The Bris
as told by Alan Dershowitz
in The
Vanishing American Jew
For those who believe that the birth of a son is the most
joyous event, the ceremony honoring it has a good news-bad
news quality, at least for the boy.
A week after the birth, the boy is given a party, with herring,
wine, cake.
Then suddenly comes the bad news, as he realizes the purpose of
the party!
Maybe that's why Jews have traditionally had such an aversion to
alcohol. But it doesn't explain our attraction to cake!