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| "Do Jews believe in life after death?" |
 Cannot Be FruitfulModerators: Rabbi Y., Mimi Jump to page : 1 Now viewing page 1 [25 messages per page] | View previous thread :: View next thread |
| General Discussion -> Women | Message format |
Sirrom |
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Extreme Veteran Posts: 466   | The very first mitzvah to appear in the Torah is the commandment to have children. “Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it..” It appears that in Jewish law a couple has not fulfilled this obligation until they have had two children (preferably a boy and a girl). My question, therefore, is what is the Judaic status of a couple who cannot bare children? Has this couple failed Hashem? Does such a couple feel ostracized by the Jewish community? If a Jewish woman cannot be fruitful is it permissible for her to obtain ovum from another woman which will be fertilized by her husband within a laboratory? If a Jewish man is not potent, or he is unable to obtain arousal, is it permissible for another man to fertilize the woman’s ovum, within a laboratory? Is adoption equal to procreation for the purpose of fulfilling Hashem’s commandment? Is adopting a Gentile infant and rearing him/her as a Jew equal to adopting a Jewish infant? If a couple does not wish to be involved in scientific procreation which would produce a child that will only carry the genes of either the husband or wife, or they do not wish to adopt a child which would not be of their seed have they failed Hashem’s commandment? Moyshe | ||
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| Peakay |
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Extreme Veteran Posts: 409 Location: Midwest | Wow Moyshe that's a loaded question! I wish I could help answer the qestions but I am not an expert in these areas (Baruch Hashem). I do know that a person who is not able to have children is not looked at as failing since it is not his/her fault that he/she can not have children. If a person does something to his/herself in order to make his/herself not be able to have children then that is not right. Maybe someone else here knows more and can answer you better. Peakay | ||
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| Starjsr |
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Veteran Posts: 278 Location: Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY | Moyshe you've asked a few question which takes a few volumes of Halachic literature to address, the greatest Jewish minds have asked these questions and provided us with some of the answeres as Assisted Reproductive Technology advanced, bringing a lot of great treatment and many challanges to the Jewish community, but don't get overwhelmed, here's a few resources to consider Great page to start out: http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/ivf.html more http://www.yoatzot.org/question.php?id=4812 http://www.jewishwomenshealth.org/article.php?article=28 In-depth review about the advanced stuff like surrogate mothers, IVF, Stem cell, Cloning, etc. (look under Medicine/Health) http://jlaw.com/Articles/ Book: Overcoming infertility: a guide for Jewish couples By Richard V. Grazi http://books.google.com/books?id=ajvbAAAAMAAJ The third key: a Jewish couple's guide to fertility By Michal Finkelstein http://books.google.com/books?id=CJmHbcrpq_cC There are 3 major Jewish organizations which help couples with infertility http://www.atime.org http://www.boneiolam.org http://www.puahonline.org | ||
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| Sirrom |
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Extreme Veteran Posts: 466 | Every time I have a Jewish question I find out that thousands of others have asked the same question and hundreds of Judaic answers have been offered. I read that Judaism is a religion of questions. The Passover Seder begins with four questions asked by the youngest child. “The greatest prophets asked questions of G_d. The Book of Job, the most searching of all explorations of human suffering, is a book of questions asked by man, to which G_d replies with a string of questions of His own.” (Aish) So, I must conclude, when I ask a question I am in good company. After reading most of the articles presented by Starjsr I tend to conclude that in Vitro Fertilization (Petri dish) and Jewish donor eggs are acceptable alternatives to natural birth. Gentile donor eggs require conversion of the newborn baby. Donor semen, on the other hand, is out of the question. Your personal Rabbi, though, may disagree. But in my reading I did come across another issue of concern. That is, if there are extra embryos what is to be done with them. Yes, it is permissible to freeze them for future use by the parents. Yes, it is permissible to “passively” destroy such embryos by letting them thaw. But it is not halachically permissible to “actively” destroy these extra embryos by doing research on them causing their volitional destruction. This then brings up the issue of stem cell research. A research that holds great promise for many medical breakthroughs. Obviously a Jewish couple cannot allow their extra embryos to be used in stem cell research. But now I have the question if Jewish people are, or should they be, opposed to stem cell research altogether, if the stem cells are not Jewish. It is like having a non-Jew perform a chore on Shabbat. Judaism considers that acceptable. Therefore, to me, it seems that Jewish people would not be opposed to stem cell research as long as it is not a Jewish embryo. On the other hand Judaism considers all life sacred, Jews and Gentiles alike. Therefore the destruction of a Gentile embryo would be the same as the destruction of a Jewish embryo. Stem cells, though, are unspecialized cells capable of renewing themselves through cell division only with medical intervention. An embryo in a dish is capable of creating stem cells and eventually cell division, but before this intervention it is a stretch to say that an embryo is “alive” It appears the issue Judaism has re. stem cells, is the deliberate creation of embryos designed specifically to create stem cells. In other words, the farming of embryos and stem cells diminishes the value of potential human life. It is only after an embryo in implanted in a woman does Judaism then consider the destruction of that embryo abortion. Before such implantation the embryo is not considered alive by Judaic standards and its destruction is not considered abortion. But with in vitro fertilization it is not just one embryo that is created to be implanted in a woman. Dozens of embryos are created and select embryos are implanted. Therefore the remaining embryos could be considered as farming and further medical experimentation of these embryos would diminish the value of life After doing some research I personally conclude that although a Jewish couple can not allow their excess embryos to be used for experimentation, research on gentile embryos is acceptable as long as the gentile community itself does not also consider the destruction of such embryos as murder, or abortion, or interfering with G-d’s design, or diminishing the value of human life. Obviously, many gentiles do consider such experimentation as murder or abortion. And therein lies the ethical question. I therefore leave it to greater minds than my own to solve this ethical dilemma. Moyshe | ||
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| Starjsr |
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Veteran Posts: 278 Location: Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY | Here's a few pages which discusses the issue of Embryonic stem cells in Jewish law http://jlaw.com/Articles/stemcellres.html http://www.torah.org/features/secondlook/stemcell.html http://koltorah.org/ravj/Embryonic%20Stem%20Cell%20Research.htm http://www.aish.com/ci/sam/48969936.html http://www.shemayisrael.co.il/shure/refuah/refuah_eng_D1.htm http://www.myjewishlearning.com/beliefs/Issues/Bioethics/Genetic_Issues/Gene_Therapy_and_Engineering/Stem_Cell_Debate.shtml http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/111152/jewish_law_on_stem_cell_research.html http://www.medethics.org.il/siteEng/Articles.asp?page_id=29&keyword=??????&EnWord=Fertility | ||
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