Talmud Sanhedrin 57b:
"A heathen is executed..for the murder of an embryo..Because it is written, Whoso sheddeth the blood of man within [another] man, shall his blood be shed. What is a man within another man? An embryo in his mother's womb."
Shulchan Arukh, Orach Chayim 329
דיני יולדת בשבת. ובו יא סעיפים:
יולדת היא כחולה שיש בו סכנה ומחללין עליה השבת לכל מה שצריכה קוראין לה חכמה ממקום למקום ומילדין [אותה] ומדליקין לה נר אפי' היא סומ' ומ"מ בכל מה שיכולין לשנות משנין כגון אם צריכים להביא לה כלי מביאו לה חברתה תלוי בשערה וכן כל כיוצא בזה:
A woman giving birth is treated as a dangerously ill person
and Shabbat is desecrated for everything that she needs.
We call a midwife from place to place. We help (her) give birth and light a candle for her, even if she is blind.
In any event, that which can be done slightly differently is done differently.
For example, if she needs an object brought to her, her friend can bring it tied to her hair, etc.
Rabbi Ahron Soloveichik zt”l
After New York State Legalized Abortion in 1970:
"Sometimes we must protest under sacred and noble causes. It bleeds my heart that none of the Jewish organizations in New York protested......We are more guilty than any other people; we are more ashamed than any other generation."
Rabbi Ahron Soloveichik zt”l
After New York State Legalized Abortion in 1970:
"Sometimes we must protest under sacred and noble causes. It bleeds my heart that none of the Jewish organizations in New York protested......We are more guilty than any other people; we are more ashamed than any other generation."
Read Rabbi Soloveichik's complete statement.
“The Torah is compared to the sneh, the Burning Bush, because “fire gives heat, light and devours fuel, but the light of Torah must only give warmth and light, love and hope; it must never be used to destroy or kill. This is not Torah; it is a perversion of Torah.”
Rabbi Ahron Soloveichik referred to second-trimester abortion as shefichut damim and argued:
The third trimester is arbitrary. It is grounded in a desire to adjust HaKadosh Baruch Hu to one's capricious desires. It is paganism...They think that a woman in the sixth month of pregnancy, since she is before the third trimester, her right to liberty takes precedence over the fetus's rough to life. That is moral values? That is paganism. That is the philosophy that motivates the mechashefim and the pagans. Read.
Rav Joseph B. Soloveitchik zt”l
“I consider the society of today as insane…I read from the press that in Eretz Yisrael they permit abortions now! Sapir comes to the US and asks that 60,000 boys and girls should leave the US and settle in Eretz Yisrael. When a child is born, it’s also immigration to Eretz Yisrael, and yet you murder the chi
Rav Joseph B. Soloveitchik zt”l
“I consider the society of today as insane…I read from the press that in Eretz Yisrael they permit abortions now! Sapir comes to the US and asks that 60,000 boys and girls should leave the US and settle in Eretz Yisrael. When a child is born, it’s also immigration to Eretz Yisrael, and yet you murder the children.”
Rav Soloveitchik then predicted:
“And if you kill the fetus, a time will come when even infants will be killed…The mother will get frightened after the baby will be born…and the doctor will say her life depends upon the murder of the baby. And you have a word, mental hygiene, whatever you want you can subsume under mental hygiene…And there is now a tendency for rabbis in the US to march along with society, otherwise they’ll be looked upon as reactionaries.” Read
In 1975, Rabbi Joseph Ber Soloveitchik said: “to me it is something vulgar, this clamor of the liberals that abortion be permitted.” He wrote on corresponding Noahide themes, “Our task was and still is to teach the Torah to mankind, to influence the non-Jewish world….
In a word, we are to teach the world the seven mitzvot that are binding on every human being.” Read.
