New York City’s Attempt to Regulate Metzitzah B’peh: What’s the Big Deal?
As readers may be aware, a diverse group of Jewish organizations and individual mohalim have filed suit in federal district court challenging the New York City Health Department’s recently adopted regulation prohibiting bris milah with metzitzah b’peh (MBP) unless the mohel has first obtained written informed consent from a parent. This coming Tuesday, December 18, Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald will hold a hearing on the plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction to prevent the City from enforcing the regulation
As executive vice president of Agudath Israel of America, which is one of the plaintiffs in the case, I have been asked by many people why we took the extraordinary step of suing the City over this issue. After all, the new regulation does not prohibit MBP; it simply requires the mohel to obtain a signed consent. What’s the big deal?
Actually, it is a big deal. A very big deal….READ MORE
Rabbi Chaim Dovid Zwiebel – Hamodia (12/14/2012)
City Poised To Enforce MBP Ban
With oral arguments over “parental consent” for metzitzah b’peh rescheduled by Judge Buchwald for December 18, the City is poised to begin enforcing the new rule in just a week’s time..
…If she refuses to extend it, it will be the first time in the history of the United States that metzitzah b’peh – for untold masses of Jews a sacred, inseparable part of bris milah – will be illegal in a part of the country, unless it conforms to government regulations….
…The tampering with bris milah by NYC officials has been a slow, incremental process, beginning with a libel campaign six years ago against a reputable mohel. Since then, fresh attacks against mohelim have been launched by Department of Health officials slandering the practice of mbp as dangerous to newborns…..READ MORE
Debbie Maimon – Yated Ne’eman (12/14/2012)
RELIGIOUS PROTECTIONS ARE WORTH KEEPING
Recall the case of the parents who took their 15-month-old to a Michigan Applebee’s. The parents ordered apple juice for their child. The server mistakenly brought a margarita. The child drank some of the liquor before the parents realized the mistake. They sued the Applebee’s chain.
Bringing a lawsuit means the plaintiffs- in this case, the parents – ask the government- in its judicial branch- to rule that the behavior of the server, as an agent of the Applebee’s chain, is so serious, and so seriously wrong, that the government will iropose a judgment on the restaurant ·and its owners and shareholders…
…Government officials in the U.S. do not get to dictate how Jews will raise their children….READ MORE
Melissa Nussbaum – National Catholic Reporter (11/22/2012)
In an age of political correctness, it is no longer acceptable for political leaders to make even mildly offensive comments about minorities. From African Americans to Native Americans, those in the minority have learned to speak up — and those who have offended these groups have learned their lesson the hard way. Promising careers have come to a screeching halt, and jobs have been lost because of a single slip of the tongue — let alone actual discriminatory policies.
But not all minorities are equal. While an anti-Semitic comment will prompt across-the-board denunciations, that’s only if it targets Jews as a people. Religious Jews — especially if they wear black hats — are apparently fair game for disparaging statements.
