Mohel Who Maimed Baby Is Baby’s Father

Vos Iz Neias reports that the mohel in this sad story turns out to be the baby’s own father. Was he licensed? Trained? Experienced? I doubt it. I also doubt he was – or is – sane. Perhaps that insanity will keep him out of jail …

Mohel Cuts Off Too Much, Baby’s Penis Maimed

A baby is circumcised. A horrible accident takes place and the mohel (ritual circumciser) accidently cuts off part of the baby’s penis. Ynet reports, dateline Bnai Brak, Israel:

…Following the bris and after the mohel (circumciser) had already left the building, the baby’s parents noticed that his diaper was soaked with blood.

The parents phoned the mohel, who advised them to call an ambulance immediately, seeing that the baby has already lost a lot of blood.

The parents told the Magen David Adom paramedics who arrived at the place that although their son was suffering from hepatitis, they insisted on holding the bris on time. They also admitted that they had a hard time finding a mohel who would be willing to conduct the circumcision.

Shai Pinchas, an MDA paramedic, said he searched the hall for the baby’s foreskin and the part of his penis that was cut off, and then brought them to the hospital in an ice bag.

"The baby was not in a serious condition and we brought him to the children’s ward at Sheba. I assume that the mohel had cut too much of his penis during the circumcision," Pinchas said.

Atypical, to be sure. But these parents should be brought up on child endangerment charges. And the mohel? I think he needs to find another line of work.

Haredim Burn “Immodest” Clothing In Public Rally; Clothing Shops Vandalized

Haredim held a public rally tonight to burn womens clothing deemed by them to be "immodest." We’re not talking miniskirts and halter tops, here; haredim burned skirts they thought were too flashy and clothing made of materials they dislike. Ynet reports:

The "clothes of impurity" were burned in a barrel in the center of the stage. Rabbis who spoke at the rally stood nearby admonished the crowd that congregated around the site.

"We will get rid of the tight clothes and the Holy One, Blessed be He, will place his mercy on us," it was written on one of the signs held by the protestors. "Modesty is the only thing that needs to be corrected in our generation," the rabbis clarified, saying this would solve the troubles of today. "We must overcome this hurdle," they pleaded.

The clothes that were set on fire during the demonstration were collected by a haredi organization in the past few months in a door-to-door campaign held in haredi neighborhoods in Jerusalem. During the campaign, clothes deemed "immodest" were collected. Women rose to the challenge. The organization handed out coupons for "authorized shops" to those who handed over "forbidden clothing" so that they can buy new clothes.

In an announcement published by the rabbis, they clearly define what is forbidden to wear:

    * Tricot shirts
    * Lycra shirts and skirts
    * Open-collared shirts
    * Short and tight skirts
    * Skirts with a slit
    * Skirts with a straight cut
    * Long or bulky earrings
    * Clothes and bags in loud, flashy colors
    * Wigs that are too exclusive
    * Transparent or colorful stockings
    * Clunky shoes

The result: Violence

The war against immodesty has recently descended into violence. Extremists attacked women with various sprays who were wearing clothes that didn’t fit their criteria. Clothing stores in Jerusalem have also been hurt. One of the stores near the center of the city sustained an attack of bleach bottles. Tens of thousands of shekels of damage was caused to the merchandise.

Fear of the modesty guards is great in haredi neighborhoods. Yehudit, a haredi woman who works as a saleswoman in a clothing store in Geula said: "It is very scary, stressful, and unpleasant. A woman is wearing a skirt that cost NIS 200 (USD 50), and someone comes along and destroys it."

Yehudit defines herself as a "modern haredi," and claims that she and other women must not let "all of these protests affect us. It doesn’t bother me at all." She also claims, "I haven’t changed the clothes I wear. I haven’t met one modern haredi woman who has purchased a new wardrobe or shorter wig because of the demonstrations."

Herpes, Circumcision and Alzheimers – Was Rabbi Tendler Right?

A new study seems to show that the herpes virus of cold sore and metzitza b’peh (MBP) infamy may play a role in the contracting, r"l, of Alzheimers Disease. LiveScience.com reports:

New research supports growing concerns that herpes plays a role in the development of Alzheimer’s disease, the most common form of dementia.

The latest work, announced today, shows a link between a gene and herpes simplex 1, or HSV. The form of the ApoE gene called ApoE-4 is the leading known risk factor for Alzheimer’s. And HSV is the form of herpes that causes cold sores around the mouth. More than 80 percent of Americans are infected with HSV.

