Jewish circumcision: Difference between revisions

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}}</ref> so a modified version of metzitzah b'peh has been introduced, where mohels suck blood through a glass tube, in order to avoid direct contact with the penis.

In 2005, [http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/26/nyregion/26circumcise.html?_r=2 a mohel in New York] was found to have infected three newborns with herpes via metzitzah b'peh, one of whom subsequently died. The Health Commissioner of the day, Thomas R. Frieden, basically pardoned Yitzchok Fischer, the mohel in question, and no further action was to be done regarding getting Orthodox leaders to abandon metzitzah b'peh. Frieden's open letter to the Jewish community can be read [http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/downloads/pdf/std/std-bris-commishletter.pdf here].

In 2005, [http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/26/nyregion/26circumcise.html?_r=2 a mohel in New York] was found to have infected three newborns with [[herpes]] via [[metzitzah b'peh]], one of whom subsequently died. The Health Commissioner of the day, Thomas R. Frieden, basically pardoned Yitzchok Fischer, the mohel in question, and no further action was to be done regarding getting Orthodox leaders to abandon metzitzah b'peh. Frieden's open letter to the Jewish community can be read [http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/downloads/pdf/std/std-bris-commishletter.pdf here].

Defenders of metzitzah b'peh say that there is no proof that it spreads disease at all. In Rockland County, where Fischer lives in the Hasidic community of Monsey, he had been barred from performing oral suction, but the state health department retracted a request it had made to him to stop the practice. And in New Jersey, where he has done some of his 12,000 circumcisions, health authorities have been silent.

According to the Fischer's lawyer, there was no "conclusive proof" that he had spread herpes, and that he should be allowed to continue the practice. According to the mohel, the twin who died and the Staten Island boy both had herpes-like rashes before they were circumcised and were seen by a pediatrician who approved their circumcision (Fischer knew there was a problem and yet he continued?).

According to the Fischer's lawyer, there was no "conclusive proof" that he had spread [[herpes]], and that he should be allowed to continue the practice. According to the mohel, the twin who died and the Staten Island boy both had [[herpes]]-like rashes before they were circumcised and were seen by a pediatrician who approved their circumcision (Fischer knew there was a problem and yet he continued?).

== How Jewish and non-Jewish circumcision differ ==

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 }}</ref> so a modified version of metzitzah b'peh has been introduced, where mohels suck blood through a glass tube, in order to avoid direct contact with the penis.
-In 2005, [http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/26/nyregion/26circumcise.html?_r=2 a mohel in New York] was found to have infected three newborns with herpes via metzitzah b'peh, one of whom subsequently died. The Health Commissioner of the day, Thomas R. Frieden, basically pardoned Yitzchok Fischer, the mohel in question, and no further action was to be done regarding getting Orthodox leaders to abandon metzitzah b'peh. Frieden's open letter to the Jewish community can be read [http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/downloads/pdf/std/std-bris-commishletter.pdf here].
+In 2005, [http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/26/nyregion/26circumcise.html?_r=2 a mohel in New York] was found to have infected three newborns with [[herpes]] via [[metzitzah b'peh]], one of whom subsequently died. The Health Commissioner of the day, Thomas R. Frieden, basically pardoned Yitzchok Fischer, the mohel in question, and no further action was to be done regarding getting Orthodox leaders to abandon metzitzah b'peh. Frieden's open letter to the Jewish community can be read [http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/downloads/pdf/std/std-bris-commishletter.pdf here].
 Defenders of metzitzah b'peh say that there is no proof that it spreads disease at all. In Rockland County, where Fischer lives in the Hasidic community of Monsey, he had been barred from performing oral suction, but the state health department retracted a request it had made to him to stop the practice. And in New Jersey, where he has done some of his 12,000 circumcisions, health authorities have been silent.
-According to the Fischer's lawyer, there was no "conclusive proof" that he had spread herpes, and that he should be allowed to continue the practice. According to the mohel, the twin who died and the Staten Island boy both had herpes-like rashes before they were circumcised and were seen by a pediatrician who approved their circumcision (Fischer knew there was a problem and yet he continued?).
+According to the Fischer's lawyer, there was no "conclusive proof" that he had spread [[herpes]], and that he should be allowed to continue the practice. According to the mohel, the twin who died and the Staten Island boy both had [[herpes]]-like rashes before they were circumcised and were seen by a pediatrician who approved their circumcision (Fischer knew there was a problem and yet he continued?).
 == How Jewish and non-Jewish circumcision differ ==