In the continuing rush by candidates for New York City mayor to pander for the haredi bloc vote, city comptroller John Liu says haredi rabbis – not doctors and public health professionals – should decide whether metzitzah b'peh (MBP), the direct mouth-to-bleeding-penis sucking done by many haredi mohels immediately after cutting off the baby's foreskin, is dangerous.
John Liu
In the continuing rush by candidates for New York City mayor to pander for the haredi bloc vote, city comptroller John Liu says haredi rabbis – not doctors and public health professionals – should decide whether metzitzah b'peh (MBP), the direct mouth-to-bleeding-penis sucking done by many haredi mohels immediately after cutting off the baby's foreskin, is dangerous.
The Jewish Week reports:
…“It should be left to the rabbis,” the former councilman and the first Asian-American official elected citywide in New York told The Jewish Week in the interview, part of a series on the mayoral hopefuls.
In a round of questioning on the larger issue of government and public health that surrounds the controversy, Liu seemed to suggest that public opinion, rather than medical information, should determine whether something is regulated.
When asked how the city’s action was different than protecting children from the dangers of lead paint in schools or housing, Liu said in the latter case outrage was directed against makers of lead paint, while in this case there is outcry not against MbP but against regulating it. “People seem to be incensed about what the board has done,” he said.
“It seems as if this administration knows better than anybody else and did so without even asking, without consultation,” Liu alleged.
(Bloomberg held meetings with Orthodox leaders in 2005 and last year to discuss the issue, and the Board of Health held an open comment session prior to its vote on the consent decree.)
“How many people know about these public comment hearings?” Liu asked.
The fact is that hearings and the public comments process was widely reported in the NYC media – including in the haredi media, which encouraged people to comment in support of the rabbis' position and which followed the entire process very closely.
Liu continues:
“The Board of Health is not the arbiter of everything right or wrong on an issue like this. They should have done far greater outreach … I said from the get-go this is something I would defer to rabbis about.”
Liu, who professes his fondness for knaidels, rugelach and other Jewish food, says his campaign has taken him to rabbis on Manhattan’s East and West Sides as well as in Queens, not just to those in chasidic neighborhoods. He acknowledged that “clearly there is a diversity of opinion here [on the MbP issue]. Some Jews characterize [MbP] as, in their words, ‘barbaric.’ For the Orthodox it’s a very important issue. It has more to do with what extent does government interfere with a practice that has been around for thousands of years.”…
“There is no motive for his position other than self-interest,” said William Helmreich, a professor of sociology at the CUNY Graduate Center. “It doesn’t pass the test of having hard-and-fast facts. He says it should be left to rabbis, when the city’s public health department disagrees?”
Liu denied that he is trying to lock in the Orthodox vote as part of a coalition with his Asian-American base. “I have never run campaigns based on an ethnic coalition,” he said.
Asked who advises him on Jewish issues, Liu mentioned current state Sen. Simcha Felder of Brooklyn [a haredi], whom Liu appointed deputy comptroller in 2009. (Felder told The Jewish Week he’s not yet supporting any mayoral candidate.) Liu added, “I have my share of rabbis, but I don’t necessarily want to give them up before the election.”…
Almost three weeks ago, I sent Liu detailed information documenting hundreds of deaths from MBP and asked him to explain his position in light of it. He did not answer. I sent the same information to the other candidates (except for Christine Quinn, who supports the city's informed consent requirement), as well. None of them answered, either.
Directly Related Post: The Life Or Death Questions NYC Mayoral Candidates Failed To Answer.