וועט דאס שטראסען די גאנצע מצוה??

MSNBC.com
Rabbi probed for circumcised infants' herpes
Baby died from disease after undergoing procedure

MSNBC staff and news service reports
Updated: 11:50 a.m. ET Feb. 2, 2005


City health officials are investigating the death of a baby boy who was one of three infants to contract herpes after a rabbi circumcised them.

Ten days after Rabbi Yitzhok Fischer performed religious circumcisions on twins last October, one died of herpes and the other tested positive for the virus, according to a complaint filed by the health department in Manhattan Supreme Court.

The complaint, reported in Wednesday's edition of the New York Daily News, also said health officials later found a third baby who had contracted herpes after being circumcised by Fischer in late 2003.

Under Jewish law, a mohel — someone who performs circumcisions — draws blood from the circumcision wound. Most mohels do it by hand with a suction device, but Fischer uses a practice rare outside strict Orthodox groups where he uses his mouth to draw blood after cutting the foreskin.

Herpes can cause potentially severe complications for infants because of their undeveloped immune systems. A recent study published in the journal Pediatrics found that the rare ritual puts newborns at serious risk of contracting herpes simplex virus and shouldn't be performed as part of the circumcision procedure.

Fischer's lawyer, Mark Kurzmann, told the Daily News that Fischer was cooperating with the investigation, although it's unclear whether Fischer submitted to the city's request for a blood test.

''My client is known internationally as a caring, skilled, and conscientious mohel,'' Kurzmann said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report

NY Officials Bar Rabbi from Circumcision Ritual

Wed Feb 2, 4:46 PM ET

By Larry Fine

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York City health officials have gone to court to stop a rabbi from performing a type of ritual circumcision they believe may have led to the death of a baby boy from herpes.



The baby was one of three infants found to have contracted herpes simplex virus after being circumcised by Rabbi Yitzchok Fischer, who used his mouth to draw blood from the infant's wound, a traditional Orthodox practice during the bris, or religious circumcision.


The complaint filed by the department of health in Manhattan Supreme Court asked that Fischer submit blood samples to be tested for the herpes virus and no longer engage in the specific practice until an investigation was completed.


The court papers, filed on Dec. 22, were reported on by the Daily News on Wednesday


"Rabbi Fischer is still performing circumcisions, but he is complying with the court's direction," his lawyer, Mark J. Kurzmann, told Reuters on Wednesday.


Kurzmann described Fischer as a London-trained, "internationally known" mohel, or someone who performs circumcisions.


Ten days after Fischer circumcised twins last October, one died of herpes and the other tested positive for the virus, according to the court papers.


A third baby circumcised by Fisher was later found to have also tested positive for herpes, health officials said.


An affidavit submitted to the court by Dr. Susan Blank, assistant commissioner of the health department, said Fischer had performed about 350 Jewish circumcisions in the area.


Blank noted that the herpes virus, which is common in adults and often causes lesions known as "fever blisters" or "cold sores" is easily transmitted but not usually a serious illness in adults. In newborn infants, however, herpes can cause severe illness and may be fatal, she said.


Kurzmann suggested the infants could have contracted the infection some other way.


"Rabbi Fischer is cooperating fully with the city's investigation in order to determine the true sources of the infection," Kurzmann said.

Baby Dies After Allegedly Being Infected With Herpes During Circumcision

FEBRUARY 02ND, 2005

City health officials are trying to stop a Rockland County rabbi from performing circumcisions, after a baby boy died from herpes he allegedly contracted from the rabbi during a circumcision.

The city Department of Health said Wednesday it is seeking a permanent injunction against Rabbi Yitzhok Fischer. The DOH says Fischer uses an ancient religious custom of using his mouth to suck the infant's blood after cutting the foreskin.

According to court papers filed in Manhattan, a 3-week-old boy died from herpes 10 days after he and his twin brother were circumcised by Fischer in October. The boy's twin was also infected with the virus.

In addition, a Staten Island boy was also reportedly infected with herpes after a circumcision performed by Fischer in 2003.

