His Honor, Mr. Ignorant

By Yochanan Gordon

In their keen wisdom of the human condition our sages already foretold, “He who has one portion, desires two.” On its simplest level this is referring to money where we are never content with what we have, always yearning to build upon our past successes and raise the bar.

Watching the pattern of New York City’s Mayor Michael Bloomberg, it seems like once someone reaches a certain level of wealth and position in power, he or she tries to further their influence and power to seeming endless areas. In this case, areas that Mayor Bloomberg most probably knows little to nothing about.

New Yorkers were first amused by the news that Mayor Bloomberg was pursuing a legal ban on the size of sugary drinks in an attempt to regulate the maximum size to one sixteen ounce soft-drink per consumer in order to stem obesity amongst New Yorkers.

It was one of those instances where people laughed it off at first, giving themselves and others something so seemingly inconceivable to laugh about. Then, as the mayor’s deadline drew closer, store owners actually took steps to stop orders on cups and drinks over the sixteen ounce limit to avoid incurring any summonses in the event that this law passed.

In the end however it was deemed unconstitutional and sugar lovers breathed a sigh of relief and then probably went to their nearest corner store to order a vat or cauldron filled with the most sugary contents followed by a toast to their very own Mayor Bloomberg.

It was unpredictable where the Mayor would go from here. If he really cared about the obesity epidemic in New York he may have filed an appeal or pulled other strings and try other legal avenues to impose his influence on his constituency telling them like Obama has repeatedly assured his ‘greatest ally’ Israel, “I know what is really good for you.”

But since that day there has been a hush with regards to sugar intake and instead Mayor Bloomberg has set his sights on a minority and their age-old traditions with regards to metzitzah b’peh (MBP).

The difference in this instance however is that it seems unfortunate that there are more Jews who know nothing about the supposed medical risks of MBP who comply with the Mayor, giving momentum to his case to overturn this practice or mandate that parents of the child sign off a consent form to go ahead with it.

While MBP has been challenged close to home, Bris Milah in its entirety has been challenged on many fronts on an international level causing a firestorm through many communities to have these attempted edicts overturned.

Truthfully, the way it appears to me at least, more threatening than talk of banning MBP is the cavalier attitude by many Jews to this tradition, with the waive of the hand, saying we could do without it anyway.

In a certain sense, an attack on MBP is an attack on Bris Milah. In a similar vein the Gemara in describing the tactics of the Yetzer Hara cites, the evil inclination never appears to a person compelling him or her to transgress a severe law in the Torah. Rather, today he coerces one to do a minor infraction and the next day or week later he returns convincing us to do a little more until he has us transgressing on all Ten Commandments without us stopping for a moment to see where we are headed.

If we allow this edict to pass without fighting it as we would a ban against Bris Milah before long you will see they will be back for more. Like his ban on sugary drinks, Michael Bloomberg is not interested so much in the health of his constituency or for that matter the little eight-day old babies, as he is interested in bolstering his sway and self-image.

There has been enough well researched, professional analysis on this subject for one to be confident in continuing the age-old tradition in the manner in which it has been performed for hundreds of years. Everyday studies are being conducted with conclusive danger with regards to many chemicals that exist in large dosages in the food that we consume daily without causing as much of a flinch and certainly not to cause people to lay off of these hazardous chemicals.

But when it comes to engaging in religious rite in the face of some very sad and unfortunate incidences where babies have contracted herpes, without irrefutable evidence that it has been linked to this tradition, the world is up in arms in an attempt to do away with it altogether.

Just last week a letter that the Lubavitcher Rebbe wrote regarding the performance of MBP has been published, where he writes: “One should be careful to perform Metzitzah specifically done orally and should not be concerned about any illnesses that would come as a result since for thousands of years this practice has been performed without any illnesses associated with it.

Furthermore, “One who guards a mitzvah will not know any harm” is a guarantee that Chazal have written regarding those who approach mitzvas with alacrity and excitement. The Rebbe concludes that if there is no other recourse and legal consequences will result in the performance of this through oral means one could use a glass tube. However, he urges to study the Kuntres Hametzitzah written by the Sdei Chemed.

Rabbi Sholom Ber Gordon OBM, my great-uncle, was for many years a Shliach of the Rebbe in Newark, NJ. One year, prior to the High Holidays the committee had decided that they wanted to install a microphone to be used by the cantor during prayer services and perhaps the Rabbis sermon.

He immediately discarded it, authoritatively ruling it prohibited. Despite numerous clarifications in this matter the congregation would not take no as an answer. Rabbi Gordon explained to the committee that his Rabbi in Brooklyn is not only a Rabbi but an expert in engineering, science and technology and he would accompany them to present this question before him. They had agreed to make the trip and to do whatever this Rabbi had ruled.

Upon entering the Rebbe’s office, the Rebbe patiently sat and listened to the cases presented by the heads of the committee before issuing his opinion on the matter. The Rebbe then said: “Among those who are causing the stir about this problem there are some who are familiar with the laws of Shabbos and Yom tov but they don’t have a grasp of the technical aspects of the issue. There are others who are familiar with the technical aspects of the question but they don’t have a good grasp of the laws of Shabbos and Yom Tov.

“Unfortunately there are some,” the Rebbe added, “who don’t have a good grasp of the laws of Shabbos and Yom Tov or of how a microphone operates, yet they too voice their views on this matter.”

In a calm soft voice the Rebbe explained to them that he is familiar with both aspects of the issue and he assured them that (using a microphone on Shabbos and Yom Tov) is forbidden.

While you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to know that too much soda or the consumption of sugar is potential hazardous to us, in this case to ban this ‘freedom’ was deemed unconstitutional by a court of law. Regarding medical issues and what is and is not hazardous I don’t see the Mayor as having credentials to express his opinions.

For as the Rebbe said quite clearly, regarding the case with the microphone, “Unfortunately there are some who don’t have a good grasp of the laws of Shabbos and Yom Tov or of how a microphone operates, yet they too voice their views on this matter.”

Like a microphone, Mayor Bloomberg is just using his position of power to be heard.

–Yochanan Gordon is an executive at the 5 Towns Jewish Times