Israel – The parents of Shimon Zelikovsky, a 35-year-old man who was left brain dead in a road accident over the weekend, donated his organs and saved nine people who desperately needed transplants.
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His heart went to a 49-year-old man at Hadassah-University Medical Center in Jerusalem’s Ein Kerem, while his lungs were transplanted into a 54-year-old man and a 62-year-old woman at the Rabin Medical Center-Beilinson Campus in Petah Tikva.
A 61-year-old woman received some of the liver lobe at Hadassah, and a two-year-old received the remaining lobe at Schneider Children’s Medical Center in Petah Tikva.
A kidney and pancreas went to a 35-year-old man at Beilinson and the other kidney to a 54-year-old man at Rambam Medical Center.
Skin was taken for the treatment of burn patients, while ligaments and bone were saved for transplant into people with orthopedic problems and bone cancer.
they might arrest him
Excellent!
What a gevaldig, beautiful, noble, and respectful way to honor his death by giving life.
This is a true Kiddush Hashem.
Wow, that’s amazing.
Btw anyone know what the halachic view is of organ donations.
Saving life in death. But the part about skin, bone and ligaments? How do you do a tahara?
Nebech to this poor unguided soul. no tahara no kevira, mamesh like the animals. Exactly what herzel envisioned.
ע”פ פסק הרבנים הגאונים שליט”א זהו אסור דאורייתא לנדב חלקי הגוף גם אם המוח מת
Contrary to popular belief, halacha has no problem to donate organs. The problem is that halacha says that brain-dead, if the heart beats, is NOT dead.
The US law (and around the world) ALSO had it 30+ years ago, that death meant that the heart couldn’t function. But then the new technology of organ transplant was introduced, and if the heart stops completely, [almost always] the organs are useless. (The organs work best if removed from a body whose heart is functioning.)
So they revised the law(!) and re-defined death to mean brain dead. According to halacha, removing organs from a brain-dead only, person, amounts to murder.
(There were many cases that a brain dead person awoke and recovered.)
So yes, one may donate organs. BUT, not kill you for the favor.
Hatzolas nefashos mamash.
I always thought/heard that it was a BIG problem to donate ANY organ after death (regardless of when/how death occured). I thought it had something to do with techiat hameitim. Does anyone know for sure? And with sources please not just “rabbis” Thank you.
anyone know can organs be donated after complete death?
First of all a jew cannot disconnect the machines if he’s brain dead, Second, a yid cannot donate organs once he died. Thats the halucha~
Okay, guys. Here is MY opinion… for sure the only one that counts… LOL
Pikuach nefesh IS a great mitzvah. One of the greatest! TRUE,
Pikuach nefesh is docheh (pushes off) MOST but NOT ALL other commandments
It is totally ossur to kill one person to save 1000, even if the one only has 5 min of poor “quality of life” left. This is clear, undisputed halacha.
True, doctors have redefined death in order to make donating organs palatable to the masses.
In reality, most organs must be harvested PRIOR TO DEATH to be viable. But, the masses, especially those who have some religion or another, have objections to the harvesting of organs or tissues from a living person, thus killing him to harvest said organs.
Secondly, the organ recipient could not emotionally handle the concept that a man was killed so he may live.
So we conveniently re-define death, so that we can tell ourselves and others, especially the recipient and the donors’ familes that the donor has, indeed, passed away.
I will not pass judgment. Maybe this chicanery does save many lives, and may be worth adopting as acceptable.
But, though a few choice rabbonim have brought into it, the main poskim of the generation have boldly shut the door, rejecting this deception.
It is clear that brain death is not death. The person is still halachakly alive in every sense. Even Brain-Stem Death, which almost 100% of doctors admits is irreversible, and is the equivalent of death, is not really death, and certainly is not halachakly death.
Maybe we do need all the major poskim to sit down, and re-work our thoughts on this to save lives.
