Torah prioritizes the mother’s life and health | The Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle – thejewishchronicle.net
Posted By admin on May 18, 2022
Years ago, something went wrong late in a friends much-wanted pregnancy. If the fetus continued to grow, it could kill her or damage her ability to have future children. She asked her father what to do. A respected Talmudic scholar and Orthodox rabbi, he decided she should have an abortion to protect her life and health. She did. But to do so she had to travel out of state because late-term abortions were illegal in her state, even when medically necessary. Her parents helped with travel expenses. I still remember the trauma she faced leaving home and family for the procedure out of town. Thankfully, today she is the mother of several healthy Jewish children.
Her fathers decision to permit an abortion was based on clear rabbinic precedent. Torah law offers a moderating, faith-based message to protect the life and health of the mother even while recognizing the preciousness of the potential life growing in her womb.
The two main classical Jewish approaches to abortion come from the great sages Rashi and Maimonides. Commenting on the Talmud in Sanhedrin 72b, Rashi explains a fetus is lav nefesh hu, not human life, therefore its needs are subservient to those of its mother. He learns this from Exodus 21:22-23, which states that if an assailant causes a pregnant woman to miscarry, the assailant is fined for damages but not prosecuted for causing a death. Rashis decision is consistent with that on Sanhedrin 84b, that capital punishment does not apply to a fetus because it is not a nefesh, a human being.
Get The Jewish Chronicle Weekly Edition by email and never miss our top storiesFree Sign Up
Maimonides has a different approach. Just as we are obligated to save from harm anyone being pursued by a rodef (a pursuer), even at the cost of the pursuers life, so are we to save the mother from harm even at the cost of the fetus. Maimonides analogy is not perfect: the fetus has no conscious volition nor is it considered human life under Jewish law. Nevertheless, Maimonides treats the fetus like a rodef (a pursuer) when it endangers the mothers health, thus prioritizing the mothers life and health.
How one applies permission to abort for maternal cause depends on which position one follows. Those who follow Rashi are more likely to permit abortion whenever a woman needs medical help, even for mental distress and even at the latest stages of fetal maturation. This includes permitting abortion when a mother feels unable to cope in the face of severe fetal deformity or inability to care for other children due to severe financial or mental distress. Those who follow Maimonides require the mother to face significant physical danger before aborting is permitted, particularly in the later stages of pregnancy.
Centuries of rabbinic commentators in both camps permit and even require abortion where the mothers life is endangered. Why? Because for Jews, human life begins only when the fetuss head or the majority of its body exits the mothers body, and not before. Until then, the fetus is part of her body and thus her health and well-being come first. In other words, Torah and Jewish law prioritizes the life and health of the mother over the potential human life of her fetus. That is why one cannot violate the Sabbath for the sake of a fetus, only for the pregnant woman, according to the 17th century Rabbi Bachrach, based upon Arakhim 7a.
If the anti-abortion lobby has its way, all abortions would be banned, even those required, let alone allowed, under Jewish law. While separation of church and state, and our rights as a religious minority, have not been part of the abortion debate, they should be. Pro-choice is not about being pro-abortion. It is about keeping the government out of private medical decisions more appropriately made between a woman and her doctor, clergy and family. Pro-choice is about allowing all citizens to equally follow their own religious dictates.
Other issues of Jewish concern in the abortion debate include economic justice, so much at the heart of Jewish values. Anti-abortion laws restrict access to womens health care. Already some women, like my friend, travel out of state for health care and safe abortions no longer available locally, but many others cannot.
Ironically, our Jewish commitment to life is threatened. Womens lives literally hang in the balance. The specter of coat-hanger and back-alley abortion deaths that initially drove the pro-choice movement is very real. It is time we take the moral high ground and demand that protecting womens lives take precedence in health care and public policy decisions. It is a position that both protects our rights as a religious minority to follow the dictates of Jewish precedent law and reflects our values of protecting life, the life of the mother. pjc
Rabbi Susan Grossman, senior rabbi of Beth Shalom Congregation in Columbia, has a doctorate in ancient Judaism; served for 30 years on the Committee of Jewish Law and Standards for the Conservative Movement and is an editor of Etz Hayim Torah and Commentary.
