NOTE: For professional medical advice, please contact your physician.
7
votes
1answer
77 views
Prenatal testing
I've been hearing that some people are discouraging prenatal testing for halachic reasons but it seems pretty important to me.
Does anyone know if there's actually something halachicly wrong about ...
12
votes
2answers
308 views
Orthodontics and period between eating fleischig and milchig
Since orthodontics often impose many artificial little crevices and wires and generally make one more susceptible to having bits of food stuck in the mouth for extended periods of time, is it ...
11
votes
3answers
371 views
Nose Job in Halacha
Is a nose job allowed Hallachicly? Not all cosmetic surgeries, but rhinoplasty in particular, as I heard that rhinoplasty is allowed because we see by a Kohen that having an abnormally long nose is a ...
3
votes
2answers
243 views
Halachic permissibility of a vasectomy
What are the halachic concerns surrounding vasectomies? Are vasectomies permitted by halacha under any circumstances?
The issues that I could see as possibly being connected would be chavala ...
4
votes
2answers
219 views
Is a Cohen Allowed to Perform CPR?
CPR is performed when the heart has stopped but the brain is still alive. We have a general rule that a Cohen is not allowed to come in contact with a dead body. If so, does this mean that a Kohen ...
7
votes
1answer
130 views
Yom Kippur - nicotine patch
Is there any problem with wearing a nicotine patch on Yom Kippur or any other fast day? (sources please)
6
votes
2answers
327 views
Why does the Talmud assume a woman cannot get pregnant on the first act of intercourse?
There is a rule in the Gemara (Yevamot 34a) that אין אשה מתעברת בביאה ראשונה. The question is why the Talmud assumes that a virgin cannot conceive on her first act of sexual intercourse if the hymen ...
10
votes
2answers
307 views
Morning After Pill in Halacha
Is the morning-after pill considered an abortion in Halachic terms or does it have another status, and, if the latter, may it be used?
8
votes
3answers
271 views
Returning after driving someone to the hospital on Shabbat
if a man needs to be brought to the hospital on Shabbat, and another man brings him, is the second man allowed to go back home by car?
5
votes
0answers
65 views
Fasting for Medical Recovery
Yesterday, a request was publicized in the name of R' Chaim Kanievsky to accept a fast in the afternoon to fast today for the medical recovery of R' Y.S. Elyashiv, unless it interferes with one's ...
7
votes
3answers
380 views
Halakha and Spiritual Healing?
What are the halakhic guidelines and limitations for using psukim from the Torah to heal illness? Does it make a difference if the psuk is being used to heal a "spiritual" malady which is believed to ...
7
votes
1answer
142 views
Genetic testing before the first date?
Let's lay down assumptions:
The shidduch dating system in which young men meet with young women to interact socially is permitted, and in fact practiced, only with the intention of potential ...
13
votes
1answer
214 views
What's the leading medical explanation for the “woman whose husbands keep dying” (“katlanit”) phenomenon?
The Gemara says that if a woman gets married, then her husband dies; then marries another guy and is widowed from him; then once more; we then assume something about her is causing her husbands to die ...
8
votes
1answer
176 views
Retention of urine causing infertility?
In several places in the Gemara (Yevamos 64b, Bechoros 44b) it is stated that holding back urine for an extended period can cause a man to become infertile. In the latter place the Gemara gives a ...
2
votes
1answer
46 views
What is the significance of the Diet Information in Shas
It strikes me as I am learning Kesubos that the Gemara takes the time to speak of extensively the shortcomings and praises of dates (the fruit). I know the gemara does the same with cabbage and other ...
7
votes
2answers
258 views
Is it actually forbidden to push a wheelchair outside of an eruv on Shabbat?
I have heard opinions varying wildly on the subject and am trying to make sense of them halachically. Is it illegal on Shabbat to push someone in a wheelchair, let's say, from their home to synagogue ...
4
votes
3answers
223 views
Is the brain the seat of the soul?
There are disturbing ideas in the Feb 21, 2011 Time magazine cover article 2045: The Year Man Becomes Immortal. The article attributes to Raymond Kurzweil the prediction that within the next 25 years ...
