Monsey Mohel to stop metzitzah
Journal News
A Monsey rabbi linked to three infants who contracted herpes has agreed to stop performing oral suction circumcisions in New York City until a religious panel investigates the method, the city announced yesterday.
Kurzmann said no conclusive medical evidence has been shown that the infants contracted the virus from the rabbi. The rabbi took a herpes test, but the results have not been released by the state or city.
A Monsey rabbi linked to three infants who contracted herpes has agreed to stop performing oral suction circumcisions in New York City until a religious panel investigates the method, the city announced yesterday.
Kurzmann said no conclusive medical evidence has been shown that the infants contracted the virus from the rabbi. The rabbi took a herpes test, but the results have not been released by the state or city.
posted by Yeshiva Orthodoxy
at 9:01 PM
9 Comments:
what a tragedy. How will we be able to continue as a civilization? Herpes is a small price to pay for the precious pictures it can produce in our digital age.
There are plenty of ways to continue a sacred tradition in a safe, healthy manner.
just curious, can't the same arguement be made with periah?
If there is a health issue that affects mohlim, reasonable precautions should be taken. Halacha and health are in no way mutuly exclusive in brissim, solutions being plentiful.
Halacha/tradition must not be undermined by people with changing standards who find the practice "disgusting".
The opposition to the use of a tube comes from the Chareidi Camp.
The opposition to the use of a tube comes from the Chareidi Camp.
A tube is not needed, testing maybe. You don't break this practice when there are other solutions
There is no "healthy" or safe way of doing metzitza except with a barrier such as a tube. Testing is not an option because even if you tested the mohel between each bris it would not be effective because the mohel might contract HSV from one baby and transmit it to another baby before a test would show that the mohel was infected. This is because there is a lag time of up to several weeks between infection and the presence of antibodies in the blood that would show up on an Elisa test the current gold standard for testing. The Elisa test or enzyme linked immuno assorbent assay, tests for the antibodies to a given virus such as HSV.
Has this always been a health 'problem'? Should this sacred tradition never have started? Are the risk here so much more than the risk all incur both by the doctor/surgery and in daily life?
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