Helsinki, Finland – A couple who had a British rabbi circumcise their baby boy has been found guilty of conspiracy to commit bodily harm by the Helsinki District Court. The court ordered the parents to pay their child 1,500 euros for pain and suffering.
Subscribe to our Daily Roundup Email
The court ruled that the procedure met the characteristics of bodily harm as the baby was circumcised without an anasthestic. Furthermore, the rabbi who performed the circumcision is not licensed to practice medicine in Finland.
The prosecutor had sought to convict the couple on grievous bodily harm charges or the conspiracy to commit such harm. The court, however, dropped the charge to conspiracy because the parents did not themselves perform the circumcision.
The rabbi circumcised the week-old boy at Helsinki’s Jewish Community Centre last spring. The baby was later rushed to hospital because of excessive bleeding.
Expert witnesses testified that circumcision complications are very rare. That said, the court ruled that neither the rabbi nor the parents can be perceived as having willfully caused the problems that arose after the operation.
Finland’s Supreme Court ruled in 2008 that male circumcision carried out for religious and social reasons and in a medical manner does not constitute a criminal offence. At the time it pointed out that the circumcision of Muslim boys is an established tradition and an integral part of the identity of Muslim men.
Its high time for Moshiach to come.
So this Kangaroo Court in Finland ruled that it’s OK for Muslims to practice religious circumcision but not for Jews?
In Finland they are simply Racist Fools!
ouch! that hurts!
>So this Kangaroo Court in Finland ruled that it’s OK for Muslims to practice religious circumcision but not for Jews?
No. Can you read?
What’s the problem at the end of the day he caused he’s son pain you should be thanking hashem everytime you make a brocha at your sons bris that obama doesn’t know about milah cause he may put it under his health bill I see the courts logic I don’t know why everyone is going so crazy
Their relationships ,is finnished ” .
Unbelievable
This is from Finland…the country that brought the world…NOTHING!
Its sad but we have become doormats.
How can parents pay damages to their own baby?
I think it’s great that the court has taken upon itself to represent the baby’s needs. Finland is probably one of the most progressive countries in the world when it comes to circumcision. I wish the same rules would be applied elsewhere when people insist on cutting pieces off their babies for religious reasons.
paying their son 1,200 E for pain and suffering?! Does this mean that every Jew and Muslim can get that from their parents now? What about the trauma of natural childbirth, can the mother sue her son for 1,200 E for that too?
This from a Feb. 16 VIN article about circumcision cutting HIV transmission http://www.vinnews.com/49525/2010/02/16/london-british-journal-circumcision-cuts-hiv-transmission-by-60/
published in the online journal BioMed Central Urology: “The British journal also found that complications are even more rare when the circumcision is performed by non-medical experts in the ritual under suitable conditions, due to their usually greater experience than surgeons.”
The Finns have got it backwards.
Let’s “fine” the Finns for their folly BOYCOTT NOKIA.
Stupid akumim. While there ancestors were climbing trees and eating each other alive, our ancestors taught the world about H’ and morality.
The article is somewhat misleading. In Finland, you must have the informed consent in the form of prior approval by the patient before undertaking surgical procedures outside of government approved hospitals or clinics. Clearly that legal requirement was not satisfied here.
Finland was the first Nazi ally to persecute Jews with Government approval and sanction. Norway and Sweden were surprised at Finland’s Government Official Nazi ferver. The Finnish Nazi Party was granted full authority to confiscate its Jewish Citizen’s property and stripped all Jewish Citizens of their Finnish civil rights. The Finnish Brown Shirt Movement physically beat and deported Finland’s Jewish Citizens to the death camps. How can we act surprised when today the Children of these Nazis act against its Jewish Citizens in matters of Jewish tradition.
Financial boycots do not always work. Instead try:
-Take Finland to the European Union/other international court.
-Use international/domestic media to publicize this mater as a religious persecution.
-Violence would be even more effective, but unfortunately the contemporary Jews are more holy than Hashmonaim…
I just sold all my Nokia stocks,
a loss .
There’s something missing from the story. Maybe it’s important that the mohel wasn’t licensed in Finland, and that’s what the parents are being punished for?
It’s not as antisemitic as you are all making it out to be.
Facts:
1. They imported a British mohel who was not allowed to practice medicine in Finland.
2. Circumcisions in Finland must be performed in a “medical manner”.
3. It came to light because there were complications due to excessive bleedings and once they found out the British mohel was not licensed, court proceedings were started.
The end. Pretty straightforward. If the mohel had been licensed to perform them in Finland this wouldn’t be an issue. The mention of Muslim circumcision in the end is not antisemitic either, it’s more likely an addendum to point out that it is allowed in Finland just like the Jewish circumcision discussed in the article.
Ok, so it’s not anti-semitic. How a about a little understanding though. Do you really think that it’s worth a Mohel’s time to become licensed in Finland? I’m sure there are thousands of Brissim performed there annually…
Maybe the Finns don’t have rachmonis on us, but I’d expect a little from our fellow Jewish posters, and that, in my opinion is the real bruch.
If every European country would need its Mohelim to be licensed in that country, it would spell very bad news to the tiny Jewish communities scattered over Europe. Do you think it’s so safe to travel hours with a newborn back and forth?
Sigh. A lot of flaming and anger here I see. Well, as one who’s ancestors (according to a commenter here) “climbed in trees and eat each other” I can only offer the following comment (ditto #39 ):
A spokesman for the Jewish community in Helsinki commented on the the issue in an article in Hufvudstadsbladet (hbl.fi) that normal procedure for Finnish Jews is to have a local mohel who is also a trained physician perform the operation. In this isolated (and mind you, botched) case the parents had brought in a mohel from the UK, the child was not sedated and developed complications. This ruling (in a junior court) is not connected to the one given by the Finnish supreme court that stated that circumcision by trained medical personnel is OK. In this case no info has been given on the British mohel, was he medically a layman?
As a Finn and a history student I find the comments about Finnish Jews shipped off to death camps during WWII most deplorable. In reality, the Finnish commander-in-chief Mannerheim was adamant about fielding all the manpower available, thus the often mentioned field synagogue on the eastern front and such which was an embarrassment for German liaisons in Finland.
I think there are two issues on the table. The first concerning the Mohel. 28 yrs ago, the Mohel that we chose gave advice on the caring of my son that was contrary to what I had heard. Due to his incompetance, my son had to be cauterized a month later by the pediatrician due to infection and blistering. The poor baby was crying all the time and I kept calling the Mohel who said it was normal. About 20 yrs later, I heard from another parent, a Doctor, who had used the same Mohel and had the same problems, so yes, some Mohels do not know what they are doing. The 2nd issue is that if there is a lot of bleeding, the child should be checked for Factor elven deficiency as this is a common bleeding disorder for Ashkenazim. It is not hemophelia, but similar. I also don’t think we have the whole story &find; it bizarre that the matter made it to the Courts, there had to be have been very excessive & dangerous amount of blood loss. Signed….Montreal Mom.