But, it is not so poshut. At this time it is clearly ossur. That some “brave” rabbonim have come up with some heterim, does not change the fact that they are almost daas yachid, as the main poskim stand firm against it.
Remembering that our time on this world is but a grain of sand as compared with the vast beaches of enternity:….. I urge you all to consider:
The issue of getting a Tahara is not the important thing. The real questions are:
1. Is this act murder? Is the harvesting of vital organs from a man/woman whose heart is still beating, and thus causing the heart to stop, actually murder?
2. Are the doctors halachakly guilty of murder?
3. Since saving lives, even 1000 lives, does not justify murder, this is vital.
4.. Is the recipient of an organ harvested in the process of murder mutar to take said organ? Or does the recipient gain a life, but lose Olam Habah?
5. Does the DONOR and RECIPIENT lose Olam Habah by causing the doctors to be nichshal (tripped up) by this dangerous choice?
6. We all agree that it is murder by original Torah law, since original halacha is clear that if the heart beats the person is alive.. Do the rabbonim have the obligation to pass new laws making it mutar? Do they have the power to do it?
I have no answers. What I do have is respect for all sides and opinions, and would like to see this matter discussed.
Maybe the solution is to grow clones, which we halachkly may find a way to define as “golams” … not as human beings ….. since they are not created by halachik reproduction, and use these clones as organ farms.
This may find the outside world objecting to it, since they will want to give these clones rights of some sort. But, maybe this still is the way to go?
Again with emotions. Enough! Our Torah guides us on every move in life and in death. Donating organs from a brain-dead person (or evan a completely dead person, according to most) is asur min hatorah. The fact that others were saved is irrelavent. If you think this view is not sensative than sign up for another religion. Our Torah is crystal clear and staying true to it is not always fun or politically correct. Organ donation is against the Torah regardless of YOUR opinion, the Torah rules, not our emotions
Guy…. it is also important to know, that when you allow “tissue donation” thinking they will take only skin….. you need to know that if your donor card specified “Tissues” they usually take the major BONES!!!!! Tibia, Fiblua, Femur, etc., They conveniently classify bones as tissue, as most would not want to give away their major bones.
Charles Hall is RIGHT on the mark. The issue is not with “organ donation” per say: Such would be a tremendous mitzvah if we only knew exactly when Halachik death is. Its easy for all of you to be theoretically machmir now and look down upon those who hold like the dati leumi poskim and Rav Tendler, but Lo alienu , it should never befall you or your family , lets see what your attitude would be when you are in a position where you need to rely on their psak to save a family member,.
please check out the website for the halachic organ donation society http://hods.org/
If the heart stops beating the organs are useless. That means to say, organ donations are taken from a patient whose heart is still beating. If his heart is still beating even if his brain is “dead”, he is considered alive according to Rav Moshe Rav Elyashiv and Rav Shlomo Zalman. The Dr who takes his organs is a rotzaich mamesh. It is therefor assur to be the recipeint of organs in Israel because you have to assume they were taken from a yid. In chutz laaretz it is mutar to receive organs because you can assume they were from a goy.
I love how everybody here is a doctor. Somehow you made it through medical school even though college is assur.
The issue is what is the halachik definition of death. Is it brain death or cardiac death? That is for your rav to decide. But to correct a few points:
1. You can harvest organs after cardiac death. Some of them (heart, lungs) arent as good for transplant at that point but others (skin, cornea, kidney) can be used
2. There is DEFINETLY a tahara after donation, why wouldnt there be?
3. There are Rabbonim who hold that brain death is Halachik death. You may not hold of them, but dont disparage those who do
4. Lastly, on a more intellectual level, if you believe that organ donation is assur and therefore no one in our circles can be a donor, how can you justify receiving an organ transplant f chas v’sholom you need one. Why should you be ale to take, but never give.
If a person is totally brain dead, they can only exist as long as they are connected to oxygen and heart and lung machines.. etc… they will never recover whatever happens; it’s impossible.
