[Bolkanlit]

В связи с темой,

5-6 дней тому назад появились сообщения о расследовании Равина мохелья-хасида из Рокланда, о смерти младенца 26-го Октября 2004 года. Десять дней после того как равин Ицхок Фишер сосал ртом кровь из ран гениталий младенцев-близнецов, во время ритуального еврейского обрезания, практика называемая "мецица бай пе", один из младенцев умер. ( Мохель - это специально обученный человек который совершает ритуал обрезания как положено по иудеиским законам.)

Как показывают документы Мангатанского Верховного Суда, оба ребенка были заражены вирусом герпеса (herpes simplex virus type 1) и один из ребенков умер.

Несколько недель позже было обнаружено что третий ребенок также был заражен вирусом герпеса, после его ритуального обрезания равином Фишером в конце 2003 года.

Равин Херальд Кирномас из Бунтона, Нью Джерси , выдающийся мохель области Нью Йорка, сказал что практика сосания крови ртом (при еврейском ритуале обрезания) являлась нормой многими веками.

Вавилонский Талмуд оконченный в пятом веке, обязывает чтобы во время иудейского ритуального обрезания, сосание крови младенца делалось ртом, поэтому для ортодоксальных евреев это сосание крови ртом обязательно. (переведено с английского)

Сообщение от The Journal News

Hasidic circumcision rite debated


By GARY STERN
THE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original publication: February 6, 2005)

The suctioning of blood by mouth during ritual circumcisions has long been dropped as a common practice by most of the Jewish world, but many Jews and non-Jews alike were shocked to learn in recent days that the practice remains standard in many Hasidic communities.

The largely unknown practice, which has been used during the Jewish circumcision ritual for thousands of years, came to public attention last week when New York City health officials said that a Hasidic rabbi and mohel from Monsey was suspected of transmitting the herpes virus to three New York City infants he had circumcised. One of the infants died in October.

Rabbi Yitzchok Fischer, a prominent Hasidic mohel, suctions blood orally during the circumcision ritual, known as a bris, in order to remove impurities. He is suspected of passing the oral herpes virus, which generally produces cold sores but can be passed to another person's genital area.

Rockland County health officials said they would do their own investigation.

"It is very, very rare for the mohel to suck out the blood himself," said Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb, executive vice president of the Orthodox Union, which represents Orthodox congregations in North America.

"The mohalim I speak to in our community say they use latex gloves and a glass tube for suction, and they take every precaution so they do not come into contact with the baby's blood and the baby does not come into contact with their blood," Weinreb said. "This is for the protection of the baby and, frankly, for the protection of the mohel, because one never knows what the baby might be carrying from the parent."

This past August, the journal Pediatrics published a study that concluded that the oral suctioning of blood during a ritual Jewish circumcision, a practice called "metzitzah," puts infants at risk of contracting herpes and should be eliminated. The study looked at eight cases of infants who contracted herpes after oral suctioning during a bris.

Twelve researchers, including seven from Israel, also considered the religious and cultural traditions behind the practice. They noted that the Babylonian Talmud, completed in the fifth century, required oral suctioning in order to remove health risks to the infant. But later rabbinical authorities, the study found, modified their approach as they developed new understandings of hygiene and disease transmission.

"The same consideration that led the Talmudic sages once to establish the custom of the metzitzah for the sake of the infant could now be applied to persuade the mohel to use instrumental suction," the study concluded.

One of the researchers involved in the study was Rabbi Moses Tendler of Monsey, a professor of ethical medical practices and Talmudic law at Yeshiva University, often called the flagship of modern Orthodoxy. Tendler last week said the Talmud requires that blood be sucked from the wound during circumcision, but not that it be done by mouth.

Rabbi Gerald Chirnomas from Boonton, N.J., a prominent mohel in the Greater New York region, said the practice of orally suctioning blood was the norm for centuries.

"When a person cuts a finger, what's the first thing they would do?" he said. "Suck out the blood so any possible contamination is sucked out. The rabbi applied the same thinking to this practice."

Health concerns about the practice are known to have come up from time to time, Chirnomas said. During the mid-19th century, for instance, the Polish government forbade the practice when a popular mohel had a tooth abscess and an infant died.

By the time Chirnomas, a Conservative rabbi, was trained as a mohel decades ago by two Orthodox mohalim in Jerusalem, the practice of oral suctioning had been largely replaced by the use of a glass tube to suck away the blood. These days, Chirnomas, who has performed some 14,000 ritual circumcisions, uses a gauze pad to soak up the blood.

"Using the mouth was done for thousands of years," he said. "But it is important that people realize that within the general Jewish community, this practice is not followed. Within the very Orthodox community, the Hasidic community, they do not accept this change. Traditions die hard."

Rabbi Avi Shafran, director of public affairs for Agudath Israel of America, an advocacy group for Orthodox Judaism, said that while the practice of suctioning blood by mouth is rare, Hasidic communities that believe it is important are unlikely to give it up.

"In most communities, it is not done this way, but in many it is a religious tradition of many generations," he said. "I understand that what may have happened in this case is exceedingly rare. Pediatricians in communities where this is done as a matter of course have told us that they have never seen a case like this, ever. Jews have been circumcising their sons for quite a while, and this is getting attention because it is so unusual."

Two of the infants who contracted herpes after being circumcised by Fischer, including the one who died, were twins. The double bris was performed on Oct. 16. New York City health officials later discovered that another boy tested positive for herpes after being circumcised by Fischer in 2003, according to court papers.

Fischer is not accused of any crimes, but in a day when there is great concern about sexual molestation of children, many may wonder how an adult can legally put his mouth on a child's genitals. Vincent Bonventre, a law professor at Albany Law School, said that courts often allow exemptions to general laws for religious practices.

"Cases are more difficult when there is a direct conflict between law and religion, like when a religion requires an act that is forbidden by law," Bonventre said. "When the government's interest is not paramount, the courts generally hold that you can't require an individual to violate their religion."

Reach Gary Stern at gstern@thejournalnews.com or 914-694-3513