It took Senator David Strobin’s challenge to Simcha Felder to finally have him come out against the Mayor’s proposal to require parents to sign a consent form when a mohel engages in the religious tradition of metzizah b’peh during a Bris Milah.
Felder was the last public official in Brooklyn’s Orthodox community to come out against the proposal. Assemblyman Dov Hikind and Councilman David Greenfield were the first to publicly oppose the proposal. Senator David Storobin soon followed suit and publicly challenged Felder, who is running against Storobin for State Senate, to take the same position.
Sources tell YWN that Felder was reluctant to weigh in on the matter but did not want it to become a campaign issue that would be used against him. Regardless, Felder took on the Mayor in serious fashion on Dov Hikind’s radio program Saturday night. The former Councilman Felder all but called Mayor Bloomberg a liar. Felder explained that he had arranged for a meeting six years ago that was attended by several prominent rabbonim where the Mayor promised not to get involved in metzizah b’peh stating “as long as I am in office there won’t be a problem”.
Felder went on to slam the Mayor for his timing proclaiming that it was “beyond chutzpah” for the Mayor to introduce this regulation on the Wednesday before Rosh Hashanah. Felder also seemed to encourage parents to ignore the law saying “they can’t enforce this, what are they going to do lock up people?”
Finally Felder concluded his remarks on metzizah b’peh by saying that the mayor’s obsession with Metzizah B’peh was “crazy” and that Felder would do everything in his power to “avert this terrible terrible decree.” Felder made a point of saying that he was working behind the scenes on the issue but would not say what exactly he was doing to stop Metzizah B’peh beyond slamming the mayor on Dov Hikind’s radio program.
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(Dov Gordon – YWN)
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6 Responses
What’s the big tumult? Just have the parents sign the consent – no??
Yeah, actually, they will throw the MOHELIM in jail. All it takes is one case of a baby with a herpes infection where there is no record of a consent form being signed. Or one mohel who is found out to be doing MBP without consent records.
Finally Felder came out with a vague rejection of the Mayor’s plan. Leading from behind, they call that. Here is the Audio of Felder on the Hikind radio show. Judge for yourself, how eager Fedler felt to address the issue: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VqEmIr6nmg
What a slanted headline! Just goes to show how little you know about what’s going on with the MBP issue. Simcha has been working on this issue way before Storobin knew his Metzitza B’Peh from his Metzitza B’Yad! Simcha, unlike Storobin who thinks we’re all a bunch of fools by declaring “MBP is not political” then goes and puts out a press release, is a true ben Torah and leader who knows that some things need to be done behind the scenes in order to get results. And who are your “sources?” anyway? Storobin goons? By the way, how much did Storobin pay you for your misleading article?
The DOH regulation on MBP (and it isn’t even a law) is completely and entirely unenforceable:
1. It isn’t even a law. It is just a regulation passed by the local directors of the city health board. Even if it is violated, it is not breaking the law. It will result in getting a “ticket” with a monetary fine. (Like a parking ticket.)
2. It is illegal as it is unconstitutional. The government is constitutionally prohibited from regulating a religious practice.
3. It is unenforceable. The government cannot place department of health inspectors in synagogues to observe if the mohel performs MBP or not. At most, they need to ask the parents or mohel. And they probably won’t even know who the mohel was. And even if they ask, neither the parent nor the mohel have to answer or even talk to the DOH or any government officials. It is called the Fifth Amendment.
Felder needed Senator Storobin to wake him up! Lets get a leader not a follower.
If Felder was really the best candidate for the Orthodox community, he would not have tried so hard to get Storobin off of the ballot. http://www.cityandstateny.com/felders-attempt-kick-storobin-ballot-cheap/