Rabbi Chaim Dov Keller zt”l
Condemned the new abortion law in New York State. In an article entitled “The Unbridgeable Gap: A Torah Look at the American Reality” published in The Jewish Observer in May 1971, Rabbi Keller made this observation: "Then (it was just before Pesach) one of the legislators arose, and with tears in his eyes, in
Rabbi Chaim Dov Keller zt”l
Condemned the new abortion law in New York State. In an article entitled “The Unbridgeable Gap: A Torah Look at the American Reality” published in The Jewish Observer in May 1971, Rabbi Keller made this observation: "Then (it was just before Pesach) one of the legislators arose, and with tears in his eyes, in effect said: How can I sit at the Seder with my family knowing that my vote caused this measure to be defeated? He, therefore, in the name of all that Pesach stands for, changed his vote, which was the decisive one vote passage of the bill. In the State of New York, as of today, close to one hundred thousand human lives have been snuffed out before they had a chance to see the light of day, all in the name of Jewish liberalism." Read
Rav Moshe Feinstein zt”l
"Not only are Jews prohibited from having an abortion (except in the most extreme circumstances), but they are prohibited from assisting non-Jews from having an abortion too. According to halacha, abortion is prohibited for non-Jews; it’s actually a capital crime. A Jewish doctor may not perform an abortion even if
Rav Moshe Feinstein zt”l
"Not only are Jews prohibited from having an abortion (except in the most extreme circumstances), but they are prohibited from assisting non-Jews from having an abortion too. According to halacha, abortion is prohibited for non-Jews; it’s actually a capital crime. A Jewish doctor may not perform an abortion even if it would result in antipathy towards Jews." (Igros Moshe, Choshen Mishpat 2:73:8)
In responsum 69, Rav Moshe not only categorizes abortion as bloodshed; he takes the rare step of unequivocally warning against relying on an erroneous heter for aborting Down Syndrome babies.
Read Rav. Feinstein's comments on abortion in Israel here.
Rabbi J. David Bleich
Contemporary Halakhic Problems, Vol.1
"A Jew is governed by such reverence for life that he trembles lest he tamper unmindfully with the greatest of all divine gifts, the bestowal or withholding of which is the prerogative of God alone. Although he be master over all within the world, there remain areas where man must
Rabbi J. David Bleich
Contemporary Halakhic Problems, Vol.1
"A Jew is governed by such reverence for life that he trembles lest he tamper unmindfully with the greatest of all divine gifts, the bestowal or withholding of which is the prerogative of God alone. Although he be master over all within the world, there remain areas where man must fear to tread, acknowledging the limits of his sovereignty and the limitations of his understanding. In the unborn child lies the mystery and enigma of existence. Confronted by the miracle of life itself, man can only draw back in silence before the wonder of the Lord."
Rav Elazar Shach zt”l
Rav Shach on Chumash Parashas Va’eschanan p. 215.
“The only relevant factor is prolonging life. Even if the quality of life will be reduced and there will be what appears to be unnecessary suffering, life is paramount. We find that our master, Moshe, asked to remain alive even. As a bird! What value can life as a bi
Rav Elazar Shach zt”l
Rav Shach on Chumash Parashas Va’eschanan p. 215.
“The only relevant factor is prolonging life. Even if the quality of life will be reduced and there will be what appears to be unnecessary suffering, life is paramount. We find that our master, Moshe, asked to remain alive even. As a bird! What value can life as a bird have - he cannot fulfill mitzvah as a bird! Yet, one who knows that everything that HaShem created was created for His glory, and that each creature adds to the glory of Heaven in this world, knows the true value of each second of life, in whatever state! Read Rav Shach here.
Rabbi Joseph Karasick zt”l
Past President of the
Union of Orthodox Jewish
Congregations of America
"To destroy a human embryo Is sacrilegious interference with life itself and akin to murder. Only when there is actual and acute danger to the life of the mother does Jewish religious law permit termination of pregnancy,” he said. According t
Rabbi Joseph Karasick zt”l
Past President of the
Union of Orthodox Jewish
Congregations of America
"To destroy a human embryo Is sacrilegious interference with life itself and akin to murder. Only when there is actual and acute danger to the life of the mother does Jewish religious law permit termination of pregnancy,” he said. According th the rabbi, the Talmud asserts that “whoso sheds the blood of man within man his blood shall be shed.” This has been traditionally interpreted as constituting a commandment against the killing of unborn children. Rabbi Karasick noted here.
