Organ Donation in Halakha

Can/should I donate organs when I am alive? E.g. donating a kidney or bone marrow or donating blood? The Torah tells us not to stand idly by the blood of your neighbor (Vayikra 19:16). But can we risk our own lives to save others? The answer lies in the risk level. If the donor would be high risk most halakhic decisors would rule the act forbidden but if the risk is relatively low halakhic decisors generally permit and could even mandate it. 

Rabbi Joshua Flug writes "donating a kidney entails a certain degree of risk. In a survey of over 10,000 kidney donations, two donor deaths were reported. If we assume that one must undertake a certain degree of risk in order to save a life, one cannot absolve himself from the obligation to donate a kidney based on the risks associated with donating a kidney."

Rav Moshe Feinstein writes (Igrot Moshe, Yoreh De'ah 2:174) that a person is not obligated to donate an organ to save another person. However, he considers the act meritorious. Rav Ovadiah Yosef ( Yehave Daat 3:84) hints that not only is it meritorious it might even be obligatory.


Can/Should I donate my organs after I die? Are there any halakhic impediments? What do I need to do to be ready? This is an area of halakha which has had many evolutions over the years and it is one which is quite misunderstood. Most Jews think it is forbidden and don't even bother looking into the subject. A wikipedia article quotes Nancy Scheper-Hughes of Organ Watch who writes that "Israel has become a 'pariah' in the organ transplant world. The lack of donations due to Jewish custom heightened the disparity between the supply and demand of organs." All this when Israel is at the forefront in transplant technology. 

Before we can discuss organ donation after death, we must decide when a person dies. What is the definition of death? Is it when the heart stops beating or is it the cessation of respiration (Brain-Stem death)? "Brain-stem death is a term used to describe the whole brain dying – both the cortex and the brain-stem. The brain-stem is the central nervous system of the human body and it is the center of consciousness. If the brain-stem dies, respiration will stop. Once the heart stops receiving oxygen it too will die and stop beating and all other organs also die as a result of oxygen deprivation." Dr Paul Ratzker. 

Ratzker concludes "a brain-stem dead patient is not a person suffering from brain-stem death – he is dead! Once death has been established the question facing the family in this situation is, what to do? Should the family turn off the ventilator and bury the deceased? Or should the family keep the body on a ventilator in order to donate organs and save other people’s lives? Emotionally this is a difficult decision and every family has to do what they feel is right."

Scientifically there is no debate on this issue, the moment of death is brain-stem death. However, in Jewish law it is a little bit more complicated. Rabbi Shlomo M. Brody summarizes the halakhic positions very well in his book A Guide to the Complex: Contemporary Halakhic Debates. He explains that the position of Rav Moshe Feinstein "in 1976 that brain-stem death fulfils the halakhic criterion of death, even if the heart continues beating due to artificial respiration... In 1987, the Chief Rabbinate of Israel endorsed this position, pronouncing conventional, non-experimental organ transplants a great mitzva."

The Halachic Organ Donor Society (HODS) has the following to say. "Organs for donation are usually taken from a person whose heart is still beating and was declared dead because the patient’s brain had died.  Some Rabbis, however, view a beating heart as a sign of life (and prohibit removing organs) while other Rabbis do not deem a beating heart sufficient for life (requiring brain function and autonomous) and therefore allow donation from a brain dead patient.

"The Halachic Organ Donor Society recognizes this debate and encourages organ donation at either stage by offering a unique organ donor card that allows a person to choose donation at brain death or alternatively at cessation of heartbeat.

"From a medical perspective, however, it is difficult to recover organs after cardiac death.  In addition, the heart and lungs cannot be recovered once the heart dies. Therefore the decision about when to donate is significant." To read more about organ donations before and after death, please go to the HODS website. 

Is Tobacco Smoking Kosher?

In 1976, in light of Medical findings that cigarette smoking cause harm, the Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv, Rabbi Hayim David Halevy, declared tobacco smoking to be a violation of Jewish law. His prohibition on smoking was widely publicized in newspapers in Israel and the United States. He then wrote a formal responsum on the topic in his Aseh lecha Rav (vol. 2 pp9-13).