Go here to read the rest:
- Talmud - Wikiwand - September 22nd, 2023
- Now Is the Time to Start the Jerusalem Talmud! - Dive into our new ... - Chabad.org - September 16th, 2023
- The Talmud for Today's World | Tevi Troy and Noam Wasserman - First Things - September 14th, 2023
- JLI: The Crazy History of the Talmud - CrownHeights.info - September 14th, 2023
- How Leonard Cohen and the Talmud Helped Me Change My Name - Alma - August 30th, 2023
- Making Talmud study for women the norm, not the exception - eJewish Philanthropy - July 12th, 2023
- Marking the printed Talmud at 500 - opinion - The Jerusalem Post - June 27th, 2023
- Photo Gallery: Kids of Talmud Torah Aleksander visiting the Skulen ... - Boro Park 24 - June 27th, 2023
- Pop singer almost as popular as the Talmud - The Times of Israel - June 22nd, 2023
- How I Made it Through the Talmud - Chabad.org - June 12th, 2023
- Women in Talmud: Who Would You Be in the Third Century? - thejewishchronicle.net - June 4th, 2023
- MHM explores Nazi readings of the Talmud - Australian Jewish News - May 26th, 2023
- The Talmud is the reason Jews make such good romcoms - The Jewish Chronicle - May 26th, 2023
- Eyeing talmud Torah as a springboard to action - The Jewish Star - May 22nd, 2023
- What Is the Talmud, and Is It Beneficial for Christians? - May 11th, 2023
- Iranian Diplomat: The Jews Have a Plot to Lay Claim to the British Royal Familys Wealth - Middle East Media Research Institute - October 6th, 2022
- Remarks by President Biden, First Lady Jill Biden, and Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff at a Reception to Celebrate the Jewish New Year - The White... - October 6th, 2022
- 'Jerusalem of Lithuania' remains witness to the horrors of the Nazi genocide and their willing collaborators - Cleveland Jewish News - October 6th, 2022
- Meet the rabbi who made it possible to live a Jewish life in the UAE - Cleveland Jewish News - October 6th, 2022
- A Daf Yomi Scout: Literary Critic Adam Kirsch Shares Insights from His Seven-Year Study of the Talmud with YU Students - Yu News - September 29th, 2022
- Book Review | Studying Talmud with Beruriah - Moment Magazine - September 29th, 2022
- Why Bats Sleep Upside Down and The Secret of Yom Kippur - aish.com - Aish.com - September 29th, 2022
- 5 things to know about Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year - WDJT - September 29th, 2022
- New chapter in 'lost Jewish library mystery' as books returned to Lublin - The First News - September 29th, 2022
- Allegiance To The Monarch - aish.com - Aish.com - September 29th, 2022
- Embracing a Spiritual Discipline of Reparations - Word and Way - September 29th, 2022
- Hidden Meaning in the Talmud's Cures and Fables - aish.com - Aish.com - September 18th, 2022
- Everyone's Buddy - aish.com - Aish.com - September 18th, 2022
- I Never Wanted to Get in the Pool. My Daughter (and the Talmud) Changed That. - Kveller.com - September 18th, 2022
- Abortion and Jewish law - JNS.org - JNS.org - September 18th, 2022
- Jim Crawford is loving Tallaght atmosphere as his side set to face Israel in crunch Euro 2023 play-off... - The Irish Sun - September 18th, 2022
- Becoming Elijah: Prophet of transformation by Daniel C. Matt - Church Times - September 18th, 2022
- Rome, Babylon, and 1 Peter 5:13 Revisited | Nicholas Gulda - Patheos - September 18th, 2022
- Bnot Brak the ultra-Orthodox answer to Real Housewives - Australian Jewish News - September 13th, 2022
- What happens when a heretic and a rabbi walk into a bar? - Jewish Herald-Voice - September 9th, 2022
- Gorbachev was different he had a heart - The Jewish Standard - September 9th, 2022
- Being On The Team - The Jewish Press - JewishPress.com - September 9th, 2022
- West Temples Rabbi Lader to retire in June 2023 - Cleveland Jewish News - September 9th, 2022
- From Peru to Israel: the Long Journey of the Inca Jews - aldianews.com - September 9th, 2022
- We have faced Amaleks like Putin forever, but with morality we can prevail J. - The Jewish News of Northern California - September 9th, 2022
