Fearing circumcision crackdown, Jewish leaders launch EU campaign defending ritual

More than 50 prominent Jewish leaders and rabbis from across Europe have signed a letter to the president of the European Commission defending the Jewish rite of circumcision as part of a new campaign to defend the tradition.

The letter, spearheaded by the European Jewish Association, was sent as a response to a series of raids conducted in Belgium in May looking for people illegally conducting ritual Jewish circumcisions.

That raid, in which police confiscated instruments needed to perform the procedure and demanded a list of all infants circumcised in the past year, "echoed one of the darkest chapters in European history," the letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen says. The European Commission is the primary executive arm of the European Union.

On May 14, police conducted raids on three locations in Antwerp to investigate reports that said the brit milah ritual was being performed on Jewish baby boys by unlicensed mohalim (people who perform circumcision) instead of licensed doctors.

While the law does not specifically regulate Jewish ritual circumcision, Belgium requires that all medical procedures be performed by a licensed doctor.

No European country has laws banning circumcision, but there are fears that rising antisemitism could lead to such legislation in the future.

"Banning circumcision would mean an end to Jewish life in countries with such law, which is contradictory to the European Commission's aim at fostering Jewish life in the EU," the letter says.

"Circumcision is much more than a key tenet of Judaism. It is what defines the Jewish male, a religious commandment. It represents a core pillar of our faith and a practice carried out over millennia without incidents by meticulous and highly-trained Mohalim."

Medical research shows that circumcised men have a lower risk of urinary tract infection, a lower risk of penile cancer, a lower risk of penile infections, and a lower risk of some sexually transmitted infections, including HIV, the European Jewish Association notes.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/fearing-circumcision-crackdown-jewish-leaders-launch-eu-campaign-defending-ritual/