Orthodox urge sterile brit procedure
new york (jta) | The Rabbinical Council of America, the rabbinic arm of centrist Orthodoxy, recommended against the ancient practice of metzitzah b’peh, in which the mohel places his mouth directly on the wound.
The procedure has been in the news lately because New York City health officials believe it transmitted herpes to three New York-area newborns; one of the babies died.
The council says that when the blood is sucked from the wound when a brit is performed on a baby boy, it should be done through a sterile pipette. The RCA says the less direct method fills the religious requirement and is “not only permissible, but is preferred.”
Couple donates $15 million to aid seniors and kids
boston (jta) | A $15 million gift from a Jewish couple will help support a multigenerational community near Boston.
The gift from Dr. Miriam and Sheldon Adelson will help build the campus in Dedham, Mass., which will include independent housing for seniors and care facilities. It will also house the Rashi School, which now is located elsewhere in suburban Boston. The gift was made to Hebrew SeniorLife of Boston.
JCCs get OK to fund-raise online
washington (jta) | A new agreement will allow JCCs in North America to use online auctions for fund-raising.
The centers’ umbrella organization, the Jewish Community Centers Association of North America, announced a partnership with cMarket, which provides Internet auction platforms.
Raising funds online is becoming increasingly popular for Jewish organizations. The Greater Boston JCC recently raised 40 percent of its funds through an online auction.
N.Y. Times editor weighs in on ‘terror’
jerusalem (jta) | Attacks against civilian targets in Israel should be called terrorism, The New York Times’ public editor said.
Writing in his regular column in the paper’s Week in Review section, Daniel Okrent said that his definition is simple: “Beheading construction workers in Iraq and bombing a market in Jerusalem are terrorism pure and simple.”
Okrent added: “Given the word’s history as a virtual battle flag over the past several years, it would be tendentious for The Times to require constant use of it, as some of the paper’s critics are insisting. But there’s something uncomfortably fearful, and inevitably self-defeating, about struggling so hard to avoid it.”