NYC Mayoral Candidates Weigh In on an Obscure Jewish Blood Sucking Ritual

THE NEW YORK TIMES
By Joseph Berger

NEW YORK---It is a measure of the multicultural finesse it takes to run for mayor in New York City that seven Democratic candidates — including some of Chinese, Latino, Irish and Italian backgrounds — have staked out positions on an Orthodox Jewish circumcision ritual that is obscure even to most Jews. On Wednesday night, the candidates took part in a forum at the Manhattan Beach Jewish Center sponsored by The Jewish Press, a weekly publication geared toward the Orthodox community, and the very first question thrown at them concerned metzitzah b’peh, an ancient practice common in ultra-Orthodox communities in which the circumciser uses his mouth to suck blood from the wound. [link]