This letter was published in the Yated Ne'eman newspaper, in response to Rabbi Tendler"s letter
[Yated] Editor’s Note: We welcome Rabbi Tendler’s letter and his attempt to set the record straight, but believe that for readers to get a more complete picture, we should publish the transcripts of public remarks by Rabbi Tendler on the topic. The tape is unclear at points. Every effort was made to be as true to the original as possible. Excerpts from a transcript of the shiur delivered in YU on December 8, 2004 follow:
MDT - I had to be up early for a bris this morning. I attended a bris at Yeshiva of Spring Valley. Ten and a half years after they were married, just had their first child. They must have had 300 people show up to a bris… ten and a half years after their chasuna, gave birth to a nice healthy baby, and the Mohel was Fischer and I have to call the city (state) [health] department. That no-goodnik [Fischer] bends down to make metziza b’peh. I put my hand in front, I stopped him. I said no, you use a tube. He gave me a dirty look, he used a tube. The man is under investigation now for infecting several children, children, two of whom died, with herpes. I’ve heard a case in Maimonides a few weeks ago, a baby died and he was the Mohel. He goes ahead... Hungarian - uch. He’s a carrier of herpes, you don’t need a cold sore, if you’re a carrier, you’re a carrier. And if you checked that you’re not a carrier today, you’re a carrier tomorrow. It makes no difference. Once a carrier, always a carrier. No way get rid of it, they shed viruses. It’s not a constant thing, but you check him out one day, they don’t pick up any viruses, but the following morning, he’ll shed a massive amount of viruses.
Q. This is Herpes simplex 2?
MDT - Yes. It’s the plain cold sore herpes, but in a baby it goes cerebral, and…three months ago a baby died, he was the Mohel, and a few weeks ago he maheled the twins in Maimonides. Both came down with systemic herpes, and one of them died.
Q. How come the Jewish Community hasn’t banned him yet?
MDT - Who’s going to ban him? The Satmar Rebbe? You’re talking about the Wild West! There are no rules in Mohalim.
Q. People don’t know that he’s infected children? It’s not public knowledge that he’s infected children?
MDT - It is not in public yet, but it will be. This case is making it to the courts now... there will be new regulations. In New York City there will be legislation on milah, but only in New York City. The case is in NYC, the city department is taking over. I’ve had, over the last two weeks, a bunch of women marching in and out of my office downstairs, the Health commissioner of New York City, with her assistants Shulsinger and Bong - various b’kovodike people there, but walking gingerly, scared stiff to start up with the Chassidic community. They know about their voting blocs… They’ve made it. They have political power in NYC.
Q. This couple that had the baby, they’re Chassidish?
MDT - Naturally. No non-chossid would let a Mohel make metzitzah b’peh. In fact, a mohel won’t make metzitzah b’peh on a non-chossid. He’s afraid that he’ll get infected from the baby, for the parents surely had AIDS.
MDT - (continues) They paskened in Eretz Yisroel when AIDS came out, that you could make metzitzah with a tube. Why? Because the mohelim complained their life was in danger. Because they have Americans in Eretz Yisroel who have babies and who knows, Americans, they can have AIDS. And therefore, they’re afraid to get infected, so they were matir the mohel, for the pikuach nefesh of the mohel, to use a tube in Eretz Yisroel. So everybody in Eretz Yisroel uses a tube there except by the Chassidishe. Rav Vosner and Rav Elyashiv were matir to use a tube. They were matir 200 years ago to use a tube. We need a disciplined Halachic Society. We don’t have it.
Q. How come he followed you today, how come he accepted when you told him to stop- not to do- not to do it – how come he accepted it?
MDT - Because the father of the baby was next to me, a talmid. I told the father, he said okay, I should tell the mohel, The mohel, he said “In your shul you’re the baal habus, here you’re not the baal habus.” The father told him not to make metzitzah b’peh. And I had in my pocket a 5cc syringe. I take it along. I gave him the barrel of the syringe and he made metzitzah with a syringe. Actually, if you make metzitzah with a piece of gauze over the wound it would also be relatively safe - if he wraps the milah, right after the milah, wrap the piece of 2x2 gauze - on the d’mei metzitzah - you wouldn’t get anything from the mouth… a tube.