The researchers, at the University of Rochester Medical Center, found that ApoE-4 effectively puts out a welcome mat for the herpes virus, allowing it to be more active in the brain.

“The data suggest that ApoE-4 may support the ability of HSV to be a more virulent pathogen,” said Howard Federoff, lead author of the research published online in the journal Neurobiology of Aging.…

HSV is a chronic infection that lives in people for a lifetime, periodically flaring up. The virus is usually latent, locked inside cells, but occasionally stress, fatigue, certain foods and even sunlight can spark the virus into an active phase that damages cells and causes cold sores.

The alert among us may recall that Rabbi Dr. Moshe Tendler suggested that herpes transmitted through MBP, which is  known to cause severe brain damage, might also adversely (or "sub-clinically") impact the brains of newborns, causing learning disabilities and even mild retardation. His educated guess may not be far off.

BREAKING: Republican Corruption Endangers Jewish Babies; Circumcision Fix Was A Political Deal To Get Votes; Doctors Say Metzitza B’Peh Still Unsafe

Steven I. Weiss reports for the Forward:

…The state Health Department issued its own ban on the mohel in February 2005, but withdrew it in April, after receiving a written assurance from a Hasidic businessman, Jacob Spitzer, that the community was instituting its own self-policing procedures, according to documents obtained by the Forward.

[New York City Health Commissioner Thomas] Frieden briefly considered relaxing his ban, but reversed himself in November, after an infant was hospitalized with a herpes infection that had spread to his spinal column according to sources in the city government and the Orthodox community. The state health commissioner, Antonia Novello, reached an agreement in separate negotiations with Hasidic leaders in June to continue under an agreed-upon safety protocol. However, an investigation by the Forward has found that the protocol adopted by Novello relied on measures that medical experts say would do little to reduce the risk of orally transmitting the herpes virus.

Novello, a Republican, served as surgeon general in the late 1980s, during the first Bush administration. She was appointed New York state health commissioner in 1999 by Pataki, who later touted her as a “strong candidate” to challenge Senator Hillary Clinton for re-election. Pataki has been known for his extremely strong ties to the Orthodox community since his days as a state senator, when he represented heavily Orthodox Rockland County.

State records show that at her January 18 meeting with Hasidic leaders, Novello proposed a protocol closely mirroring suggestions that had been circulating for months in the Hasidic world. Among other procedures, she proposed placing the anti-viral drug Valacyclovir on the circumcision wound. The drug is used to treat herpes symptoms in those carrying the virus, and experts say it has no impact on the transmission of the virus. The final protocol eventually announced in Albany last spring removed the Valacyclovir suggestion but included several other measures — including an antibiotic ointment — that experts consulted by the Forward insist do not significantly reduce the risk of herpes transmission.

Authors of the three medical papers cited in Novello’s protocol in support of its conclusions said they were not contacted by Novello’s office when it developed the protocol. Those authors and their associates emphasized in interviews with the Forward that the measures recommended by Novello would not make the ritual safe from neonatal herpes infection.…

So Republican and haredi corruption risks the very lives of Jewish babies. Sick. And those so-called "self-protecting procedures"? You can count on those like you could count on haredi rabbis protecting children from Kolko. That means, not at all.

SIW has documents not posted by the Forward on his own blog, here. The entire Forward article, which contains much more detail, including quotes from the scientists whose work was misued by that Republican hack, is posted here.

BREAKING: Republican Corruption Endangers Jewish Babies; Circumcision Fix Was A Political Deal To Get Votes; Doctors Say Metzitza B’Peh Still Unsafe

Steven I. Weiss reports for the Forward:

…The state Health Department issued its own ban on the mohel in February 2005, but withdrew it in April, after receiving a written assurance from a Hasidic businessman, Jacob Spitzer, that the community was instituting its own self-policing procedures, according to documents obtained by the Forward.

[New York City Health Commissioner Thomas] Frieden briefly considered relaxing his ban, but reversed himself in November, after an infant was hospitalized with a herpes infection that had spread to his spinal column according to sources in the city government and the Orthodox community. The state health commissioner, Antonia Novello, reached an agreement in separate negotiations with Hasidic leaders in June to continue under an agreed-upon safety protocol. However, an investigation by the Forward has found that the protocol adopted by Novello relied on measures that medical experts say would do little to reduce the risk of orally transmitting the herpes virus.

