French President Sarkozy’s grandson undergoes bris

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Paris - French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s first grandson was circumcised according to Jewish tradition.

Sarkozy’s grandson, Solal, was circumcised in a Jewish ceremony by a mohel, said the president's friend Patrick Balkany on French Radio J Sunday, according to AFP.

“I confirm it,” said Balkany, who was present at the bris for Solal, the son of Jean Sarkozy and Jessica Sebaoun, born Jan. 13.

Balkany said Jessica Sebaoun is “a very observant Sephardic” Jew, and the French president, “sees no problem with that.”

“It happened like all circumcisions, with a rabbi and a mohel,” said Balkany, who is also mayor of Levallois-Perret, a town northwest of Paris.

Sarkozy did not attend the bris, apparently because of work-related obligations, but Balkany said the president’s entire family was present, including Sarkozy’s mother, father and brother.

Balkany, who also has Jewish roots, said that when he first met Sarkozy over 20 years ago, one of their first conversations was about their shared “Jewish origins.”

Sarkozy has a “Catholic family, a Jewish grandfather, and evidently he was marked by that double culture,” said Balkany.

JTA

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