A letter was released today by the Director of the Circumcision Department
of the Chief Rabbinate Rabbi Moshe Marciano. Marciano wrote that the
position of the Chief Rabbinate supports the so-called traditional
circumcision procedure that includes MBP which, Marciano wrote, is done
to ensure the health of the baby.
Metzitza B’Peh Is a Part of The Circumcision Procedure, Israel’s Chief Rabbis Now Say
Shmarya Rosenberg • Failedmessiah.com
Two weeks ago, Israel’s state-funded haredi chief rabbis were reportedly set to release a letter to mohels telling them that metzitzah b’peh (MBP), the direct mouth—to-bloody-penis sucking done by many mohels after removing the baby’s foreskin, is potentially dangerous and should no longer be done. Instead, the chief rabbis were to urge mohels to use a sterile glass tube.
Haredi criticism of the Chief Rabbinate was swift and harsh and that letter was apparently not released.
Now Arutz Sheva reports that a different letter was released today by the Director of the Circumcision Department of the Chief Rabbinate Rabbi Moshe Marciano. Marciano wrote that the position of the Chief Rabbinate supports the so-called traditional circumcision procedure that includes MBP which, Marciano wrote, is done to ensure the health of the baby.
"In circumstances where there is concern the baby might be exposed to bacterial infection, the oral exsanguinations ritual known as metzitza will be carried out via glass bell-shaped tube, and in all circumstances [only] with parental consent," Marciano reportedly wrote.
Herpes is a viral infectikon.
Marciano also noted that MBP is conditional upon the good health of the mohel.
A study released earlier this year found that 1/3 of all cases of neonatal herpes in Israel came from MBP.
Herpes Simplex Virus-1 has been lethal in neonates, and babies who are infected have also been brain damaged or maimed for life.
A recently released review study also appears to show that many babies get subclinical HSV-1 infections proximate to the circumcision and then display milder but still long-term damage even years later. This might account for what is thought to be a disproportionately high number of learning disabled and special education children in communities that practice MBP.
There is no accurate way to determine if a mohel will be able to transmit HSV-1 to the baby or to accurately determine the "good health" of the mohel regarding this. Mohel's whose HSV appears to be dormant can still shed and transmit the virus, and babies would still be exposed to this lethal risk under the chief rabbis' new guidelines.