Metzitzah b’peh compromise near, baby’s reaction is priceless

Uriel Heilman

In a New York Times piece about how a compromise deal is near on metzitzah b’peh — the controversial circumcision rite in which the mohel sucks blood from the infant’s wound after cutting the foreskin from the penis — the baby has a priceless reaction.

The story is all about how the administration of New York City’s mayor, Bill de Blasio, is trying to find a middle ground with a rule that Orthodox Jews actually will follow (they generally ignore the current regulation, which requires that parents sign consent forms before performance of the rite, which has infected several babies with herpes).

The baby has his own ideas about the bris. Check out the third photo in this story.

Yes, that’s the baby flipping the bird.

Uriel Heilman is JTA’s senior writer and former managing editor. Follow him on Twitter at @urielheilman