[Avodah] Leading Charedi Posek Says metzitza' Should Not

[Micha Berger]

On Thu, Mar 29, 2012 at 04:28:26PM -0400, hankman wrote:
: I think there is a clear difference between the examples you raise
: like ???crossing the street??? and a mohel actively passing on a disease

Actually, I said letting young children cross the street themselves,
but in any case...

:                     While both may may have a very tiny probability of
: occurrence (I have no idea of the relative size of tiny here), but from my
: point of view, metsistse bepeh is your act beyodayim...

The question is whether halakhah makes this chiluq.

I argued that one in hundreds of thousands is milsa delo shekhachah, and
thus ignorable. See Arukh haShulchan OC 544:5. I don't see anyone being
choleiq between being the sibah or not being mosir hamoneia. I think
that is why the debate isn't over the piquach nefesh side of things,
but whether the chiyuv of beris milah means that metzitzah bepeh is
a chiyuv.

Tangential to RCM's post, just a thought:

I think problem we have accepting an actuarial treatment of piquach
nefesh, the "even one is too many" response, is because we naturally
respond to an anonymous news story by thinking of the probability
that some baby among all of Kelal Yisrael, rather than the probability
one-by-one for each baby. When ch"v something happens to someone who
has a name,

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             If a person does not recognize one's own worth,
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