Central Rabbinical Congress of the United States & Canada v. New York City Department of Health & Mental Hygiene

DEBRA ANN LIVINGSTON, Circuit Judge:

In Judaism, the “bris milah,” or ritual circumcision of infants, which has been practiced for millennia, celebrates a covenant with God and “derives explicitly from a commandment ... in the Hebrew Bible.” 11 Encyclopedia of Religion, “Rites of Passage: Jewish Rites,” at 7818 (2d ed.2005). As part of this ritual circumcision, some Orthodox Jews, particularly Satmar, Bo-bov, Lubaviteh, and other Hasidic groups, perform direct oral suction of the circumcision wound in a ritual act known as metzit-zah b’peh (“metzitzah b’peh” or “MBP”).

Over the last decade, the…