Novello, a Republican, served as surgeon general in the late 1980s, during the first Bush administration. She was appointed New York state health commissioner in 1999 by Pataki, who later touted her as a “strong candidate” to challenge Senator Hillary Clinton for re-election. Pataki has been known for his extremely strong ties to the Orthodox community since his days as a state senator, when he represented heavily Orthodox Rockland County.

State records show that at her January 18 meeting with Hasidic leaders, Novello proposed a protocol closely mirroring suggestions that had been circulating for months in the Hasidic world. Among other procedures, she proposed placing the anti-viral drug Valacyclovir on the circumcision wound. The drug is used to treat herpes symptoms in those carrying the virus, and experts say it has no impact on the transmission of the virus. The final protocol eventually announced in Albany last spring removed the Valacyclovir suggestion but included several other measures — including an antibiotic ointment — that experts consulted by the Forward insist do not significantly reduce the risk of herpes transmission.

Authors of the three medical papers cited in Novello’s protocol in support of its conclusions said they were not contacted by Novello’s office when it developed the protocol. Those authors and their associates emphasized in interviews with the Forward that the measures recommended by Novello would not make the ritual safe from neonatal herpes infection.…

So Republican and haredi corruption risks the very lives of Jewish babies. Sick. And those so-called "self-protecting procedures"? You can count on those like you could count on haredi rabbis protecting children from Kolko. That means, not at all.

SIW has documents not posted by the Forward on his own blog, here. The entire Forward article, which contains much more detail, including quotes from the scientists whose work was misued by that Republican hack, is posted here.

He’s Baaaaaaaaaaaack

Pioneering dissident hasidic blogger Shreimel has returned to blogging after a 10 month hiatus with a detailed post on the metzitza be peh controversy.

[Hat tip: S. Mechaberet.]

Another Circumcision Illness?

At this point it is only an unconfirmed rumor, but GrossBlogger is reporting (and also by email correspondence with me) that another case of metzitza b’peh-transmitted illness, presumably neo-natal herpes, has been spotted in haredi Brooklyn. According to GrossBlogger, the family and community are covering up the illness. If true, this again shows why any agreements reached with haredim are worthless.

UPDATE: I asked GrossBlogger via email how he knew about this. He told me he:

“I heard it from a chosuve mohel who performed the bris” of a relative this morning. “I don’t want to give his name,” GrossBlogger writes, “but he is also extemely upset” with the state’s new circumcision protocol and the way it was brokered. GrossBlogger adds the mohel warned the father against doing MBP, but the father, who GrossBlogger describes as a “naive” soul, insisted on MBP. The mohel replied, “fine if you want it done you will have to do it yourself.”

Un-Orthodox Jew On The State Of Today’s Haredi World

Un-Orthodox Jew, the anonymous blogger who successfully outed accused pedophile Rabbi Yehuda Kolko and his protectors Rabbi Lipa Margulies and ‘godol’ Rabbi Pinchas Schienberg, addresses the state of the haredi community:

The answer my friends, is the pass we gave to our rabbis that are no more than mortal humans. They have the same temptations that all of us have, and many of them, not all, fall victim to their humanity. They steal, they cheat, they are corrupt. You know why? There is no system of checks and balances that all humanity requires. They are the rabbis/gedolim…who is going to keep them in check?

We have erred. We have turned our rabbis into Gods..they are not, not at all. They are influenced and corrupted by money and power just as we are. We are scrutinized by our peers, they get a pass.…

No Chassidic rebbe or any rabbi has Godly powers, they are mere mortals. Remember we are Jews NOT Christians; there are NO intemediaries in our religion. WE have a direct line to God, not one bit less than a person who is wearing eighty pairs of tzitzis, fur hats, round hats, square hats, velvet ones, silk jackets, white Kabbalah coats or any of the cult-like dress that we have succumbed to like children lost in a store full of toys and costumes.

We have let the Pied-Pipers flute us into a generation of meaningless rituals and chumras that are nothing more than the works of dangerous and foolish power grabbers.

