Two New York City councilmen have announced that they would be active participants in any lawsuit against the city of New York, after the board of health yesterday approved a measure that required parents to sign a consent form before allowing a mohel to perform a controversial circumcision ritual. Councilmen David Greenfield and Lewis Fidler…
The New York City board of health has voted unanimously to require parents to sign a consent form before allowing a mohel to perform metztizah b’peh, direct oral-genital suction during circumcision. The vote was 9-0 to require parental consent for direct oral suction, a practice employed only by ultra-Orthodox mohels that can lead to transmission…
Agudath Israel of America reportedly is planning to sue the city of New York if its health department passes a law requiring parental consent for the circumcision ritual known as metzitzah b’peh. The New York Jewish Week reported the development based on an email forwarded to the news outlet sent originally from the account of…
While I was researching my Forward story about circumcision and pain, I realized that I didn’t know what a circumcision actually looks like. I’ve only attended one bris — apart from my own — and there I didn’t have a good line of sight to the baby. I was particularly interested to know more about…
A Conservative rabbinic group is supporting a proposed New York City Board of Health measure that requires parental consent for a controversial circumcision practice, while an Orthodox group opposes the regulation. The health department is scheduled to vote this week on a measure that would require parental consent if a mohel wants to obtain a…
Jews and Muslims in Berlin demonstrated for the right to carry out ritual circumcisions, a right that has been endangered in Germany. Under the slogan “On Knife’s Edge: Religious Freedom,” some 300 demonstrators rallied Saturday at Bebelplatz, the site of the 1933 Nazi book burnings, to protest the May ruling in a Cologne court that…
Isaac is cradled in his grandfather’s arms. In the space of a few minutes, the Orthodox ritual circumciser, or mohel, separates the foreskin from the head of Isaac’s penis, pulls the skin forward and inserts a metal shield that protects his penis while his foreskin is cut off. No anesthetic is used. Meanwhile, Joseph is…
In this week’s podcast, host Naomi Zeveloff is joined by Forward Washington correspondent Nathan Guttman who is currently in Charlotte, NC, reporting on the Democratic National Convention and the battle over relations with Israel. Then, Forward staff writer Paul Berger drops by to discuss how pain is managed in circumcisions. Finally, is cow tongue making…
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