Metzitzah B'peh Part 12

Now we have Metzitza and a TENDLER in one post! YAY! Jewishledger: In the face of a religious court's failure to conclude its investigation of a mohel who transmitted herpes to three babies, New York City's health commissioner recently issued an unprecedented public warning that a controversial circumcision procedure is endangering the lives of Jewish infants."There exists no reasonable doubt that 'metzitzah b'peh' can and has caused neonatal herpes infection," Dr. Thomas Frieden wrote in December in "An Open Letter to the Jewish Community" about a procedure routinely practiced by mohels in some "haredi" - or ultra-Orthodox - sectors of the Jewish community. "The Health Department recommends that infants being circumcised not undergo metzitzah b'peh."The letter - the Health Department's first official warning against the procedure - follows an apparent breakdown in an agreement the department had with a Jewish religious court in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.In September, the city withdrew a lawsuit against a mohel the department concluded had transmitted the disease to three babies on whom he had performed the procedure, including one who died as a result and one who suffered brain damage. It also withdrew a court order barring him from continuing to use the technique.In exchange, Rabbi Yitzchok Fischer agreed temporarily to stop performing metzitzah b'peh voluntarily. And a Jewish religious court took up the case for final resolution. But according to Frieden, the religious court, or Beit Din, failed to meet the Dec. 1 deadline."They've since communicated to us that it's a complicated situation and they're not sure when they can come back," Frieden said. "So rather than let that continue indefinitely, we felt it was important to make clear to the public our own conclusion and position." Rabbi David Niederman, liaison for the Williamsburg Beit Din, said he was "shocked" at Frieden's reaction to the delay."We have set the date, and it might be a little bit later," he said. "However, I believe that the lines of communication are open... We did not break down the agreement."The rabbinical court, he said, "is making a very thorough and broad investigation. They will not leave one stone unturned."But whatever the court's ultimate conclusions about Rabbi Fischer, it will not impact the practice of metzitzah b'peh in the haredi community, said Niederman."We are convinced that it's not dangerous," he said.......Rabbi Moshe Tendler, a dean at Yeshiva University's rabbinic school and a professor of biology there, as well as an expert in Jewish medical ethics with a doctorate in microbiology, opposes metzitzah b'peh as halachically unnecessary and medically dangerous."I'm convinced that many children have been infected and not diagnosed, and years later they are in special education in the schools and no one knows why," Tendler said.