Second rabbinical court orders mother to circumcise son

JERUSALEM (JTA) — The Jerusalem rabbinical court upheld a ruling requiring an Israeli mother to circumcise her son or pay a fine of $140 a day.

Following the ruling on Sunday, the mother said she said would take the case to Israel’s Supreme Court, which is a secular court.

A Netanya rabbinical court on Oct. 29 had ruled the mother must have her son circumcised within a week.

The baby, who was born a year ago, was not circumcised on the eighth day, as per Jewish custom, due to medical problems, according to the Times of Israel.

The father decided to insist the boy be circumcised when the couple began divorce proceedings in rabbinical court, Haaretz reported.

In their decision, the Jerusalem court judges indicated that the mother could be withholding the procedure “as a tool to make headway in the divorce struggle,” according to Haaretz.

“I started reading about what actually happens in circumcision, and I realized that I couldn’t do that to my son. He’s perfect just as he is,” the mother, identified as Elinor, told Haaretz.

The Jerusalem judges noted the public and legal wrangling against circumcision in the United States and Europe.

“The public in Israel stands united against this phenomenon,” they wrote, “seeing it as another aspect of the anti-Semitic acts that must be fought.”