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28 Adar I 5765 - March 9, 2005 | Mordecai Plaut, director Published Weekly
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NEWS
Outrage In The United States: An Attempt To Usurp Jewish Law And Custom

By G. Safran

"May the Merciful One bless the circumciser of the flesh of the milah, who draws back [the orlah] and who sucks the blood of the milah. The service of someone who is afraid or faint hearted is invalid, if he fails to perform these three tasks" (from the Horachamon prayer added after the meal celebrating a bris).

The Orthodox community has lately been fighting an attempt to introduce changes into the way bris milah is performed. The effort to do so has involved the general press and appeals to gentile authorities. HaRav Eliashiv's clear statement of halochoh on the matter is intended to put an end to this and similar attempts to change the universally accepted procedure for bris milah that has been followed for generations.

Throughout history, our nation has been harshly attacked numerous times for our steadfastness in observing our mitzvos and customs. Some of the enemies of our customs have even issued from our own ranks. They justify their efforts by claiming that they act in the name of culture and modernity, while hoodwinking the general public into believing that they have a mandate for their actions in a so-called halachic concept of "a need of the times."

The latest storm involves the American Torah world and general Orthodox community and an attempt by several Jewish parties, among them some who are described as "part of the Orthodox rabbinate," to brazenly criticize in the general media an ancient and holy custom.

There is no need to dwell here on the importance of the mitzvah of bris milah, which is one of the fundamentals of our religion. For generations, this mitzvah has been kept devotedly by all Jews. Nonetheless, in the past there have been those who have tried to undermine the halochoh of metzitzah bepeh — the sucking of the blood of the milah by mouth. The poskim always firmly upheld the practice, forbidding any alteration to Jewish custom.

Several parties have recently tried to force their opinion on the public that the custom should be changed and the metzitzah should be done using a tube rather than directly by mouth. In the course of their campaign they publicized their scandalous views in the general press.

They have irresponsibly pointed the finger of blame at the customary milah procedure without backing their charges up with strong evidence and without having conducted any serious investigation.

In the context of the campaign against this aspect of milah, an article appeared in one of the recent issues of an American medical journal (PEDIATRICS Vol. 114 No. 2 August 2004, pp. e259-e263), arguing (without much evidence) that the reason that babies in a few isolated cases contracted a viral infection (Herpes) was their mohalim doing metzitzah bepeh.

It was argued in the medical journal that the only reason that the poskim continue to support this minhag is that "some orthodox rabbis have felt threatened by criticism of the old religious customs and strongly resist any change in the traditional custom of oral metzitzah." They revealed their preconceived notions when they asserted, "We suspect, therefore, that this entity is underreported for cultural reasons and that the studies described here are only the "tip of the iceberg" of the true incidence of the disease."

Without submitting any proof whatsoever they intimate that there is a very high rate of infantile infection with this infectious disease and that this is attributable to the "old religious customs" of observant Jews who are unwilling to "replac[e] ancient customs by modern wound care"

Naturally, no epidemiological studies or proofs have been produced to support any of these spurious claims.

They say that the mohalim that they studied tested positive for the virus in their blood (though not in their mouth). They presented no evidence in general that boys who are circumcised contract the disease more often than the admitted regular incidence of 1-6 per 20,000 live births in the general population.

The writers warn of "serious risk" to the health of circumcised infants and conclude that "the cultural process of replacing ancient practices with the modern treatment of wounds has to be encouraged and supported through greater awareness of medical complications that can endanger life."

Though they present circumstantial evidence that rules out the mother as the source of infection in most of the cases, and write that the mohalim in question had it in their blood (though not necessarily in their saliva), they could not control or investigate the circumstances fully enough to state with any confidence that there was no other source of infection.

It may be enough evidence to discard something that is no more than an "old religious custom," but it is far from the level of evidence that one should require to upset a valued, entrenched religious practice.

The fact is that they only have a few cases of infection out of the many hundreds of thousands who have undergone milah over the years, many of them using metzitzah bepeh. If mohalim are so "dangerous," why are there so few cases, a lower rate in fact than what would be statistically expected?

The study's attempt at scientific analysis is so riddled with faults that several professionals called it "junk science" though others defended it.

Spokesmen for halochoh point out that "the fact is, according to the expectations expressed in the article, in a place like Kiryas Joel, for example, where many babies are circumcised each month and most use metzitzah bepeh, there should have been many cases of children being infected." This is not the case.

This is pseudo-science, used by those with an agenda that includes forcing their views on others and interfering with their right to practice their ancestral faith.

Since the article was published and the issue found its way into the general headlines, this irresponsible behavior, to say the least, has already caused a tremendous chilul Hashem by its false portrayal of Jewish law and tradition in gentile eyes. For example:

"San Diego. Feb. 9, 2005. The recent death of a young boy in New York City has led several Jewish groups to call for putting an end to the tradition of circumcision. . . ."

In the wake of the controversy, American Torah leaders issued a clear statement of halochoh ruling that the practice of metzitzah bepeh should not be changed, to which the opinion of HaRav Moshe Feinstein zt'l that no changes should be made and that the merit of the milah is protection from any danger, as conveyed by his son ylct'a, was appended.

The American Torah world sought HaRav Eliashiv's opinion on the matter. After thoroughly examining the topic, HaRav Eliashiv gave his opinion that no change should be made but where there is genuine concern that the mohel may be sick with any kind of disease, the metzitzah should be done by someone else. But under no circumstances should halochoh be altered.

His letter states, "After clarifying the matter with expert physicians in the Holy Land and abroad [and hearing] that there is no medical concern that metzitzah bepeh as it has customarily been practiced for generations will chas vesholom cause any harm to the tender child undergoing circumcision and [since] boruch Hashem tens of thousands of our Jewish brethren fulfill this mitzvah joyfully without there being any breach or outcry, it is clear that all the talking about preventing metzitzah bepeh is empty words. Choliloh that there be the slightest change in the way metzitzah bepeh is done.

"Nonetheless, when the mohel has a wound in his mouth, the metzitzah bepeh should be done by someone else."

Communal figures expressed their hope that all those with a hand in stirring up this artificial storm will desist and put a swift end to the terrible chilul Hashem that has taken place, especially in view of the fact that there is a danger that this could lead to gentile authorities placing obstacles in the way of observant Jews continued practice of the traditions of their forbears.

 

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