DOH officials say Fischer did not comply with an order given in November to stop performing circumcisions and to have his blood tested.

''Infants, particularly under the age of six months, are highly susceptible to infections. They do not have a functioning immune system," said Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Frieden.

Fischer's attorney says his client is cooperating with the city in an effort to determine what he says it ''the true source'' of the infection.

Health officials fear rabbi gave infants herpes during circumcision




February 2, 2005, 6:30 AM EST

NEW YORK (AP) _ City health officials are investigating the death of a baby boy who was one of three infants to contract herpes after a Rockland County-based rabbi circumcised them.

Ten days after Rabbi Yitzhok Fischer performed a bris, or religious circumcision, on twins last October, one infant died of herpes and the other tested positive for the virus, according to Wednesday's edition of the Daily News.

Health officials later found a third baby, on Staten Island, that tested positive for herpes and was circumcised by Fischer in late 2003.

Under Jewish law, a mohel _ someone who performs circumcisions _ draws blood from the circumcision wound. Most mohels do it by hand, but Fischer uses a rare practice where he uses his mouth, called "metzizah bi peh."

The city "is concerned that the possible transmission of herpes simplex virus type 1 in infants may be continuing as a result of defendant's practice of metzizah bi peh," city lawyers wrote in the Dec. 22 complaint filed in Manhattan Supreme Court.

Fischer's lawyer, Mark Kurzmann, told the Daily News that Fischer was cooperating with the investigation, although it's unclear whether Fischer submitted to the city's request for a blood test.

"My client is known internationally as a caring, skilled, and conscientious mohel," Kurzmann said.

Ten days after Rabbi Yitzhok Fischer performed religious circumcisions on twins last October, one died of herpes and the other tested positive for the virus, according to a complaint filed by the health department in Manhattan Supreme Court.

The complaint, reported in Wednesday's edition of the New York Daily News, also said health officials later found a third baby who had contracted herpes after being circumcised by Fischer in late 2003.

Rockland to review rabbi's circumcisions
By STEVE LIEBERMAN
THE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original publication: February 4, 2005)

Rockland health officials will review circumcisions performed by a Monsey rabbi suspected of transmitting herpes to three New York City newborns while orally suctioning blood during the religious ritual.

One baby died from the disease in New York City while two others tested positive for herpes.

Rockland Health Department officials said yesterday that they were monitoring New York City's investigation, but plan to independently review Rabbi Yitzchok Fischer's circumcisions in the county. The city wants the rabbi to take a blood test to determine if he has herpes.

Rockland Health Department Public Health Administrator Kathleen Henry said the county agency would stay in contact with New York City and evaluate the results of the city's review of the rabbi. Health Commissioner Joan Facelle said she has the legal power to protect the health and safety of county residents.

Assistant County Attorney Thomas Walsh, who is assigned to the Health Department, said he didn't think the county would wait long for New York City to make a determination concerning the rabbi.

"We're going to gather facts about Rockland," Walsh said. "Our No. 1 goal is to protect the health and safety of our residents."

New York City officials filed court papers to prohibit Fischer from conducting the circumcisions.

Fischer's techniques are not illegal. The city has taken civil action to protect the health of newborns.

While the city would not comment on whether Fischer would take the blood test, the rabbi's lawyer, Mark J. Kurzmann, said he was cooperating with the city. Kurzmann declined to comment on whether cooperation meant taking the blood tests.

Fischer, a mohel in Rockland, the metropolitan area and Israel, uses his mouth to suck the blood from the wound caused by cutting the baby's foreskin. The centuries-old ritual, called "metzizah bi peh," is used predominantly on Hasidic Jews, who consider the practice mandatory for newborns. Ritual circumcision, or bris, dates to the prophet Abraham and is said to symbolize God's covenant with the Jewish people.

Most other Jewish mohels wear surgical gloves and use sterilized instruments. Many other mohels who do that part of the ritual use a medical tube to suction the blood, several rabbis said.

Rockland health officials don't know how many circumcisions Fischer has done in the county. But several rabbis said Fischer had been performing circumcisions for several decades.

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."