Netanya, Israel – A woman was fined this week for refusing to have her newborn son circumcised.
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Israel Hayom (http://bit.ly/18IhCpR) reports that the resident of Netanya has been ordered to pay 3,500 shekel ($987) by the Netanya Rabbinical Court.
The court stated they would waive the penalty if the mother circumcises her son within one week. If she fails to comply with the ruling, she will be charged an additional 500 shekel ($141) each day that passes the one-week deadline.
The woman stated she refused to circumcise her son due to health concerns, and that she does not want to harm her son, born one year ago. The father petitioned the rabbinical court, leading to the ruling.
The couple is currently going through a divorce. Rabbinical courts in Israel oversee the marriages and divorces of Jewish couples. Because of this, the courts can rule on various issues when they hear a case.
The woman appealed to a higher court, but the court will not overturn the ruling.
The mother is planning to petition the High Court with the assistance of her attorney, Marcella Wolf.
Oy vey! What was the father thinking when he wait so long? The poor child is already a year old! She is worried about health concerns? Lady, circumcision eliminates health concerns. The problems you are experiencing all around probably due to your neglect to heed Hashem’s first commandment to the Jews: Bris Mila.
Here is the problem, when rabbinical courts attempt to enforce Torah against non-religious people, it will cause those people to fight back and the rabbinate’s authority will be further diminished.
They are not imposing Torah in this case. They are imposing the rights of the father. It was an understood part of this couples marriage (As in even most secular Jewish ones) that their children would be circumcised. The wife cannot make a one-sided decision about something so culturally fundamental by herself when it is his child too.