The Chief Rabbinate of Israel has written a letter in support of Berlin’s Chabad Rabbi Yehudah Teichtal, who has come under fire for including the practice of metzitah b’peh – direct oral suction of blood from the wound – in his son’s circumcision.
German blogger Christian Bahls has said he will launch a legal action against the rabbi for what he claimed was a breach of German law. Prosecutors are examining his claim.
The chairman of the division of circumcision, Harav Moshe Morsiano, wrote on behalf of the Rabbinate: “The Chief Rabbinate of the State of Israel has always maintained that the mitzvah of milah – circumcision – is to be fulfilled in the manner approved by halachic authorities in all generations, including the incision to remove the foreskin and the act of using the mouth to remove the blood from the exposed glands.”
Rabbi Morsiano then explained the rabbinical reasons for the controversial practice.
