17,067
edits
Changes
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Add Risks and REF sections.
<blockquote>
The '''''brit milah''''' (Hebrew: בְּרִית מִילָה; Ashkenazi pronunciation: bʁis ˈmilə, "covenant of [[circumcision]]"; Yiddish pronunciation: ''bris'' (bʀɪs)) is a Jewish religious male [[circumcision ceremony]] performed by a ''[[mohel]]'' on the eighth day of a male infant's life. The ''brit milah'' is followed by a celebratory meal.
</blockquote>
==Risks==
Medical science has identified several risks associated with Brit Milah.
Professor [[L. Emmett Holt]] (1913) reported 41 cases of tuberculosis in ritually circumcised boys who had been infected by tubercular [[Mohel| mohels]], of whom 16 had died at the time of writing.<ref>{{REFjournal
|last=Holt
|init=LE
|author-link=
|url=http://www.cirp.org/library/complications/holt1/
|title=Tuberculosis acquired through ritual circumcision
|journal=JAMA
|date=1913
|volume=LXI
|issue=2
|pages=99-102
|accessdate=2022-1-8
}}</ref>
More recently, cases of infection of baby boys with herpes simplex have been reported. One death and brain damage in another has occurred.<ref name="frieden2005">{{REFdocument
|title=An open letter to the Jewish Community from the New York City Health Commissioner
|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061214110055/http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/downloads/pdf/std/std-bris-commishletter.pdf
|contribution=
|last=Frieden
|first=Thomas
|publisher=City of New York
|format=PDF
|date=2005-12-13
|accessdate=2022-01-09
}}</ref>
Brit Milah is a cause of [[urinary tract infection]] (UTI).<ref name="smith1916">{{REFjournal
|last=Smith
|init=RM
|url=http://www.cirp.org/library/disease/UTI/smith1916/
|title=Recent contributions to the study of pyelitis in infancy
|journal=Am J Dis Child
|date=1916
|volume=XII
|pages=235.243
}}</ref><ref name="Cohen 1992">{{REFjournal
|last=Cohen
|init=H
|etal=yes
|url=http://www.cirp.org/library/disease/UTI/cohen/
|title=Postcircumcision Urinary Tract Infection
|journal=Clinical Pediatrics
|date=1992
|pages=322-324
}}</ref><ref name="Goldman 1996">{{REFjournal
|last=Goldman
|init=M
|last2=Barr
|init2=J
|last3=Bistritzer
|init3=T
|last4=Aladjem
|init4=M
|url=http://www.cirp.org/library/disease/UTI/goldman/
|title=Urinary tract infection following ritual jewish circumcision
|journal=Israel Journal of Medical Sciences
|date=1996
|volume=32
|issue=11
|pages=1098-1102
}}</ref><ref>{{REFjournal
|last=Prais
|init=D
|last2=Shoov-Furman
|init2=R
|last3=Amir
|init3=J
|title=Is circumcision a risk factor for neonatal urinary tract infections?
|journal=Arch Dis Child
|date=2008-10-06
|DOI=10.1136/adc.2008.144063
|url=http://adc.bmj.com/cgi/content/abstract/adc.2008.144063v1
}}</ref>
{{SEEALSO}}
* [[Abrahamic covenant]]
* [[Brit Shalom]]
{{REF}}
[[Category:Circumcision term]]