It’s been a while since we’ve heard anything about Metzitzah B’peh, the controversial Orthodox Jewish practice that involves a rabbi sucking (with his mouth) the blood from an infant boy’s penis after circumcising him. At a Jewish Press-sponsored forum last night, a few of the 2013 mayoral candidates got to sound off on the very important issue. I know the candidates were playing for a Metzitzah B’peh-sympathetic crowd, but I’m a little surprised at the reticence on display here. No one mentioned the two fatal cases of herpes that likely stemmed from the practice, and Christine Quinn was the only one to explicitly stand by the Department of Health’s current regulation, which only calls for parental permission before Metzitzah B’peh is performed. Watch the video, via HuffPo, above.
(Photo: Adam Fagen/Flickr)
