Rabbi sued after cutting off penis Volcano alert

New York – An Orthodox rabbi who allegedly severed a baby boy’s penis while performing a ritual circumcision is being sued in a lawsuit that will raise questions over the largely unregulated practice that is performed in synagogues and homes all over the United States.

Rabbi Mordechai Rosenberg was performing the ‘‘ Bris Milah’’ ceremony at a synagogue in Pittsburgh earlier this year when he is said to have botched the operation.

‘‘ My client was critically injured during his circumcision at Bris,’’ said Neil Rosen, a lawyer who is representing the boy and his parents.

‘‘ It was a life- threatening injury and required a microsurgical reconstruction. He was in the hospital well over a month.’’

The complex procedure, which was said to require multiple blood transfusions, was apparently successful, although surgeons have said the functioning of nerves can sometimes be limited and may depend on the healing process.

‘‘ He is a beautiful child with an uncertain prognosis,’’ Rosen said.

‘‘ The medical bills are several hundred thousand dollars. I have never seen, read, or heard of such a devastating injury.’’

However, the American Academy of Paediatrics said that one in every 500 newborns experienced complications as a result of circumcisions.

Lawyer David Llewellyn, who has represented infants injured during the process, said such cases were rare though not unknown. ‘‘ Your average paediatric urologist probably spends about 20 per cent of his or her time repairing children who have been circumcised,’’ he said.

Llewellyn said there was little regulation of mohels, the ritual circumcisers who are trained both in the surgical procedure and the Jewish tenets that underpin the practice.

Mohels are not regulated by a government agency as circumcision is considered a religious practice rather than a surgical procedure.

‘‘ I think the government probably should require some sort of training if this is going to be done,’’ Llewellyn said.

Although more liberal Jewish movements certify doctors to perform ritual circumcision, orthodox rabbis regard such procedures, carried out in hospitals, as invalid under Jewish law.

Rosenberg emphasises this on his website, noting that ‘‘ the Bris must be performed by a Jewish person who understands, upholds, and practices the tenets of the Jewish religion, and is specially trained to function as a mohel’’.

He said he was certified by the American Board of Ritual Circumcision and has served as a mohel in Pittsburgh since 1990.

His website carries glowing testimonials from parents of children he has circumcised.

Rosenberg told CBS that the incident for which he is being sued was a ‘‘ tragic accident’’ and a ‘‘ horrible situation’’.

He is continuing to circumcisions.

practise Authorities in El Salvador evacuated an area around the Chaparrastique volcano after the peak shot a cloud of gas and ash about 5km into the air yesterday. Civil Defence director Jorge Melendez said a yellow alert had been issued and investigators had been sent to look for signs of fresh lava, but none had been detected so far.