New York’s Board of Health usually deals with topics like lead paint and tuberculosis, but this week is expected to draw heated arguments on the possibility of babies contracting herpes through a circumcision ritual.
On Monday, the 11-member panel is set to hear public comments on a proposal to require parental consent for circumcisions practiced by ultra-Orthodox Jews in which the mohel, or religious leader, sucks blood from the baby’s wound.
A Department of Health study found that this practice, called metzitzah b’peh, increases the risk of a herpes infection, which can be fatal for infants.
“We are fully convinced that it presents no danger,” said Rabbi David Niederman, a spokesman for the Central Rabbinical Congress of the USA and Canada, a group based in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
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Acoording to the Midrash that Avrohom did MBP on himself via a Neis that his neck streched like the arm of Baas Pharoh, and that Yosef forced the Mitzriyim who wanted food to do Milah with MBP, and the same thing with Shimon V’leivi when they forced the people of Shchem to do MBP. These seem to indicate that MBP is done even on adults. So, why do we Pasken today to do MBP only on babies? Since it’s an integrel part of the Mitzvah, how can we omit it?
The anti-Semites are on the loose. Here, in NY, they are after Bris Milah. In Europe, they are after both Bris Milah and Shechita.
There is absolutely no credible evidence of injury to a baby due to Bris Milah and Metzitza. This is a blood libel.
Contrast all this sudden interest in Jewish ritual practice with the overwhelming silence on the subject of vaccine injuries.
The numberer of mandated vaccines have have triple in the last few years, but there have been no safety studies on this explosion of aluminum-laden vaccines injected into our children.
I can’t recall any meetings at the NYC Board of health to investigate the safety of the DPT and MMR combo vaccines, which have rersulted in over a billion dollars of money awards from the Vaccine Court, because of serios vaccine injuries.
The Board of health seems to be more concerned with politics than health.
Where do such midrashim exist?
I wouldn’t go to the DOH with the argument that vaccines cause more problems. That is silly.
Vaccines are perhaps the most wonderful and amazing mattanah the Ribbono shel Olam has given mankind since the Torah itself. One provides for the neshamah and the other for the guf.
Instead of arguing that MBP “absolutely” causes no problems – we should be open to investigating. If it does, then that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t do it. It just means that now we have to ask a different shaylah.
Arguing that there is “absolutely no proof” is silly. There is a lot of circumstantial evidence – which admittedly is not enough to prove something either way. We should be interested in finding out though and not sticking our heads in the sand.
We need to find out and then ask the appropriate shaylah – not deny the possibility, as remote as it might seem.
Resolving cognitive dissonance (a) by denying the possibility of the offending fact, and (b) by attacking the motives of the messenger, are practices shared by, among others, Communist and Iranian governments, Islamist extremists, Evangelical Christians, Obama “birther” nuts, those who deny global warming, and a whole slew of you on YWN on the issue of MBP. Yasher Koach.
If I remember correctly, there was also a metzitza b’peh outcry around the time of the last siyum hashas. Coincidence? Correlation? Who knows.
@DeepThinker:
“There is absolutely no credible evidence of injury to a baby due to Bris Milah and Metzitza. This is a blood libel.”
There is also absolutely no credible evidence of injury to anyone due to vaccinations.
(I agree with your MBP point, though.)
I have asked this many times: Why can’t the mohelim get tested and if they carry the HSV then they shouldn’t do MBP
It is entirely appropriate for this issue to be fully debated and both sides given the opportunity to prove their point. If there is any demonstrated increased risk to the baby from this procedure, at a minimum, they should require the Mohel to be tested periodically for Herpes and the results of the test posted so the tzibur would know before retaining that Mohel for milah.
With all the shouting on the issue of MBP, something to keep in mind that all of this publicity has driven some of our less Torah-centered brethren away from milah. I have heard (no hard numbers) that those mohelim who deal with the less frum world are seeing a steep decrease in demand. The fact that milah was one of the few mitzvot we shared is something to keep in mind at this time of year.
Now, they are either not doing milah or having it done medically (not k’halacha)
This is a problem.