah, Shem, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, the wicked Balaam, Samuel, David, Jeremiah and Zerubbabel.
Jewish law requires males born without a foreskin or who lost their foreskin through means other than a formal
circumcision ceremony (
brit milah, ) to have a drop of blood (
hatafat-dam, ) let from the
penis at the point where the foreskin would have been (or was) attached. The
Talmud (Shabbat 135A) records a discussion of whether the importance of this letting of blood supersedes
Shabbat, on which only a boy who was born the previous Shabbat can be circumcised. If a regular circumcision is delayed, there is no disagreement that this may not be performed on Shabbat. However, in the case of aposthia, there are two schools of thought. R. Elazar Hakappar said that the school of
Shamai and
Hillel do not differ as to a boy that is born without a foreskin. Both agree that the blood of the covenant must be drawn from the glans. The school of Shamai, however, contends that this may be done on the Sabbath, while the other holds that the Sabbath must not be desecrated on that account.
David Levy, former
Israeli Foreign Minister and member of
Knesset, was born aposthic.
Arye Avneri's authorized 1983 biography of Levy notes this: The rabbis in Rabat proclaimed that this foretold that Levy would grow up to be a "leader of Israel", even though the State was not founded until Levy was 11, in 1948. This proclamation was not necessarily prophetic of the founding of Israel, for "Israel" is a term that can be used to refer to "the Jewish people". ==Aposthia in literature==