- Upcoming holidays and events in 2022 - NEWS10 ABC - September 9th, 2022
- The angels who saved my husband's life | Shira Pasternak Be'eri | The Blogs - The Times of Israel - September 9th, 2022
- 'Quiet quitting,' the sudden trend in work, sounds sort of Jewish? (Hear me out.) - Jewish News of Greater Phoenix - September 9th, 2022
- The Choice: A Novel of Love, Faith, and the Talmud - reviewed by Rabbi Jeffrey Cohen J-Wire - J-Wire Jewish Australian News Service - August 30th, 2022
- What If It Were 'Zalman'? - The Jewish Press - JewishPress.com - August 30th, 2022
- Q & A: The Mantle Of Leadership (Part II) - The Jewish Press - JewishPress.com - August 30th, 2022
- It is Caught with Two Hands Torah.org - Torah.org - August 30th, 2022
- Anger, Procrastination, and Elul - The Jewish Press - JewishPress.com - August 30th, 2022
- You say you want a revolution? Try the Bible - Religion News Service - August 30th, 2022
- When was the Old Testament Written? - The Gospel Coalition - August 30th, 2022
- Straus Center Fall 2022 Courses: The Wisdom of Solomon, Rembrandt and AI - Yu News - August 30th, 2022
- Maimonides on the Liberty of the People - Brownstone Institute - August 30th, 2022
- Asking the Clergy: Your faith and recreational marijuana - Newsday - August 30th, 2022
- The Evening Shema: The Perfect Place to Begin - Chabad Lubavitch World Headquarters - Lubavitch.com - August 13th, 2022
- 'You don't want to take my money, do you?': Mandarin-speaking rabbi fights antisemitism on Chinas TikTok - Yahoo News - August 13th, 2022
- Tisha B'Av: The Arch of Titus an alternative view - The Times of Israel - August 13th, 2022
- At Oakland's 'Base,' rabbinic couple wants you to make connections J. - The Jewish News of Northern California - August 13th, 2022
- Chazanut and music: tradition and today - Australian Jewish News - August 13th, 2022
- VA'ETCHANAN: In this week's Torah portion, a command to love J. - The Jewish News of Northern California - August 13th, 2022
- Don't Believe in Other Gods Versus God is One - aish.com Ancient Wisdom & Modern Psychology - Aish.com - August 10th, 2022
- Discerning Between Darkness and Light - The Jewish Press - JewishPress.com - August 10th, 2022
- Activist-writer Elana Dykewomon dies, just as her first play debuts J. - The Jewish News of Northern California - August 10th, 2022
- Reading the Book of Psalms in the Twenty-First Century - Jewish Journal - August 10th, 2022
- Tuesdays primaries offered a glint of hope for Democrats this fall - The Guardian - August 10th, 2022
- Talmud - Jewish Virtual Library - August 1st, 2022
- STAND UP AND SPEAK OUT! - The Jewish Press - JewishPress.com - July 31st, 2022
- War News And Gefilte Fish - The Jewish Press - JewishPress.com - July 31st, 2022
- Blinded by Hate | Michael Laitman | The Blogs - The Times of Israel - July 31st, 2022
- Making sense of the sedra: Matot-Masei - Jewish News - July 31st, 2022
- At least 9 cities in the Twin Cities metro targeted with antisemitic, racist flyers - Bring Me The News - July 28th, 2022
- The God Squad: From the mailbag | Opinion | pressrepublican.com - Plattsburgh Press Republican - July 28th, 2022
- Free Online Bible Library | Talmud - BiblicalTraining.org - July 27th, 2022
- Rebuilding Together - Jewish Journal - July 27th, 2022
- Twenty years after Ben and Marla and the Hebrew University bombing - The Times of Israel - July 27th, 2022
- Woven together: Lessons from bringing Israeli rabbis to the U.S. - eJewish Philanthropy - July 27th, 2022
- The God Squad: From the mailbag | Opinion Columns | union-bulletin.com - Walla Walla Union-Bulletin - July 27th, 2022
- Respect Yourself - Respect Others - aish.com The Color of Heaven - Aish.com - July 27th, 2022
- Abortion is a Jewish right and a rabbi says hers was a blessing - Business Insider - July 27th, 2022
- The Flood and Canaan: God's Patience Revealed - Patheos - July 27th, 2022
- Pinchas and the broken vav | The Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle - thejewishchronicle.net - July 27th, 2022
Comments