Rabbi Bernard L. Berzon zt”l
Past President of the
Rabbinical Council of America.
"No woman was the “final arbiter about the disposition of her body and the embryonic human life flourishing therein. “Doctors, too, must face up to the moral dilemma: whether they can play havoc with the basic worth and dignity of human life when they freely
Rabbi Bernard L. Berzon zt”l
Past President of the
Rabbinical Council of America.
"No woman was the “final arbiter about the disposition of her body and the embryonic human life flourishing therein. “Doctors, too, must face up to the moral dilemma: whether they can play havoc with the basic worth and dignity of human life when they freely perform abortions. In Judaism, the life of an unborn child is sacred and only when It is a threat to the mother can the moral issue of abortion be resolved. For each person to decide arbitrarily, on the basis of economics or convenience, whether a fetus is to survive is literally for man to play God and is religiously blasphemous and socially destructive. Rabbi Berzon said here.
Rabbi Joshua Sperka zt”l
Detroit Rabbi Joshua Sperka was one of the first anti-abortion activists to speak in the graphic terminology that has marked the movement during testimony on the abortion bills."We have experienced the impact of a society which, step by step, has betrayed humanity's essential reverence for the sacredness of human
Rabbi Joshua Sperka zt”l
Detroit Rabbi Joshua Sperka was one of the first anti-abortion activists to speak in the graphic terminology that has marked the movement during testimony on the abortion bills."We have experienced the impact of a society which, step by step, has betrayed humanity's essential reverence for the sacredness of human existence," he said during a Senate Judiciary committee meeting in 1967. "These words disguised the mass murder of a people. We are dealing with human life and the consequences of this proposal no man can foresee."
Read his remarks here
Rabbi Moshe Avraham Halperin
Director of the Science and Technology Torah Law Institute
“In Judaism, there is no difference between morality and Torah law,” Rabbi Halperin explained. “What others call morality is how Jews serve God. This especially includes difficult life and death decisions, what we call the sanctity of life. Life is holy
Rabbi Moshe Avraham Halperin
Director of the Science and Technology Torah Law Institute
“In Judaism, there is no difference between morality and Torah law,” Rabbi Halperin explained. “What others call morality is how Jews serve God. This especially includes difficult life and death decisions, what we call the sanctity of life. Life is holy, the holiest thing in the world, because it is through life that we serve God. “Therefore, no person can be the master over life; not his own and certainly not someone else’s. Life belongs to God and He is the only one who decides over when it begins and when it ends. So even a person who is in a vegetative state, his soul being in the world increases the Glory of Heaven that is in the world. “Morality that is not based in the Torah is selective, placing Man at the top, in the decision making role. A person can destroy his own property or tell someone else to destroy it because it is his property to do with as he chooses. In selective morality, if a man chooses to end his life, since it is his life, he is within his right to do so. “But if you believe that the essence of life is the soul that was placed there by God, and that belongs to him, is part of him, then taking life is the worst crime possible. “It is absolutely forbidden under any condition to remove someone from life-saving measures, even if he is suffering, even if he requests it. Similarly, it is forbidden to withhold normal treatment, or food and water and medicine, that will extend his life. These things are murder, plain and simple. You can pray for his suffering to end but you cannot actively end it. “If a person has a chance to live after resuscitation or CPR, even if he will be disabled, then every effort must be made to lengthen his life. But if there is no chance for him to return to life, if he will for sure never return to consciousness, then there is no necessity to resuscitate the person.”
In the case of many people and limited resources, of course the doctors must choose who they have the greatest chance of saving. But the doctor may not make a judgment between the value of two lives. It is not his place to do so.” Read.
