The Executive Director of Doctors Opposing Circumcision, John V. Geisheker, offers this personal remembrance of Dr. Mark D. Reiss, a long-time D.O.C. Vice President, who passed recently at age 92, in San Francisco:
Dr. Mark was an ‘early-adopter’ (1996) of D.O.C., who added a vital and unique asset to our efforts. Mark was an observant Jew who believed it did not take circumcision to make one devout. Mark and I had many nuanced and often spirited conversations about how to advise parents who were hesitant about this ritual but wanted to honor their heritage respectfully.
Mark helped D.O.C. maintain our main focus on ‘medicalized’ circumcision, while he deftly encouraged a kindly, understanding, peaceful alternative to the ritual version of his own faith: Brit Shalom. His life-long concern for children, his valuable contribution to our efforts, and his decades long generosity to D.O.C., will be long remembered. Rest in Peace, Dr. Mark.