HIKIND PAINED BY BLOOMBERG’S METZITZAH B’PEH REMARKS

NEWS FROM
ASSEMBLYMAN DOV HIKIND

July 26, 2012

Contact: Yehudah Meth                                                       For Immediate Release

718-853-9616 (office)

973-945-4903 (cell)

HIKIND PAINED BY BLOOMBERG’S METZITZAH B’PEH REMARKS

“WHERE’S THE RESPECT FOR OUR TRADITIONS?”

 

Hikind to Bloomberg: A little respect please, your Honor

Assemblyman Dov Hikind (D-Brooklyn) says that Mayor Bloomberg’s remarks on Metzitzah b’peh  were a slap in the face to the Orthodox community. Metzitzah b’peh, direct oral suctioning performed during circumcisions (brisim) is a 3,300-year-old practice currently under review by the NYC Health Department. On Tuesday, the mayor stated, “There are certain practices that doctors say are not safe and we will not permit those practices to the extent that we can stop them. You don’t have a right to put any child’s life in danger, and this clearly does.”

“I’m frankly aghast at the mayor’s insensitivity,” said Assemblyman Hikind. “Orthodox Judasim isn’t barbaric. Who cares more about children than their own parents? There’s no call for Mayor Bloomberg to speak disrespectfully to our community, to speak condescendingly about our cultural traditions. This issue is not about soda pop—it’s about religious tenets and it requires an extremely sensitive and respectful approach, not flip remarks that are insulting to an entire community.”