| Putting the OY Back in Moyhel |
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| Written by Victoria Simion | |||||
| Thursday, 09 February 2006 | |||||
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Jews in the News Religious and secular law are coming head to head in New York City, where Mayor Michael Bloomberg is treading on hot coals with both the ultra-orthodox community and public health officials over a circumcision practice known as metzitzah b’peh (“oral suction”). The ritual, which involves sucking the blood from a newly circumcised penis, is done in the name of cleansing and protection, but has been isolated as the site of herpes transmission from the mohel to three newborns, one of whom died and one of whom suffered brain damage. The ultra-orthodox community in Williamsburg, Brooklyn has since accused the mayor of infringing upon their religious rights and of publicly wavering in order to gain the Hasidic vote in the 2004 elections. On the other side of the issue, public health officials are criticizing the Bloomberg administration for jeopardizing infants’ lives by not issuing a ban on the practice, already phased out by most non-Orthodox Jews.
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