It seems some readers saw my Saturday night post about the deadly Brooklyn fire that killed seven children and decided it was a bigoted attack on Orthodox Judaism. In case you missed it, I wrote that this is not the first time Sabbath fires — hotplates, candlesticks — have gotten out of control and killed…
The Sabbath fire that killed seven children in an Orthodox Jewish family in Brooklyn on Saturday was at least the fourth deadly blaze in the borough resulting from Sabbath and holiday observance in the past 15 years. In all 11 people have been killed in the four fires, all but one of them children. At…
When Bill de Blasio was running for New York City mayor in May 2013, he said that he would “come in day one to City Hall with a new policy” to protect babies from contracting herpes during a controversial circumcision rite while respecting “religious tradition.” Last January, during his first month in office, Mayor de…
Another infant in New York City has been infected with herpes during a metzitzah b’peh ritual, city health authorities reported. The infection occurred in November, according to an official statement. The baby was diagnosed with herpes 12 days after his circumcision, during which the mohel applied direct oral suction on the infant’s penis. The infection…
New York City has banned two mohels from performing a controversial circumcision rite after they were suspected of infecting babies with herpes. But the city’s health department will not reveal their names. Five infants have contracted herpes since September 2012, when the health department passed a regulation requiring mohels to get written consent from parents…
A Canadian review board cleared of “sexual motive” a doctor who practiced “metzitzah b’peh,” a controversial circumcision practice. The Ontario Health Professions Appeal and Review Board said in its conclusion published Tuesday that there was no evidence supporting the accusation of anti-circumcision activists that Aaron Jesin acted out of sexual motive in carrying out the…
New York City has denied a second attempt by the Jewish Daily Forward to obtain information about consent forms gathered under a regulation that warns parents about metzitzah b’peh, a controversial circumcision rite. The city also refuses to say whether such forms even exist. A regulation that came into force at the beginning of 2013…
Hey, Mr. Mayor! When you were the public advocate of the City of New York — an office with little more than a megaphone — you criticized city agencies for failing to respond to Freedom of Information Law requests. Government, you said, must be held accountable! Now, Mr. de Blasio, you’re the mayor, and it’s…
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