Some rabbis do this intentionally, and some are led to this madness by a circle of their leidegayers; people who are human parasites..eating off the flesh of the naive and trusting.…

UOJ points out the following:

1. Rabbi Elchanan Wasserman refused to let his students and followers flee Europe because Yeshiva University was “worse” than Hitler. “Rabbi Gedalya Schorr and Mike Tress obtain hundreds of visas for [Rabbi Wasserman’s] talmidim and [Rabbi Wasserman] tells them, NO THANKS!?”
2. Rabbi Ahron Leib Shteinman, widely considered the number two ‘gadol’ in the haredi world, condemned NYC’s health department as “Goyim out to destroy Judaism” but when asked, Rabbi Shteinman did not know anything about the herpes virus, including its existence and methods of transmission.
3. “Moderate” haredi ‘gadol’ Rabbi Shmuel Kaminetzky argued that, with regard to alleged pedophile Rabbi Yehuda Kolko, we must assume Kolko did teshuva (repented) unless a recent victim victimized in the last few months came forward. [The clear implication being if Rabbi Kolko did teshuva, we are not allowed to punish him for his actions. Indeed, going to the police or media would be crimes under Jewish law, and victims or their supporters who did do would be worse criminals than Kolko.]

UOJ promises to go public Thursday with another potentially high profile case of rabbinic abuse.

Haredi Expert Misleads On Circumcision

Dr. Daniel S. Berman is a haredi-linked "expert" with very few published papers and no special expertise. He bills himself as "Chief of Infectious -Disease Section. New York Westchester Square Hospital Medical Center." The center is not a research facility and is merely a decent community hospital. Berman has been in the forefront of the movement to declare metzitza b’peh safe. He writes in today’s Jewish Week:

First, compared to other medical contexts, the steps recommended in the agreement are quite severe. In contrast, the Center for Disease Control (CDC), entrusted to guarding public safety on a national level, in response to outbreaks of life-threatening bacterial infection linked epidemiologically and genetically to three petting zoos across the United States recommended only stronger infection-control measures in these zoos. The CDC’s report said nothing about closing the individual petting zoos or banning any of the operators. Further, within this same agreement, if a baby nurse was found to be the transmitter of the herpes virus to the baby, no action would be taken, and she could continue to care for other babies. If a mohel were found to be the source, he would be banned for life.

What Berman does not tell you is that the disease transmission differs dramatically in the two cases, and that bacterial transmission and viral transmission are not equivalent. Berman then continues his disingenuousness:

As for Dr. Zenilman’s assertion that the steps would not reduce the risk of transmitting the virus, there is strong evidence to the contrary. There are many studies in the literature demonstrating the effectiveness of antiseptic mouthwash in inactivating Herpes virus. Studies have shown that the antiviral agent acyclovir can reduce the incidence of Herpes viral shedding by 94 percent in those with genital herpes. It is likely to do the same in oral Herpes.

Berman does not tell you that the author of the antiseptic mouthwash study brought by the state (presumably at the suggestion of haredim through Berman) totally disagrees with both the incorrect use of his study and the unsupported conclusions recklessly drawn from it, and he is adamant that MBP should be stopped. Berman’s intellectual dishonesty continues:

It still has not been proved with 100 percent certainty that any case of herpes has been transmitted through metzitzah b’peh. If there is transmission, the incidence is rare. There are only seven reported suspected cases in New York City over the last 18 years, with many thousands of babies receiving metzitzah b’peh during this time. The infection- control measures recommended should reduce the incidence of transmission of herpes through metzitzah b’peh (if such transmission exists) to almost nothing.

No mandatory reporting existed during those years. We know only of the most severe cases. No serious expert believes these 7 were the only cases in the city during those years.

Here is a letter Danny Berman wrote to Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv "informing" him about herpes and MBP. Note that he refers to Rabbi Dr. Moshe Tendler as "an individual with a Ph. D." rather than as a rabbi, and that he slants all his information toward the supposed "safety" of MBP:
Download dr. Daniel S. Berman Letter To Rabbi Elyashiv.pdf

Here is a brief report on Berman and Westchester. Note Westchester is not a critical care facility:
Download daniel_s. Berman Report.pdf

Danny Berman has consistently proven himself to a less than honest broker. He shares part of the blame for every maimed and dead MBP infant. Perhaps one day his licensing board will look into that.

