Israel’s Chief Rabbi has suggested that doctors train people who carry out circumcisions in Germany, after a Cologne court in June had ruled the procedure illegal as a religious rite carried out on children without their consent.
On a visit to Germany, Rabbi Yona Metzger hit back at the court's suggestion that circumcision constitutes grievous bodily harm. Metzger noted that the rite has been practiced for 4,000 years, and 1,800 in Germany, calling it the "root of the Jewish soul" and a tradition "that you can never depart from."
"We give the infant a drop of sweet wine" Metzger said, in order to somewhat anesthetize them before the procedure. "Doctors should also study the teaching material and decide whether a circumciser is competent," he added, speaking at a press conference in Berlin.
Though surveys showed that a majority of Germans approved of the verdict, outrage at the ruling by Muslims and Jews has rippled around the globe. Diplomats have said that the ruling has proved "disastrous" to Germany's international image, particularly in light of the country's Nazi past.
In July, the German parliament adopted a nonbinding cross-party resolution to protect religious circumcision.
The resolution recognized that ‘circumcision has a central religious significance for Jews and Muslims.’
It urges the government to draw up legislation that "ensures that the circumcision of boys carried out to medically professional standards and without undue pain is fundamentally permissible." The Justice Ministry has announced that it is close to publishing a draft of a bill.
It is not clear if Germany will require that circumcision be carried out with a local anesthetic. Metzger said that Jewish practice forbids the practice.
Prosecutors in Bavaria said this week that a doctor had sought to bring charges against a local rabbi for performing Jewish ritual circumcisions. Coming in the wake of a June 26 court ruling in Cologne, which effectively deemed the ritual circumcision of infant boys illegal and a form of “bodily injury,” the attempt to formally press charges against a rabbi is another unfortunate outcome of the Cologne ruling.
Reacting to this attempt to formally press charges against Rabbi David Goldberg of Hof, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) said said it “fully expects Bavarian authorities to remain committed” to their pledge that the government will not press charges against rabbis who practice ritual circumcision on infant boys in keeping with Jewish tradition.
Reacting to this attempt to formally press charges against Rabbi David Goldberg of Hof, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) said said it “fully expects Bavarian authorities to remain committed” to their pledge that the government will not press charges against rabbis who practice ritual circumcision on infant boys in keeping with Jewish tradition.
Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director, said in a statement: “ Circumcision is a fundamental Jewish rite. The complaint by a private individual against a rabbi for performing a ritual circumcision is an unfortunate outcome of the terrible ruling in Cologne, which was an assault on religious freedom.”
“We believe it is unlikely, though, that the public prosecutor will bring charges because the Bavarian Ministry of Justice made a public statement several weeks ago that well-performed circumcisions were not criminal acts. We fully expect the Bavarian authorities to remain committed to that statement. Moreover, the flawed ruling by a judge in Cologne, in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, that ritual circumcision is a form of assault and thus illegal, does not apply in the state of Bavaria.”

EJP