Rabbi Yosef Berger
Rabbi of King David’s Tomb on Mount Zion. "Shortening life in any way is most assuredly a sin and delays the final redemption." He quotes the last verse in Psalms to illustrate how every moment of life is a unique opportunity to praise the Creator. "God breathed life in Man,” Rabbi Berger said. “The purpose of life is to
Rabbi Yosef Berger
Rabbi of King David’s Tomb on Mount Zion. "Shortening life in any way is most assuredly a sin and delays the final redemption." He quotes the last verse in Psalms to illustrate how every moment of life is a unique opportunity to praise the Creator. "God breathed life in Man,” Rabbi Berger said. “The purpose of life is to praise God. Anything that lessens life, reduces God’s praises and delays the Redemption. Euthanasia denies the inherent sanctity of life, denying that life comes from God. The Children of Israel were supposed to be enslaved in Egypt for 400 years but were actually in Egypt for much less.
The Bible describes that the Children of Israel multiplied greatly. It was this increase of life, this love of life, that shortened the exile in Egypt. Pharaoh tried to lengthen the exile by throwing the male babies into the Nile, offsetting the Israelite’s fertility, thereby lessening the power of life and increasing the exile.
There is a very simple rule: anything that increases life is from God and brings the Messiah closer. Anything that increases death is precisely the opposite and delays the Messiah. Killing children was a pagan ritual, most notably burning children alive for Ba’al. When Pharoah ordered the Israelite children thrown into the Nile, it was only the boys since this was a more ‘worthy’ sacrifice to the Egyptian gods. The natural order is for the parents to protect their children, which is why Moses refused Pharoah’s offer to leave Egypt so long as the children and elderly stayed behind. Sacrificing the children and elderly in the name of survival is a trait of the godless and doing so certainly delays the Redemption." Read.
Rabbi Mayer Stembler
Federation of Jewish Communities
of Ukraine. “The Torah sanctifies life, which means we cannot take lightly the taking of the life of a fetus, who holds the potential of decades of human life,” Stambler said in a statement. Aborting a fetus, if not performed to save the mother’s life, could be tantamount to murder — a
Rabbi Mayer Stembler
Federation of Jewish Communities
of Ukraine. “The Torah sanctifies life, which means we cannot take lightly the taking of the life of a fetus, who holds the potential of decades of human life,” Stambler said in a statement. Aborting a fetus, if not performed to save the mother’s life, could be tantamount to murder — a view, he said that “has been the position of the rabbis of Poland throughout history and is the position of anyone who cares about the authentic Jewish tradition.” Read
Rav Yaakov Kamenetsky zt”l
referred "abortion is murder and today we are desensitized to (this kind of) murder because of its frequency"
(1970 Shabbos Shuvah derashah)
Read Rav. Kamenetsky's comments on abortion in Israel here.
Rabbi Dr. Moshe Tendler zt”l
Jewish Bioethics. p 121.
“Abortion is included in the Noachidic prohibition of murder.” Read
Rabbi Abraham Gross
Past President Rabbinical Alliance of America. At a 1972 rally in Central Park urging the repeal of New York State's liberalized abortion law, Rabbi Gross declared,“Let us call abortion by its proper name — murder.”Read his comments here.
Rabbi Moses ben Maimon zt”l
(Maimonides or Rambam)
Guide for the Perplexed 1:31
"Men like the opinions to which they have been accustomed from their youth; they defend them, and shun contrary views: and this is one of the things that prevents men from finding truth, for they cling to the opinions of habit."
Mishneh Torah
The definition of mur
Rabbi Moses ben Maimon zt”l
(Maimonides or Rambam)
Guide for the Perplexed 1:31
"Men like the opinions to which they have been accustomed from their youth; they defend them, and shun contrary views: and this is one of the things that prevents men from finding truth, for they cling to the opinions of habit."
Mishneh Torah
The definition of murder according to the Noahide Laws includes a person who kills "even one unborn in the womb of its mother," and adds that such a person is liable for the death penalty.