Coma is a different matter. People have survived after being in a coma after many years even more than ten or more years. But those people are never called “brain dead.”
“Brain dead” means there will be no recovery.
If there’s still a kidney availale, I have a buyer!!
4. Lastly, on a more intellectual level, if you believe that organ donation is assur and therefore no one in our circles can be a donor, how can you justify receiving an organ transplant f chas v’sholom you need one. Why should you be ale to take, but never give.
I am still waiting for someone to answer that.
Why not just say those who feel we cannot donate, then we should not take. In cannot be a one why street. Also since who feels it is murder, how could you condone murder, The Torah says you cannot kill someone to save yourselves.
So taken an organ should be assur
Would love someone to be on death bed and say I will not take since I refuse to give. If not, you are really selfish murder someone to keep yourselves alive.
i had a friend who the doctors stated he was brain dead and the hospital was putting pressure that we need to pull the plug. The family got a copy of the ny halachic living will that states religious rights of such a patient supersede the medicals directives. After about a week- With a psak of gedolie hador it was determined not to refill the medicine bag that was helping the heart pump with the repsirator. The Doctors stated it would be a matter of hours or less and the patients heart would completly stop. I went to Rav Malkiel Kotler to arrange for the Levaya that we were told would be within hours (according to the doctors)and he stated “Who Said So- he is still alive, Why are we talking about levayas.”.
The patient lived for another 2 weeks with no artifical medicine and he was what medicaly called “Braind Dead'” the entire 2-3 weeks So if Medically Brain Dead + not breathing, How did this person live for an addtional 2 weeks with no artifical medicine and he was medicaly considered brain dead. NO they did not pull the plug. The respirator machine can only help as long as the hearts pumping. Once the heart stops the machine cant help.
PS this hospital was NYU.
Even with brain death, there is no foolproof test. They use a series of tests to surmise that the brain has ceased functioning, but it’s not black & white, and there is room for error. If the brain is REALLY dead, there is no chance for RECOVERY, but the person may very well be still considered alive.
Now let’s think about it, at what point is the person considered dead. Obviously they are trying to get the heart out while it’s still alive, so the heart isn’t dead yet. So what made the person dead, if many of his organs are alive? This is something that is above human capabilities, and lucky for us, we have a Torah to base our opinions on.
So let’s study….
What a noble act of chesed! you know, you can’t just take
There is so much misinformation here (sprinkled in witha few posters trying to clear things up with factual information). Unfortunately, much education is still needed about this very complicated subject, and the Halachic Organ Donor Society site (www.hods.org) is the best place to obtain it. I am a board member of this organization, which has many respected poskim and great rabbis who have obtained organ donor cards and who support the organization.
A few things:
1) In the history of mankind, no one has ever woken up after being brain-stem dead. The tests today performed to determine whether or not the brain stem is dead are highly sophisticated, and can determine beyond a doubt whether in fact a person is brain stem dead or not.
2) The argument is not about whether it is forbidden or permitted to donate organs. The question is how one defines halachic death, as one poster correctly pointed out. If you define halachic death as cessation of heartbeat, this limits the ability to donate one’s organs (certain organs, such as the kidneys and corneas, can be harvested after the heart stops beating within a very short time period, but a heart or lungs cannot). If you define halachic death as when the brain stem. dies, this greatly increases the opportunity to donate one’s organs after death. The HOD Society allows one to choose their halachic definition of death on its organ donor card
3) The HODS website has a video testimony from R. Dovid Feinstein explaining what his father’s position was on the halachic definition of death. I encourage folks to visit the site and see it.
4) The three prohibitions that would normally make organ donation prohibited (nivul hamet, hanaat hamet, hanalat hamet) are trumped by pikuach nefesh. It is more imortant to save a life, therefore these prohibitions would not apply.
