SICK: Two-Week-Old Baby Hospitalized With Severe Herpes After Mohel Circumcision — “Direct Oral Suction”

A two-week-old baby was hospitalized at Wolfson Medical Center with a severe herpes infection after contracting the virus during a brit milah (Jewish ritual circumcision) that involved direct oral suction.https://t.co/CQBp6my2qI

— The Jerusalem Post (@Jerusalem_Post) March 18, 2026

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A two-week-old baby was hospitalized at Wolfson Medical Center with a severe herpes infection after contracting the virus during a brit milah (Jewish ritual circumcision) that involved direct oral suction, also known as metzitzah b’peh.

Doctors found that the virus had reached the infant’s cerebrospinal fluid, indicating that the infection had penetrated the central nervous system, a life-threatening condition in newborns whose immune systems are not yet fully developed.

The infant was rushed to the hospital after developing concerning lesions in the circumcision area and showing a rapid deterioration in his condition, requiring immediate hospitalization.

After an extensive series of tests, including a lumbar puncture, doctors discovered that the herpes virus had entered the baby’s cerebrospinal fluid.

Dr. Diana Tasher, head of the pediatric department at Wolfson Medical Center and a specialist in pediatric infectious diseases, described the case as deeply troubling.

“The baby arrived at two weeks old with lesions in the circumcision area, and after a careful medical evaluation, it became clear that this was a herpes infection,” she said.

According to Tasher, the infant’s cerebrospinal fluid also tested positive for herpes, indicating that the infection had reached the central nervous system.

She said it emerged that the infant had undergone circumcision using direct oral suction, a practice in which the mohel (ritual circumciser) places his mouth directly on the wound.

“It is important to avoid this practice because of the medical risks involved,” Tasher said. “Parents must be aware of the issue and make sure the suction stage is not performed by mouth.”

She added that the Health Ministry has clear guidelines instructing practitioners to avoid direct oral suction and said those who wish to perform suction can use a sterile tube to prevent direct contact.

“In such cases, herpes passes from the mouth directly into the wound and from there into the central nervous system, and this can end in disability, developmental impairment, or death,” she said.

The baby is currently being treated in the hospital with intravenous medication for three weeks and is expected to require preventive treatment for several additional months afterward.

“This case could end in disability even in the best-case scenario,” Tasher said.

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Biblical and Rabbinic Origins of Circumcision Practices​

The specific practice of metzitzah b’peh (direct oral suction by the mohel during brit milah) is not called for anywhere in the Bible (the Torah/Hebrew Bible). God does not specifically require or even mention it.

The Biblical Commandment​

The biblical commandment for circumcision is straightforward and limited. In Genesis 17:10–14, God tells Abraham:

“This is My covenant which you shall keep… Every male among you shall be circumcised. You shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, and that shall be the sign of the covenant…”

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Leviticus 12:3 adds only the timing:

“On the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.”

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That’s it—no surgical steps, no blood suction, no oral contact, and no further details on how the procedure must be performed. The Torah focuses solely on the covenantal act of removing the foreskin; everything else developed later.

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Rabbinic Development and the Talmud​

The full traditional brit milah procedure—including milah (cutting the foreskin), periah (uncovering the glans), and metzitzah (drawing blood from the wound)—comes from rabbinic sources centuries after the Torah: the Mishnah (Shabbat 19:2, compiled ~200 CE) and the Talmud (Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat 133b).

Metzitzah itself was understood in the Talmud as a medical precaution, not a core part of the religious mitzvah. Rav Papa states it prevents “danger” to the baby, reflecting ancient medical beliefs that sucking out blood would aid healing (similar to bloodletting practices of the time). The Mishnah and Talmud do not even explicitly require the “b’peh” (with the mouth) method—it was simply the practical way it was done then.

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Historical and Modern Rabbinic Interpretations​

Later authorities (including Maimonides/Rambam in his Mishneh Torah) codified it as a post-surgical health step, not an essential ritual element. Many prominent rabbis across history and today have ruled that:

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  Metzitzah is not required for the brit to be valid.
  
  
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  The oral method specifically is not mandatory.
  
  
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  Safer alternatives (glass tube, pipette, or sterile bulb) fulfill any requirement while avoiding health risks.
  

Even some leading Orthodox figures, such as Rabbi Moshe Tendler (Yeshiva University), have stated explicitly:

“There is no requirement to make metzitzah b’peh. The Talmud says plainly it is not part of the ritual but belongs to the medical, post-surgical component.”

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Most non-Haredi Jews (and even many modern Orthodox mohelim) have long used non-oral methods or skipped the suction step entirely. The insistence on direct oral suction is largely a strong custom in certain ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) communities, sometimes tied to later mystical or traditional interpretations, but it remains a rabbinic development—not a direct divine command in the Bible.

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Summary​

In short: The Bible requires only the circumcision itself as the covenant sign. The detailed procedure, and especially metzitzah b’peh with oral suction, was added later by rabbis in the Talmudic era as what they believed was necessary medical care at the time. It is Jewish tradition and rabbinic law (halacha), not something God “specifically calls for” in the written Torah.

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So…What’s Going On With The Jews?

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