Lord Rabbi Jonathan Sacks zt”l
Former Chief Rabbi of Great Britain
To be a Jew is to be willing to challenge the prevailing consensus. Power allows us to rule over others without their consent. As the Greek historian Thucydides put it: "The strong do what they wish and the weak suffer what they must." Judaism is a sustained critique of pow
Lord Rabbi Jonathan Sacks zt”l
Former Chief Rabbi of Great Britain
To be a Jew is to be willing to challenge the prevailing consensus. Power allows us to rule over others without their consent. As the Greek historian Thucydides put it: "The strong do what they wish and the weak suffer what they must." Judaism is a sustained critique of power. That is the conclusion I have reached after a lifetime of studying our sacred texts. It is about how a nation can be formed on the basis of shared commitment and collective responsibility. It is about how to construct a society that honors the human person as the image and likeness of God. It is about a vision, never fully realized but never abandoned, of a world based on justice and compassion, in which "They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.” (Isaiah 11:9)
"The Hebrew Bible is the first document to see time as an arena of change. Tomorrow need not be the same as yesterday…. The abolition of slavery, the recognition of human rights, the construction of a society of equal dignity — these have taken centuries, millennia. But they happened only because people learned to see inequalities and injustices as something other than inevitable.
Think Jewish, 2018
Rabbi Jack Abramowitz
“The Torah does not permit abortion on demand…The Torah not only prohibits abortion for Jews, it is universally prohibited under the seven Noahide laws under the general category of murder.”
“The Talmud in Yevamos (63b) says that Moshiach won’t come until all the souls that are waiting to be born have been born (based
Rabbi Jack Abramowitz
“The Torah does not permit abortion on demand…The Torah not only prohibits abortion for Jews, it is universally prohibited under the seven Noahide laws under the general category of murder.”
“The Talmud in Yevamos (63b) says that Moshiach won’t come until all the souls that are waiting to be born have been born (based on Isaiah 57:16), so intentional refusal to procreate holds up the redemption.” Read
Rabbi Isaac Halevi Herzog zt”l
1st Chief Rabbi of Israel
In 1942 Rabbi Herzog wrote about abortion in Israel vis-a-vis the slaughter of children in the Holocaust:
“It is a hideous sin, a double sin, against the laws of our holy Torah and against the future of our Jewish nation. It is a grave sin against the laws of our sacred Torah, which
Rabbi Isaac Halevi Herzog zt”l
1st Chief Rabbi of Israel
In 1942 Rabbi Herzog wrote about abortion in Israel vis-a-vis the slaughter of children in the Holocaust:
“It is a hideous sin, a double sin, against the laws of our holy Torah and against the future of our Jewish nation. It is a grave sin against the laws of our sacred Torah, which is a Torah of life, which desires life and the multiplication of life. Read
Rabbi Lazer Brody
With reference to that Gemara, Rabbi Lazer Brody has written:
“In light of the above Talmudic teachings, any person who performs, supports, assists, or encourages abortions is delaying the arrival of Moshiach with his or her own two hands…So, if you’d like to lend a helping hand in bringing Moshiach as fast as possible, do
Rabbi Lazer Brody
With reference to that Gemara, Rabbi Lazer Brody has written:
“In light of the above Talmudic teachings, any person who performs, supports, assists, or encourages abortions is delaying the arrival of Moshiach with his or her own two hands…So, if you’d like to lend a helping hand in bringing Moshiach as fast as possible, do what you can to fight against abortion in every way possible.” Read
Rabbi Joseph ben Ephraim Karo zt”l
Author of the Shulchan Aruch, the code of Jewish law most referenced for Jewish legal opinions. The Shulchan Aruch contains the opinion that all Sabbath rules prohibiting carrying, working and traveling must be violated to help a Jewish woman in labor. Read
Rabbi Norman Lamm zt”l
Ret Chancellor of Yeshiva University
“The freedom of parents to crush prenatal life, which now seems to be in vogue, will eventually lead to utter destruction,” Rabbi Norman Lamm stated in 1970, “because it is only a small leap of logic from feoticide to infanticide, to getting rid of infants who may not fulfill our i
Rabbi Norman Lamm zt”l
Ret Chancellor of Yeshiva University
“The freedom of parents to crush prenatal life, which now seems to be in vogue, will eventually lead to utter destruction,” Rabbi Norman Lamm stated in 1970, “because it is only a small leap of logic from feoticide to infanticide, to getting rid of infants who may not fulfill our ideals of mental and physical health, or, eventually, ethnic and genetic respectability.”
