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|last=Katz
|first=Jacob
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'''Metzitzah b'peh''' is the third part of the Jewish ritual circumcision procedure. It is a very dangerous Jewish practice that puts the health of the infant boy at risk from [[infection]]. [[L. Emmett Holt| Holt ]] (1913) reported tubercular ''mohelim'' were infecting infant boys with tuberculosis.<ref name="holt2013">{{REFjournal
|last=Holt
|first=L. Emmett
}}</ref> In more recent times, boys have been infected with ''herpes'' and some have died.
There is no Biblical support for this portion of the [[Jewish]] circumcision ritual.
==Discussion==
{{WikipediaQuote
|URL=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brit_milah#Metzitzah_B'Peh_(oral_suction)
|date=2005-12-23
|publisher=The Jewish Week
}}</ref>—has — has become controversial. The process has the ''[[mohel]]'' place his mouth directly on the circumcision wound to draw blood away from the cut. The majority of Jewish circumcision ceremonies do not use ''metzitzah b'peh'',<ref>{{REFnews
|title=N.Y. newborn contracts herpes from controversial circumcision rite
|publisher=Jewish Telegraphic Agency
|issn=1098-4275
|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060723081226/http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/reprint/114/2/e259.pdf
}}</ref><refname="blau2020>{{REFnews|last=Blau |first=Reuven |init= |author-link=
|title=Another Jewish baby has contracted herpes through bris
|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208042913/http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/jewish-baby-contracted-herpes-bris-article-1.2055911
|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061120073118/http://www.thejewishweek.com/top/editletcontent.php3?artid=4591
}}</ref> along with letters from Dr. Wertheimer, the chief doctor of the Viennese General Hospital. It relates the story that a ''mohel'' (who was suspected of transmitting [[herpes]] via metzizah to infants) was checked several times and never found to have signs of the disease and that a ban was requested because of the "possibility of future infections".<ref>{{REFbook
|last=Katz
|first=Jacob
|init=J
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-vbWAAAAMAAJ&q=divine+law+in+human+hands
|title=Divine Law in Human Hands
|isbn=978-9652239808
|date=1998
}}</ref> [[Moshe Schick]] (1807–1879), a student of Moses Sofer, states in his book of Responsa, ''She’eilos u’teshuvos Maharam Schick'' (Orach Chaim 152,) that Moses Sofer gave the ruling in that specific instance only because the ''mohel'' refused to step down and had secular Government connections that prevented his removal in favor of another ''mohel'' and the Heter may not be applied elsewhere. He also states (''Yoreh Deah'' 244) that the practice is possibly a Sinaitic tradition, i.e., [[Halacha l'Moshe m'Sinai]]. Other sources contradict this claim, with copies of Moses Sofer's responsa making no mention of the legal case or of his ruling applying in only one situation. Rather, that responsa makes quite clear that "metzizah" was a health measure and should never be employed where there is a health risk to the infant.<ref>{{REFweb
|issue=3
|pages=266–67
|pubmedCID=10749479
|DOI=10.1097/00006454-200003000-00025
|doi=
|accessdate=2023-08-29
}}
}}</ref><ref>{{REFjournal
|last=Distel
|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121021093342/http://www.ima.org.il/imaj/ar03dec-14.pdf
|format=PDF
|pubmedID=14689764
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=
|doi=
|accessdate=2023-08-29
}}
}}</ref> Researchers noted that prior to 1997, neonatal ''[[herpes]]'' reports in Israel were rare, and that the late incidences were correlated with the mothers carrying the virus themselves.<ref name="Gesundheit"/> Rabbi Doctor [[Mordechai Halperin]] implicates the "better hygiene and living conditions that prevail among the younger generation", which lowered to 60% the rate of young Israeli Chareidi mothers who carry the virus. He explains that an "absence of antibodies in the mothers’ blood means that their newborn sons received no such antibodies through the placenta, and therefore are vulnerable to infection by HSV-1."<ref name="Halperin">{{REFjournal
|last=Halperin
}}</ref>
</blockquote>
Metzitzah b'peh is practiced mostly by Orthodox Jews.
==Recent events==
* 2020: Four New York baby boys have contracted [[herpes]] from the [[mohel]] in six months.<refname="oster2012">{{REFnews
|title=4 NY babies get herpes from Jewish circumcision rite in past 6 months
|url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/4-ny-babies-get-herpes-from-jewish-circumcision-rite-in-past-6-months
|accessdate=2020-04-12
}}</ref>
==Video==<br><youtube>dZy5lbWb9Xg</youtube><br><youtube>v=b29iTcX-yt4</youtube>
{{SEEALSO}}
* [[Brit Milah]]
* [[Judaism]]
* [[Mohel]]
* [[Penile herpes simplex virus type 1 infection (after Jewish ritual circumcision)]]* [[Periah]]
{{REF}}
[[Category:Jewish]]
[[Category:Judaism]]
[[Category:Religion]]
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