New York – At Hearing Rabbis Defend Controversial Circumcision Practice To City Health Officials

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    New York – At a hearing yesterday in Queens, New York City rabbis defended a controversial circumcision practice that has been blamed for infecting infants with herpes, in some cases causing their death.

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    The practice, called “metzitzah b’peh,” requires the circumciser, or mohel, to suck the infant’s wounds after circumcision, and has led to at least two cases of infant death in New York since 2000. The city wants to amend the health law to require mohels to obtain written consent from parents indicating they are fully aware of the risks involved in the ritual circumcision, or bris.

    “I myself have performed 25,000 circumcisions, and, thank God, we have not had one single incident … our guidelines are, I think, much stricter than the medical profession,” said Rabbi A. Romi Cohn, a mohel and a Holocaust survivor who represented the American Board of Ritual Circumcision at the hearing.

    But Cohn admitted that some people who are not certified according to Jewish law masquerade as mohels in order to make money, sometimes as much as $500 to $1,000 per bris.

    “This is completely forbidden, but unfortunately they are doing it,” Cohn said. “These people don’t know what sterility means. They don’t know about infection. We try to tell parents that if they choose a circumciser, he should be board-certified.”

    Mohels argued the city’s proposed changes would infringe on their religious freedom, but city health officials are pushing back.

    “The concept of informed consent puts more of the decision-making power and more of the information in the hands of the parents,” said Susan Blank, the assistant commissioner of the STD Control Program at the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

    Blank said she was confused by rabbis’ opposition, which she argued allowed them their religious freedom while simultaneously allowing parents greater control over their child’s welfare.

    “The Department has received multiple complaints from parents whose children may not have been infected who were also not aware that direct oral suction was going to be performed as part of their sons’ circumcisions,” according to a notice from the New York City Board of Health.

    The city’s interference in the ritual could lead to legal action, the mohels said.

    “Being a mohel is a religious status…I cannot follow an outside authority,” said Rabbi Levi Heber, the director of the International Bris Association.

    Heber said that if the city enacted the proposed amendment the mohels would take legal action to stop it.

    “If we feel that our religious freedom is being restricted, we have the right to challenge it in court … we are ready, if needed, to challenge this,” he said.

    The Board of Health plans to reach a decision on the proposal in September.


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    12 Comments
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    Ben_Kol
    Ben_Kol
    11 years ago

    How can anyone be opposed to this proposal, which does not infringe on anyone’s legal rights, and may save the lives of babies?

    I was always taught that saving lives (pikuach nefesh) overrides everything, even the bris itself. When did the lunatics hijack my religion?

    11 years ago

    Religious freedom doesn’t allow you to place a baby at risk and neither does the Torah!

    nat101
    Member
    nat101
    11 years ago

    It does infringe on religious freedom.
    1. This is a subtle first step. The next elected officials will go a step further…
    Look what happened in Germany where a court restricted the entire practice.

    2. Many innocent people who do not know the difference would simply opt out, upon reading the dire warning of the government. This would chas ve’sholom result in tens of thousands of children without a 100% kosher circumcision!

    3. Why, with an epidemic like AIDS where millions of people die, they don’t restrict the most common cause for it (in the name of freedom!!), and here with 2 cases in 12 years (1 is disputed) they raise such a raucous and give this so much attention? This then, IS religious persecution!

    EMESN
    EMESN
    11 years ago

    MBP is safe! It is performed thousands of times a year without incident, that is proof that it is safe. Stop with the safety frenzyd Nanni state!

    qazxc
    qazxc
    11 years ago

    Why not use a tube just to be extra careful?

    11 years ago

    Nobody is restricting anything here. All they want is to get written permission from the parents that the mohel can perform MB”P. Why are the mohalim against this??? How is this a restriction of freedom of religion??? Geb mich tzi farshtein???

    11 years ago

    Emesn, dont know your age, a lot of things WERE safe in my days, today we
    MUST, seat belt, use helmets, school buildings must have sprinkler systems, all those recalls on baby items and cars, one is considered almost at risk without a cellphone. the list is very long.
    it is amazing and really a shame from these rabbonim, who have no problem loading our communities with chumra after chumra and issuing bans on what they consider ‘no good’, with no consideration. What is being asked of them????
    something so normal!!!! no one is even touching their religious freedom!!!!

    11 years ago

    reply to shlomogabai,
    the religious society at large is being ruled by rabbonim who make decisions on issues that don’t apply directly to them anymore.
    Please ask every young father and mother, those who are having families and are yet to make simchas, we are VERY concerned. The very thought of precaution being eliminated does not sit well with us, and it is not even being considered by these older rabbonim. We never heard anything normal from them regarding the bris issue, sorry. “Religious Freedom” is so WOW! ARE THEY FOR REAL!
    May I add, the same applies to Chinuch, these very same rabbonim, who at this point in their life are not dealing with kids or teenagers, are passing society rules and obligations they will never have to abide by.
    TIME TO GET REAL!

    ChaimAharon
    ChaimAharon
    11 years ago

    It has never been shown that the probability of getting infected by MBP is more than getting infected by other means (as in the last “case” when the baby was infected by his brother’s pacifier and not by MBP). While nothing is 100% safe, MBP has been (highly) relatively safe for thousands of years and continues to be, until someone proves otherwise.
    This looks to me to be similar to the german court criminalizing bris. It’s a 1st step into interfering with Jewish practices.
    If non-religious Jews are required to sign the MBP “awareness” form (even though the risk is much much less than other risks that they are NOT made aware of), it might scare them away from doing the bris altogether. Perhaps this is what the MBP-hysterics is about?