Rabbi Lamm reiterated those themes in a sermon from 1976: “Never, never, must we allow this desacralization of life — whether in the form of benevolent euthanasia or free and easy abortions … or any of the other manifestations of this fundamental antagonism to life — to influence us.” Read.
Rabbi Shimon Cowen
The Theory and Practice of Universal Ethics — The Noahide Laws
“The opposition of Noahide law to the abortion of an unborn life, except in very special circumstances, embodies one of the deepest norms of human society, the protection of life.”
In other words, Torah forbids abortion on demand, whether by a Jew or non-Jew.
Rabbi Shimon Cowen
The Theory and Practice of Universal Ethics — The Noahide Laws
“The opposition of Noahide law to the abortion of an unborn life, except in very special circumstances, embodies one of the deepest norms of human society, the protection of life.”
In other words, Torah forbids abortion on demand, whether by a Jew or non-Jew. The ‘pragmatic’ consideration that if we insist on this, another purported ‘religious’ position, which does not allow the exceptions provided by Noahide law, could also prevail, in fact panders to moral relativism. It supports the extension of this global mass phenomenon of killing, both morally wrong itself and with all kinds of further corrosive consequences for society. So too, it is spurious to allow a person a so-called "civil liberty" to abort. There is no such liberty to kill, in the sights of Noahide law. Read
Rabbi Pinchas Teitz zt”l
Shedding innocent blood in Jewish life is so reprehensible that at times even those not responsible for the act of murder who hear of such an incident must dissociate themselves from it. This is expressed by the recitation of the elders of the city in whose proximity a dead man is found. In the eglo arufo ceremony
Rabbi Pinchas Teitz zt”l
Shedding innocent blood in Jewish life is so reprehensible that at times even those not responsible for the act of murder who hear of such an incident must dissociate themselves from it. This is expressed by the recitation of the elders of the city in whose proximity a dead man is found. In the eglo arufo ceremony that the Torah mandates, they must wash their hands, saying: "Our hands did not shed this blood," even though there is no reason to assume that they were directly involved in the death. How, then, are we to respond with less than shock to the killing of 100,000 fetuses through abortion in
Israel, year after year? This is certainly a sin against Torah . .. It is a crime against Jewry, against mankind, and even against the Land itself - for the Torah clearly warns that the Land, in its sensitivity to corruption, can tolerate no bloodshed. The Midrash relates that in ancient Egypt, a tiny Jewish child, born prematurely, tumbled into the
mortar from which the bricks were made. The Angel Gavriel scooped up the brick encasing the infant's form
and presented it before the Almighty as an accusation against the cruelty of Pharaoh's slave-labor. This
evoked the Almighty's mercy and the Jews were redeemed. For the sake of the security of our people in Eretz
Yisroel, we cannot permit the sanction of a practice that mirrors the brutality of ancient Egypt. Read
Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson zt”l
Advising an expectant mother in 1971, Rabbi Schneerson (the Lubavitcher Rebbe) wrote, “Should there be those who desire to persuade [you] that — God forbid — you perform an abortion: Tell them that this constitutes deliberate murder of a creature who is as yet unable to protect himself from those who seek to murder him.” Read
Rabbi Aharon Lichtenstein zt”l
“Abortion on demand is a moral abomination, whoever the fetus may be. We have much to learn from the late Lubavitcher Rebbe, who took up the cudgels for a modicum of prayer in the public schools. Unquestionably, we shall be far more concerned if and when our own are involved. Insouciance is, however, out of the question.” Read
Rabbi Chananaya Weissman
A War on God and Creation
"It should not need to be debated that unborn children have the right to be born, and the lives of the elderly and infirm are no less precious than the lives of society's most fortunate. The rich and powerful do not have the right to decide the value of anyone's life, nor when someone has