Want to know the real dangers of MBP? Read Dr. Shlomo Sprecher’s Hakirah article on the long history of disease transmitted through MBP:
Download sprecher_metzitza.pdf

Circumcision Deal Fatally Flawed

Steven I. Weiss has been doing some work on the circumcision deal between haredim and NY State. He interviewed an expert cited by the state in support of its new protocol. The expert, Dr. Timothy F. Meiller, had never heard of metzitza b’peh (MBP), the controversy or the new protocol. Worse yet – he rejects the state’s use of his data and is firmly against MBP:

By way of example, he said, “If a dentist called me and asked, having read my paper, if a patient rinses with Listerine, do I have to wear gloves? My answer to them would be: Are you crazy? Of course you have to wear gloves.” He noted “In this procedure, it’s slapping that in the face and saying I’m gonna use some superficial technique and say I’m now ok; you’re not.”

“As a scientist who knows a little bit about virus, I would recommend against the procedure. I would not rely on a surface disinfectant, it’s just too variable. I can’t rely on that being a trustworthy procedure.”

Asked how he would have responded if the state’s health department had contacted him when formulating its protocol, Meiller replied “I would have said that I didn’t think it was enough data to make a decision on anything…it’s like having unprotected sex; in today’s world, it’s just not worth it.”

“Clearly, this is not a procedure that I would think should be condoned,” he said.

So Commissioner Novello struck a dangerous deal with haredim. Why? I believe it is because haredim vote in blocks under the direction of their leaders. (Remember when Hillary got something like 98% of the New Square vote?) Satmar, etc., voting in a block for Governor Pataki in whatever office he next chooses to seek is apparently enough incentive to allow the needless deaths and maimings of a few eight-day-old infants.

SIW also has a copy of a letter sent by NYC’s health commissioner to Novello ripping apart the state’s new protocol and showing clearly why it is fatally flawed – this without knowing that Dr. Meiller was not in agreement with the use of his work and the conclusions drawn from it. Dr. Friedan closes with the hope that the state’s new protocol will nonetheless help. One should presume his wishes for the success of the protocol would have been much less strong if he had known about Dr. Meiller’s objections – and if his boss, Michael Bloomberg was not grovelling for Satmar votes.

The History Of Jewish Circumcision, Part 1

Haredim decry those of us concerned about the dangers of metzitza b’peh, the sucking of the blood of the open circumcision wound done by many mohels during brit milah (the circumcision rite), as “attackers” seeking to stop circumcision all together. Under the banner “We will not change!,” haredim claim the details of the rite date to at least the time of Moses, without change. But is this so?

Apparently not – Ivan G. Marcus writes:

When the age of baptism was changed from adulthood to infancy, a new form of adult sponsorship developed. Since an infant could not perform the rite alone or present himself or herself to an adult, the institution of godparents at infant baptism was introduced in the early Middle Ages to perform that function. The presence of Christian godparents at baptism eventually influenced the Jewish circumcision ceremony, which introduced the concept of a godparent called a syndekos, a Byzantine Greek term that marks the approximate time of the innovation in the early Middle Ages. In later Ashkenazic Europe, two addition grandparents were added, whose names were taken from the parallel German Christian terms for co-parents, Gevatter and Gevatterin. All three terms eventually entered Yiddish as Sandek, Kefatter and Kefatterin; along with Elijah’s chair, they remain integral parts of the circumcision ritual to this day.

[Ivan G. Marcus, Rituals of Childhood: Jewish Acculturation in Medieval Europe, Yale University Press, 1996, p.107]

The difficulty with modern haredi theology lies primarily in its ahistorocity. Like so much else in Judaism, brit milah has changed – evolved, if you will – adapted to the times and the needs of Jews. It is the haredi world’s refusal to allow this process that most endangers Judaism today. Unfortunately, in this specific case it endangers Jewish babies, as well.

Technorati Tags: bris, bris milah, brit mila, circumcision, history, jewish, brit

Aguda Rabbi: Metzitza B’peh Safe Because Of “Daas Torah”

The Agudath Israel of America rabbi of a midwestern town told his congregation today that metzitza b’peh, the controversial circumcision rite that has the mohel suck blood out of the open circumcision wound, is safe and its practice comes under fealty to Torah. When challenged about its safety, the rabbi responded that the practice is safe, because “daas Torah” (the rulings of haredi “gedolim,” which have the status of near-prophecy) says it is.

The rabbi in question plays a national role with Agudath Israel of America.

New Circumcision Blog

An Israeli filmmaker is making a documentary about circumcision. He just started a blog to collect circumcision stories. Leave yours here.