A PENNSYLVANIAN rabbi is being sued for 'botching a bris' by accidentally severing a newborn boy's penis.

The lawsuit issued in the city of Pittsburgh alleges the incident happened at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Squirrel Hill earlier this year

Rabbi Mordechai Rosenberg, 54, was named in the lawsuit as presiding over the circumcision ritual on April 28 when the eight-day-old boy's penis was severed.

His website asserts "a doctor's medical circumcision, usually performed in the hospital, is not considered valid according to Jewish law."

Rabbi Rosenberg told local news service KDKA: "I am trained in this." He said the incident was a "tragic accident" and a "horrible situation."

He continues to perform circumcisions.

Pittsburgh's TribLive.com reports Attorney Neil Rosen, who represents the mother, father and child, called the incident "unimaginable".

The child's parents rushed the boy to hospital.

The baby underwent eight hours of emergency reconstructive microsurgery. The procedure involved six blood transfusions and the baby remained hospitalised for three months.

A spokesman for the hospital said the surgery procedure was "risky".

"Sometimes, it doesn't always work," he says. "When you're reattaching a portion where you include nerves, sometimes the nerves don't heal well beyond where you reattached it. So there are limitations for sure."

The American Academy of Pediatrics, one in every 500 newborn boys experience significant acute complications as a result of circumcision.

Circumcision is not regulated in the united states because the practice is considered a religious ceremony and not a medical procedure