Rabbi Chananaya Weissman
A War on God and Creation
"It should not need to be debated that unborn children have the right to be born, and the lives of the elderly and infirm are no less precious than the lives of society's most fortunate. The rich and powerful do not have the right to decide the value of anyone's life, nor when someone has “already lived their life” and it's time for them to go. That is strictly the purview of God, who forbids us to make such distinctions or calculations, even for the alleged “greater good." It's always for the greater evil. It's always to displace God. The Torah teaches that every life is a unique world, and every moment of every life is infused with the potential to achieve great spiritual heights. One can achieve a share in the world to come with a single heroic act (Avoda Zara 17A and 18A), and one can repent his sins in a quiet moment of reflection (Kiddushin 49B). That “unresponsive” hospital patient may well be engaged in powerful repentance right before an “enlightened” doctor pulls the plug on his life. Cheating anyone out of a single moment of life robs them of this great potential, reduces human life to nothing more than another commodity in a marketplace, and wages war on God. One who shortens a dying person's life by a single moment is a murderer according to the Torah the same as one who murders anyone else.
God's first instruction to Adam and Eve was to fill up the earth, without limit. Procreation is an obligation, not a “lifestyle choice”. Children are a blessing, not a burden, and certainly not the property of the government. Those who speak of “overpopulation” and “depopulation” deny God's power to sustain humanity and wage war against His will. They want to take over God's business." Read
Rabbi Immanuel Jakobovits zt”l
Abortion in Israel is “mass slaughter of the innocents … posing a security problem graver than any threats of war or terror. " Read
Rabbi Eliezer Melamed, founder of Yeshiva Har Bracha in Israel. "...it is clear that a Jew may not kill a fetus, as there is a general principle that anything forbidden to non-Jews is forbidden to Jews as well. The purpose of the Torah is to sanctify the Jewish people and to demand much of them when it comes to mitzvot, so it is inconceiv
Rabbi Eliezer Melamed, founder of Yeshiva Har Bracha in Israel. "...it is clear that a Jew may not kill a fetus, as there is a general principle that anything forbidden to non-Jews is forbidden to Jews as well. The purpose of the Torah is to sanctify the Jewish people and to demand much of them when it comes to mitzvot, so it is inconceivable that something forbidden to non-Jews would be permissible for Jews (Sanhedrin 59a). Thus, once we know that a non-Jews may not kill a fetus, it follows that Jews may not, either." Read The Prohibition of Abortion for Jews and Non-Jews.
Rabbi David Novak
The Sanctity of Human Life. P 68
At this point I would ask my fellow Jewish ethicists, especially the traditionalists ones: Does our reverence for human life, even the miniscule human life of the newly conceived embryo, with what the tradition calls human dignity ( kvod ha-beriyot )? Surely we are not obligated or even p
Rabbi David Novak
The Sanctity of Human Life. P 68
At this point I would ask my fellow Jewish ethicists, especially the traditionalists ones: Does our reverence for human life, even the miniscule human life of the newly conceived embryo, with what the tradition calls human dignity ( kvod ha-beriyot )? Surely we are not obligated or even permitted to kill a human life, however prehuman it looks, for the sake of someone else’s therapeutic needs - that is for the sake of somebody to whose life the embryo is not a direct threat. We certainly are not obligated or even permitted to kill an embryo for the more indirect benefit of the advancement of possible helpful scientific information. I believe that we are neither obligated nor permitted to do so. I believe that we are prohibited from doing so. We can discover that prohibition ( issur ) philosophy and thus argue it to anyone, anywhere, at any time. The argument need not be confined to persons who are required to live according to our own moral theology, although our moral theology certainly can confirm it.