But more than any nasty slurs, it his actions — particularly his efforts to regulate bris milah — that is unforgivable…READ MORE
Editorial – Hamodia (10/29/2012)
לאָיערס, פּראָפעסאָרן, און חרדי’שע עסקנים ביי פּרעסע קאָנפערענץ ווייזן אויף לעכערליכקייט פון שטודיע קעגן מציצה בפה
.עסקנים ברענגען אַרויס קריטישע–וויכטיגקייט פון די קעיס; לעגאַלער עקספּערט דיסקוטירט דעטאַלן פון דער געריכט אָנקלאַגע
פלעטבוש — ַא זעלטענע קָאנפערענץ איז פָארגעקומען דעם מָאנטָאג, אין זַאל פון ישיבת תורה ודעת פון פלעטבוש, וואו די פירנדע עסקנים און פָארשטייער פון די קערּפערשַאפטן וועלכע קלָאגן די סיטי קעגן די אומדערהערטע גזירה קעגן די הייליגע מסורה פון מציצה בפה, אינאיינעם מיט לָאיערס, בַארימטע דָאקטוירים און ּפרָאפעסָארן, הָאבן ערקלערט וואו מ’הַאלט, און ווָאס עס איז די קעיס קעגן די סיטי
דער לָאיער ר’ ירחמיאל סימינס, הָאט געעפנט די פַארזַאמלונג געבנדיג ַא קורצן איבערבליק איבער די ַאנטוויקלונגען, זינט דעם טרויעריג–היסטָארישן טָאג ווען די ניו יָארק סיטי הָאט ַארויסגעטרָאגן די שווערע גזירה, ווָאס איז דָאס ערשטע מָאל ווָאס מ’ּפרובירט צו שטערן שמירת התורה והמצוות; און שּפעטער די ָאנקלַאגע ווָאס מ’הָאט ַאריינגעטרָאגן אין געריכט תיכף נָאך יום טוב
Editorial – DER YID (10/26/2012)
UNIFIED IN DEFENSE OF BRIS MILAH
BROOKLYN – In a remarkable show of unity underscoring the importance of their cause, leaders of organizations affiliated with Agudah, Satmar and Lubavitch held a press conference for the Jewish media yesterday regarding the lawsuit they have filed seeking to block New York City from an unprecedented intervention into the practice of bris milah.
The organizational plaintiffs were joined by three expert witnesses, all leaders in their respective fields, and in a particularly powerful statement, by a mother whose infant son’s petirah is being used by the city as a reason to regulate metzitzah b’peh (MBP).
The mother, whose name is being withheld by Hamodia to protect her privacy, described in detail how hospital officials…READ MORE
Avraham Weissman - Hamodia (10/23/2012)
המערכה נגד גזירת המילה בניו יורק יוצאת לדרך
המערכה יוצאת לדרך. לאחר פסיקת בית המשפט בניו יורק שהורה לעיריית ניו יורק לעכב ב־30 יום את ביצוע החוק החדש נגד ברית מילה כהלכתה, הוכרז על פתיחת המערכה הגדולה והגורלית של היהדות הנאמנה בארה”ב כדי להביא לביטול החוק המאיים על קיום מצוות המילה כהלכתה
במסיבת עיתונאים שכו־ נסה אתמול בישיבת ‘תורה ודעת’ בפלטבוש ע”י ראשי המערכה; ראשי אגודת ישראל בארה”ב, ראשי התאחדות הר־ בנים בארה”ב וקנדה, וראשי International Bris Association של עסקני חב”ד, הודיעו ראשי העסקנים על המערכה הגדולה היוצאת לדרך בימים אלו במטרה להע־ ביר את רוע הגזירה, כאשר ברור ללא ספק כי המטרה האמיתית של שונאי הדת היא להביא להתערבות של רשויות החוק בענייני הדת כולם
אל מסיבת העיתונאים הצ־ טרפו רופאים בכירים, עורכי דין, משפטנים ומומחים, אשר השמיעו דברים בזה אחר זה והסבירו על המערכה המתנהלת ועל היבטים שונים הקשורים לפרשיה
- Hamevaser (10/23/2012)א. למל
NEW EVIDENCE SHATTERS MYTH ABOUT METZITZAH B’PEH
For the second time in a month, evidence has surfaced about a case of neonatal herpes that shatters a myth about metzitzah b’peh (mbp) that the New York City Department of Health (DOH) is bent on propagating.
The DOH wants to prohibit mohalim from performing the practice during circumcision, claiming it can lead to death or brain damage in newborns by spreading herpes infection (HSV-1). No direct evidence in the medical literature supports this allegation. In addition, it flies in the face of clear evidence of an impressive record of safety over thousands of years of practice.
Nonetheless, the DOH has irrationally embraced the notion that mbp is life-threatening to infants almost as an article of faith…READ MORE
Debbi Maimon – Yated Neeman (08/03/2012)