Posted on 03/06/2012 2:57:58 PM PST by James C. Bennett
A two-week-old infant died at a Brooklyn hospital in September after contracting herpes through a controversial religious circumcision ritual, the New York Daily News reported.
As part of the ultra-orthodox Jewish circumcision ritual—known as metzitzah b’peh—the rabbi or mohel removes blood from the wound with his mouth.
The brit milah (pronounced bris), otherwise known as circumcision, is a rite of passage in the Jewish faith, though different groups follow different sets of procedures. The Rabbinical Council of America endorses the practice of using a sterile glass tube between the mohel’s mouth and the baby’s wound for the more orthodox metzitzah b’peh procedure. For less conservative Jews, the baby’s skin only comes into contact with surgical tools.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Two-week-old baby who died of herpes 'contracted disease through circumcision'
By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
Last updated at 5:20 AM on 4th March 2012
EXCERPT:
The latest casualty of the tradition was the unidentified boy who died at Maimonides Hospital in Brooklyn, New York in September, according to the Daily News.
His official cause of death was 'disseminated herpes simplex virus Type 1, complicating ritual circumcision with oral suction'.
The identity of the mohel - a religious official who specialises in circumcisions - is unknown.
This is not the first time that an infant has died as a result of the ultra-Orthodox ritual of metzizah b' peh, which is the practice of using the mouth to remove blood. A baby boy died in New York in 2004 after undergoing the ceremony.
Health experts have criticised the ritual on the ground that it involves 'inherent risks' to infants' health. However, the practice seems to have originated as a way of avoiding infection by cleaning the open wound.
“the rabbi or mohel removes blood from the wound with his mouth.”
I wonder if the rabbi will get charged with sexually molesting a child.
Sad. But I suspect that there is a touch of antisemitism behind this story. There seems to be a growing movement on the left to abolish the practice of circumcision entirely, as we saw recently in San Francisco.
One case after eight years in NYC, with its numerous hospitals. How many other people have died in those hospitals from accidental infections? And are they sure this was the cause of the infection?
If so, then I hope they will deal with the problem sensibly.
Sad. RIP.
It sure sounds like they don’t take mohels with herpes or other contagious diseases out of this kind of service. Catching the germs from an infant might be one thing, but giving it to one is another.
If this is ginned up by anti’s, it would seem they targeted the subgroup that does the suction directly by mouth without even the recommended sterile glass tubing. That was a disaster waiting to happen with or without the anti’s.
That is one truly bizarre ritual. I was raised a Baptist and have seen more than my share of those, as well as endured countless hours of indoctrination I wish I had back, but that one is the grand prize winner.
And this is news why?
Mistakes do happen. And we can do very best that we can do...but still have bad outcomes.
FWIW-
No, this was traditionally the way cricumcision was done and there’s nothing anti-semitic about it. Contact with blood was considered a contamination, making one ritually impure, so only designated people could do this. While non-orthodox mohels generally don’t do it that way now, this is simply because of Western distaste for the idea.
One of the problems with the ultra-orthodox is that, like Muslims, they live two lives. One life theoretically conforms to an enormously complicated ritual code, and the other is basically what they give themselves excuses to do “off the books.”
A member of this community was recently nabbed in NYC for killing his wife, which he thought he’d get away with because the ultra-orthodox don’t allow autopsies. She was found dead in the bathroom...but it turned out, when her family learned that he had taken out a huge insurance policy on her and they then requested an autopsy, that she’d been strangled.
Evil is everywhere. Orthodox Jews can be infected with it just as easily as anybody else, and if the mohel had herpes, I’d say there was a problem there.
Judaism has abandoned scripture for tradition which leads to abominations like this. Jews, especially their leaders, are supposed to know the difference between clean and unclean —holy and common. They obsess over whether it is OK to turn on a light on the Sabbath, while remaining in the dark always when it comes to the meaning of scriptures. Many keep separate dishes for meat and milk and never let them be together in the same meal, just to keep tradition. But they can’t, as a group, seem to separate truth from error when it comes to politics and morality.
Of course I am speaking generally, not about every Jew.
This practice is weirdo horse manure. It needs to end.
Personally, I think followers of a religion older than mine can go ahead and do what they want, whether I agree with it or not. It's not for me to say. Or for anyone to say.
Per Wikipedia, “The traditional reason for this procedure is to minimize the potential for postoperative complications”.
If its not commanded, then just do a non-oral circumcision. This is creepy, but I’d rather have orthodox Jews here than a muzzie within 10,000 miles of me.
I am battling a staph infection I contracted over 2 years ago when my mother was a patient at one of the top teaching hospitals in the US. Hospitals are dirty places.
Septic infection. My money is on MSRA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus).
I think this mouth thing is barbaric and should be halted. It is not a necessary Jewish custom. Only a tiny group still do this.
My favorite orthodox rabbis bring the dichotomy up all the time. Ultra orthodox sometimes their priorities mixed up. No sin is good. They would rather die than eat non kosher, but they might cheat someone in business or make their wives feel bad. People are people ni matter how frum / outwardly religious.
Herpes simplex is a common viral infection. If you’ve ever had a cold sore or fever blister, you picked up the herpes simplex virus. Most cold sores are caused by herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1).
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