Rabbi Shlomo Nachman ben Ya'akov
"Be the Blessing
you were created to be and
don't let the perfect defeat the good."
Rabbi Shlomo Nachman ben Ya'akov is an Chassidic (Breslov) Sephardic Jew and Rabbi Yoreh Yoreh, Yadin Yadin. He also holds an MA in WorldReligious Studies, an Interfaith Counseling degree and other
achievements. He is the own
Rabbi Shlomo Nachman ben Ya'akov
"Be the Blessing
you were created to be and
don't let the perfect defeat the good."
Rabbi Shlomo Nachman ben Ya'akov is an Chassidic (Breslov) Sephardic Jew and Rabbi Yoreh Yoreh, Yadin Yadin. He also holds an MA in WorldReligious Studies, an Interfaith Counseling degree and other
achievements. He is the owner/author of LearnEmunah.com and offers weekly live Jewish broadcasts and services. Having lost his first child to infanticide he takes this issue seriously. As Torah says: Choose life
so that you and your offspring will live. (Deuteronomy 30:15-20)
Rabbi Menashe Bovit
Rabbi Bovit isthe
spiritual leader of Bellerose
Jewish Center in Queens,
NY. He educates using
traditional texts, history,
anthropology, archaeology
and modern academic
Biblical Studies. Rabbi Bovit
is a strong advocate of the
State of Israel, is active in
interfaith activities, and
president of the Eastern
Queens Interfaith Council.
(Rabbi Eliezer Papo)
The Pele Yo'es zt”l
Advice to someone who wishes his sons to become Talmidei Hakhamim (Torah Scholars). "You should not wait till they are born and start growing up. Rather, both father and mother should pray constantly to G-d for this, before the pregnancy, during the pregnancy and after the child is born. They should
(Rabbi Eliezer Papo)
The Pele Yo'es zt”l
Advice to someone who wishes his sons to become Talmidei Hakhamim (Torah Scholars). "You should not wait till they are born and start growing up. Rather, both father and mother should pray constantly to G-d for this, before the pregnancy, during the pregnancy and after the child is born. They should make donations to Talmidei Hakhamim and request them to pray for their children. During the pregnancy, the mother should make every effort to hear the study of Torah, and after the child is born, she should take him to places of Torah study." We learn this from the mother of Ribbi Yehoshua Ben Hananya, who during her pregnancy, would go from one Beth Midrash (study hall), to another, to hear words of Torah and ask the Hakhamim to pray that her son would be very wise.
Rabbenu Bahya zt”l
There are three stages in a man's life: (a) in the womb, (b) in this world
and (c) in the world to come.
When the child is in the mother's womb all his needs are met. If it were up to him, he would remain there forever. When he leaves the womb it is because he has no choice in the matter. In truth, whatever takes place i
Rabbenu Bahya zt”l
There are three stages in a man's life: (a) in the womb, (b) in this world
and (c) in the world to come.
When the child is in the mother's womb all his needs are met. If it were up to him, he would remain there forever. When he leaves the womb it is because he has no choice in the matter. In truth, whatever takes place in the womb is wondrous and beyond our comprehension, such as how the infant exists in that environment, and what it is that forces him, at the appropriate time, to emerge from there. Just as the understanding of the workings of this phenomenon is hidden from us, so too the work of G-d, in general, is hidden from our comprehension and is wondrous. The fact that we cannot comprehend it should not prevent us, however, from appreciating and seeing the hand of G-d and the wonders of His creation, every day, as we go about our daily lives.
Parashath Tazria
Zohar, Shemot 3b "For There are three [persons] who drive away God's presence from the world, making it impossible for the Holy One, Blessed be He, to fix His abode in the universe and causing prayer to be unanswered.....
[The third is ] he who causes the fetus to be destroyed in the womb, for he destroys the artifice of the Holy One, blessed be He, and His workmanship…For these abominations the Spirit of Holiness weeps. (Zohar, Shemot 3b) .
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