Antsemitism? Probably. But Could it Have Been Avoided?

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I have no idea whether antisemitism played a role in this or not. But it sure seems like it. That beings said, I am not all that happy about how this came about. The following was reported in the Jewish Chronicle: 

A London rabbi has been arrested and charged by a court in Dublin over accusations that he carried out illegal circumcisions on non-Jewish children in Ireland... (Rabbi Jonathan Abraham is a 47 year old) registered mohel, trained to perform circumcisions, has done so for more than 13 years, and is insured to do so.

He would have been legally authorized to do so in England. But Ireland is a separate jurisdiction and he had no authority to do it there. He was caught doing it, was arrested and jailed without bail – and subjected to a possible 6 figure fine if found guilty.

That does seem to be a bit of an overkill that can easily be attributed to antisemitism. But I have to ask, Why was he performing circumcisions in a foreign country on non Jewish children? 

The answer might be something as simple as the desire of a parent to have their newborn circumcized by someone with a superior reputation and over a decade of experience who performs only that medical procedure. 

I know that even if I weren’t Jewish and had a choice between a trained and experienced Mohel who does only that kind of ‘surgery’ or a doctor that only does it occasionally, I would choose the Mohel. Not a doubt in my mind about that. (Assuming that all necessary medical precautions - like avoidance of Metzitza B’Peh - were observed.)

But are there no trained and experienced Mohalim in Ireland that could have done so legally? I’m sure there are. Circumcision is legal there.

So I am a bit perplexed at this entire development. Why did Ireland decide to pick on this particular Mohel? Is this the first time a Mohel from another country performed a circumcision in Ireland?  How did they even find out about it? 

And most importantly why did this Mohel circumvent Irish authorities? He must have known that performing a medical procedure without official authorization is a serious crime.  And for good reason most of the time. Performing an unauthorized medical procedure can easily lead to serious injury or even death. 

Sometimes we are our own worst enemy.

That being said, On the surface this does seem like a rather antisemitic persecution by the Irish government. I understand that Ireland wants to be strict in medical matters. They should be. But they also need to judge each individual separately based on the merit of the case. Arresting him, charging him, and throwing him in jail without bail seems to me that this was not done here. 

There is no way that Jonathan Abraham should be subjected to humiliation and suffering for doing something he has been doing legally and successfully in England - to the satisfaction of all of his clients for well over a decade - just because he is not registered as a Mohel in Ireland.  This smacks of antisemitic persecution and ought to be protested at the highest level by people of good will all over the world.

That said, my advice to any other ‘out-of-town’ Mohel that wants to do a circumcision in Ireland: Get permission from the government first.