In short his reasons for forbidding smoking are:

• The Torah mentions (Devarim 4:9 and 4:15) "Just beware and watch yourself very well" and "you shall watch yourselves very well". Which the gemara (Berachot 32b) learns that we have a responsibility to look after our physical health.
• The Rambam writes (Hilchot Rotzeach 11:4) "It is a positive mitzvah to remove any obstacle that could pose a danger to life, and to be very careful regarding these matters, as Devarim 4:9 states: "Beware for yourself; and guard your soul." If a person leaves a dangerous obstacle and does not remove it, he negates the observance of a positive commandment, and violates the negative commandment: "Do not cause blood to be spilled."
• The Rambam also adds (Hilchot De'ot 4:1) "Since maintaining a healthy and sound body is among the ways of God - for one cannot understand or have any knowledge of the Creator, if he is ill - therefore, he must avoid that which harms the body and accustom himself to that which is healthful and helps the body become stronger."

Rabbi Halevy then concludes based on the medical knowledge at hand and the words of the Torah and Rambam (who was a doctor himself) it is clear that it is forbidden to smoke and it is an obligation of every person to guard their physical health in order to serve his God with all his abilities and therefore everyone must withhold from smoking.

It should be noted that at the time of Rabbi Halevy's writing his responsum other rabbis permitted smoking included among these were Rav Moshe Feinstein although he did write it was                                                           not recommended! 

The Hafetz Haim (1838-1933) sought to dissuade smokers for another reason. He considered it a waste of time, and saw the practice of people borrowing cigarettes from each other as morally questionable!

Today, all of the great rabbis have come to a consensus that universally smoking is bad for one's health and so would therefore be forbidden in Jewish law. Indeed in June 30, 2006, the Vaad Halacha (Jewish law committee), sponsored by the Rabbinical Council of America, ruled that the use of tobacco is forbidden to Jews, and the committee specifically cited and reversed precedents that permitted smoking.

Thoughts on Celebrating New Year and Sylvester Day

A lot of people have been asking me, "Is it ok to celebrate New Year and go to New Year parties?" and  "Why in Israel is the secular New Year called Sylvester Day?"

Well let's start with the origins of New Year celebrations. According to Wikipedia The Romans dedicated this day to Janus, the god of gates, doors, and beginnings. The month of January was named after Janus, who had two faces, one looking forward and the other looking backward. This suggests that New Year’s celebrations are founded on pagan traditions. 

In 46 BCE the Roman Emperor Julius Caesar made adjustments to the Roman calendar, including beginning the new year on January 1 rather than in March. In practical terms, all cultures celebrate the new year according to their particular calendar and the Romans were no different. When the Roman Empire became the Holy Roman Empire under Constantine, at his mother Helena's behest, the Christian world carried on the custom of celebrating the Roman new year.

Later it became a date in the Gregorian calendar of Christendom, New Year's Day liturgically marked the Feast of the Brit of Jesus. Note That January 1st is exactly 8 days after December 25th. For hundreds of years the Catholic Church celebrated New Year as a religious holiday. The Rema writes that New Year’s day is a Christian Holiday indeed it is clear that it is the eighth day of Christmas as much as New Year’s day whose celebration must be avoided and can only be marked when long term life threatening hatred to our community will result if gifts are not given. (See Darche Moshe Y.D. 148) 

Origins of Sylvester Day

In many European countries this day was named after Saint Sylvester (314-335 CE). Christianity grew under his rule and it is believed that he died on December 31. There is nothing remotely Jewish about "Sylvester Day." So why is it celebrated in Israel? Israeli society flows according to the Jewish calendar. Schools and businesses are closed on Shabbat, and the whole country shuts down on Jewish holidays like Yom Kippur. For that reason the secular/Christian new year has little significance. Yet when some ultra-secularists discovered that most of the world holds a "New Years party," they didn't want to feel left out. Yet they couldn't call it "New Years" because that title was already taken by Rosh Hashana. So the name Sylvester was adopted instead. However according to Rochel Sylvetsky, Sylvester was always a night of fear for Jews with many pogroms taking place. Similar to what happened on Christmas Eve.

But, despite the origins of New Years, today seems to be very different. There is no real sense

of it being a religious holiday at all. Over the last 300 years it has become completely secularized to the point that even religious Christians do not celebrate the date as a religious holiday at all and it might well have lost its status as a religious holiday. Rav Moshe Feinstein notes (Iggerot Moshe Even HaEzer 2:13) that the first day of the year for them is not prohibited according to law, but pious people should be strict.

So despite the Pagan and Christian origins of New Year, today there is no hint of those origins in the current practices an celebrations. Therefore it would be permitted to celebrate albeit taking care with how one conducts him/herself. Personally I don't celebrate New Year but that might have more to do with me being boring rather than a transgression of Jewish Law!

For more information on this see Rabbi Broyde's article in full.