For the first time since the Nazis, Rabbi arrested for performing a circumcision, in Ireland

For the first time since the Nazis, a rabbi has been arrested in Ireland for performing a circumcision. “You cannot imprison the Jewish faith” say European Jewish Association, calling for Rabbi’s immediate release. The certified Mohel (person expertly trained to perform the brit milah or Jewish circumcision), 47-year-old Rabbi Yonathan Avraham, father of 10 children, who works legally in England, arrived in neighboring Ireland and was arrested in a raid by the Dublin police on the house where the religious ceremony was performed. A Mohel is a person expertly trained to perform the brit milah or Jewish circumcision. 47-year-old Rabbi Yonathan Avraham, the Mohel from England, has decades of experience, has performed circumcision all over Europe and is recognized as a leading expert and practitioner of this important rite, writes Yossi Lempkowicz.

Rabbi Menachem Margolin, chairman of the ‏European Jewish Association (EJA), an organization representing Jewish communities across Europe, issued a statement  calling on the President of Ireland, Prime Minister and the Speaker of the Irish Parliament to intervene for the immediate release of the certified Mohel who is recognised as a leading expert and practitioner of this important Jewish rite. “Circumcision is not a crime but a commandment practiced by the Jewish religion for more than 3000 years.”

The Mohel has decades of experience, has performed circumcision all over Europe and is recognised as leading expert and practitioner of this important rite.

He was arrested in the Irish capital on Tuesday and is charged with carrying out a surgical procedure, male circumcision on a child, without being a registered medical practitioner. He appeared before Judge Michael Connellan at Dublin District Court on Thursday. According to the Irish media, the rabbi could face a maximum fine of €130,000 and five years’ imprisonment. He has been refused bail.

Rabbi Menachem Margolin, Chairman of the ‏European Jewish Association (EJA), an organization representing Jewish communities across Europe, issued a statement  calling on the President of Ireland, Michael Higgins, Prime Minister Simon Harris and the Speaker of the Irish Parliament to intervene for the immediate release of the certified Mohel who is recognised as a leading expert and practitioner of this important Jewish rite.

“Circumcision is not a crime but a commandment practiced by the Jewish religion for more than 3000 years,’’ stressed Rabbi Margolin.

The last time anybody was arrested for performing circumcision was under the Nazis, whose first laws in their blind and irrational hatred of the Jewish people targeted this practice. ”That the Irish legal system is now second to Nazi Germany is a sad and incongruous indictment,” said the EJA.

Circumcision has been adopted by other religions and recognized as a practice by the World Health Organization, which recommends in many cases the circumcision of boys.  ‘’About thirty percent of the men in the world – and not only Jews, are circumcised and live healthy lives,” noted Rabbi Margolin.

According tot the chairman of the ‏European Jewish Association the arrest of the Mohel ‘’sends a clear message that Jews are no longer welcome  in Ireland.’’ ‘’We demand that he be released even before Shabbat begins on Friday evening,’’ Rabbi Margolin added.

He added, “The arrest not only infringes the fundamental right of freedom of religion but it also humiliates the parents involved by suggesting that they do not really care for their children.  All those parents who circumcised their children, went through the same procedure themselves and of course they would not have done so if it involved “physical or mental harm to the newborn, above all a mohel such as Rabbi Yonathan goes through many, many years of study and training before even being allowed to practice. We are not barbarians!”

Rabbi Margolin appealed to the Speaker of the Irish Parliament, Sean O Fearghail , who at the beginning of the year was hosted by EJA at Auschwitz, to act for the immediate release of the Mohel and promote legislation that would prevent such an arrest in the future.

He also called on Israel’s President Isaac Herzog, whose grandfather served as the Chief Rabbi of Ireland, to work with the Irish government for the immediate release of the Rabbi Avraham.

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