| Moishe 2006-06-15, 9:21 pm |
| LOL
Heinrich wrote:
> Year-and-half ban on oral suction of baby's penis during circumcision
> lifted, after rabbis agree to adopt new hygiene rules
> Haim Levinson
>
> Controversy resolved: New York ultra-Orthodox rabbis signed an agreement
> with the State's health commissioner allowing them to perform the
> traditional oral suction ritual during circumcisions. This puts an end to a
> year-and-a-half long strife over a ban on performing this ritual, imposed
> due to severe health hazards.
>
> In the haredi Judaism, it is customary for the mohel (circumciser) to suck
> the blood from the baby's penis immediately after the bris
> (circumcision). In more modern communities, the mohel sucks the blood using
> a straw.
>
> About a year-and-a-half ago, health authorities in the United States
> prohibited circumcisers from sucking the blood with their mouth, following
> seven cases in which babies contracted herpes as a result of the ritual. One
> baby passed away, and another one sustained brain damage.
>
>
> During the last five months, American rabbis and Commissioner of Health for
> the State of New York Antonia Novello, have been involved in intense
> negotiations, in the course of which "they learned a lot about science, and
> I studied some Talmud," Novello said.
>
> Israel authorities prefer use of straw
>
> According to the new regulations stipulated in the agreement, circumcisers
> will have to exercise the hygiene rules enforced on surgeons: They will have
> to remove all jewelries before performing the suction, clean their nails and
> wash their hands with an alcohol-based solution under running water for six
> minutes. In addition, they will have to wash their mouth with a disinfectant
> solution that contains 25 percent alcohol for 30 seconds.
>
> Mohels will also have to report if they have herpes, and any circumciser
> infected with the disease will have his license revoked.
>
> It's not the best solution, but it's better than the way it was before,
> Novello concluded.
>
> Meanwhile in Israel, the Health Ministry recommends that parents opt for
> suction through a straw over oral suction. "Every mohel is required to
> inform the parents if he plans to perform oral suction or use the preferred
> alternative - a tube," the Ministry reported.
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