5) The question of whether Jews should receive organs and not donate organs is not only an ethically problematic issue, but could be a halachic issue, too. Rabbis who reject brain stem death have allowed their congregants to receive heart and lung transplants based on the mistaken assumption that the “organs are being harvested anyway” since the standard medical criteria is brain-stem death. However, at the HOD Society’s November 2006 seminar at the Albert Einstein Medical School, several transplant coordinators said that organs are removed only if there is a medically appropriate match between a donor and a recipient. If there is no match, the organs are not removed.
There is also a number of superstitions about donating organs (one won’t be resurrected, etc.) that unfortunately continue to be promulgated, even though they have no basis in the halachic literature.
The issue of donating to non-Jews is also a very misunderstood subject.
Again, I’d recommend that everyone who would like to learn more about the subject visit http://www.hods.org for a complete discussion of all sides, and a wealth of articles and other reference information.
It is a very complex and emotional issue, but unless one understands the facts, one cannot have an intelligent discussion on the subject.
According to all these “Knowledgeable” people quoting R’ Moshe, every person doing mouth to mouth is being Mechaya Meisim…
You cannot quote that that you don’t comprehend. Leave it to those who do!
just this week a friend of mine who was written off as brain dead and was on life support for 6 weeks after being in documented cardiac arrest WITHOUT o2 for 12 minutes….he started speaking and is in great mental state of mind (although he still needs quad bipass).
now I don’t care if you call this real brain dead or misstaken diognossis….if this person would have been unplugged (the dr.’s and insurance kept on putting an extreme amount of pressure to do so with them stopping to cove his bills for the hospital)for his organs it would have been retzichah….
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I am quite certain that the diagnosis of your friend was that he was in a coma, or deep coma, but not brain stem dead. Unfortunately, many people confuse the two–and the result is that there is a misconception that organs can be harvested from people who can wake up from the dead. To repeat, in the history of mankind, no one has ever woken up after actually being brain stem dead.
Terry Schiavo, who made the news a few years ago, was not brain stem dead, she was in a persistent vegitative state, but her brain stem was functioning. If she were brain stem dead, she would not have lived as long as she did. Unfortunately, many people believed she was brain stem dead–which contributes to why there is so much confusion surrounding this issue.
there is a great shiur by Rabbi Noach I Oelbaum on Kol Halashon on Live organ Donations i would encourage all “knowledgable” posters to listen to this shiur for the “Charedi” view on this subject
they called him “brain dead”!!!!
they added the reasoning that he went without o2 for 12 minutes.
the medical field would take his organs in a jiffy to give it to you…so your argument that we can’t take and not give must apply here as well.
sorry to tell you, I wouldn’t want you to “kill” me when I have even the slightest chance (or no chance under the dr’s opinion) waking up or surviving.
you and your entire “enlightend” judiasim world need to know that gedolim have already their decision of what “death” is.
my friend wouldn’t be arround with “geoinim” like u
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They should not have referred to him as brain stem dead if his brain stem was still functioning. The hospitals have very careful procedures to determine whether or not someone is in fact brain stem dead. An independent team conducts the tests to make a determination. The hospitals certainly do not want to declare someone brain stem dead and harvest organs from them before a confirmed test proves it–can you imagine the lawsuits that would result?
Please…I implore those who are seriously interested in discussing the topic…educate yourselves about the issue before spouting posts that may be inaccurate and that contain false
information. We are dealing with life and death issues here. It’s a complex subject that deserves more
than the casual dismissals that some posters are giving the subject.
There are two legitimate halachic opinions regarding the halachic definition of death, and it’s irresponsible and terribly offensive to say that anyone who believes that brain stem death is halachic death is murdering an individual.
Rabosay whoever doesn’t hold in organ donation should simply tell all their relatives that if they ever get sick and need a kidney or any organ then they don’t want someone elses
I’m sorry to bust the bubble, but there seems to be 2 erroneous assumptions here:
a) that Reb Moshe is considered by all chareidy groups as the overriding authority in his/our generation.
b) that testimony by Reb Dovid, his son, as to what R’ Moshe actually held is sufficient and equal to a ruling in responsa.