6
votes
1answer
96 views
Pharmaceuticals and Kashrut
To what degree does medicine need to be kosher (not regarding pesach)? Most medicines are a random series of active ingredients with little meaning to the non medical professional - but what about ...
7
votes
3answers
257 views
7
votes
2answers
208 views
May a woman freeze her ova?
Is a woman allowed to freeze her own ova if she is coming to the later years of her life and is afraid she will miss her opportunity to have her own children naturally or otherwise, or is that frowned ...
11
votes
6answers
721 views
If a pig was genetically modified to chew its cud, would it be kosher?
If they were to genetically modify a pig to chew its cud, would it be kosher?
7
votes
1answer
219 views
When saying the Mi SheBerach prayer for a sick amputee, do you say “for his 248 limbs”?
The standard text of the Mi She-Berach prayer for the sick asks that G-d send healing "to his 248 limbs and 365 sinews."
What if someone, G-d forbid, lost a foot a few years ago; and now prayers are ...
8
votes
1answer
160 views
What is the “Kos Shel Ikrin,” a potion that renders one infertile?
The Talmud discusses the "Kos Shel Ikrin" (Cup of the Barren, or Cup of Roots), a potion that rendered a woman or man infertile. The recipe for this potion is on record in tractate Shabbos and there ...
6
votes
3answers
303 views
What is the best way to break a fast?
After a fast often people get sick when they eat. What type of food or drink is the best way to break the fast and avoid becoming ill?
10
votes
2answers
121 views
What was the dietary source of calcium in Talmudic times?
The Mishna in Ketubot Chapter 5 describes the basic diet of a working-class woman at the time (around the year 200):
ה,ז [ח] המשרה את אשתו על ידי שליש--לא יפחות לה מקביים חיטים, או מארבעת קבים ...
10
votes
2answers
400 views
Is Exercise on Shabbos Allowed?
Is one allowed to do exercises on Shabbos?
Are any types allowed? Some examples of different types:
Lifting weights or heavy items
Jumping jacks
Taking a walk (long, but without Techum issues)
...
3
votes
3answers
559 views
falling asleep on the left side to aid digestion
Kitzur Shulchan Aruch 71:5 reads, in part (translation my own):
And it's good that he'll lie at the start of his sleep on the left side and at the end on the right side, as this is good for the ...
9
votes
1answer
278 views
May a lady take a pregnancy test on Shabbos?
Are there any issues with taking a pregnancy test (non-electronic) on Shabbos?
4
votes
1answer
46 views
What medical condition was this “epilepsy that causes mental instability at all times”?
Rambam's laws of testimony (written about 800 years ago) describe disqualification for testimony (eidut) due to mental instability. He writes:
The epileptic is disqualified when having a seizure, ...
4
votes
4answers
723 views
children's Tylenol on Pesach
This year, Rabbi Bess's list of non-chametz products doesn't AFAICT include any kosher-for-Pesach children's analgesic/fever reducer (acetaminophen/paracetamol) (except one that includes also ...
8
votes
3answers
97 views
What to do before death
If a doctor tells a person that he is certain to die shortly (e.g., within one hour), what should that person do during his remaining minutes?
6
votes
2answers
217 views
Do “most leading Orthodox rabbis” really hold that brain-stem death is death?
According to a recent NYTimes piece on the new organ donation law in Israel,
Most leading Orthodox rabbis -- as well as Israeli law -- agree that a person dies when his brain-stem stops ...
4
votes
2answers
355 views
Washing after Haircut and modern day blood letting
What are the rules for Washing after Haircuts and or Shaving and or is there a requirement at all? Also after donating blood is there a requirment to Wash hands and or a blood test and is there a ...
3
votes
2answers
365 views
Children's Motrin and Advil
Recently it was publicized that certain lots of Children's Tylenol contain a non-kosher form of glycerin, and therefore should not be used in non-urgent situations. Does anyone have information about ...
4
votes
2answers
695 views
Chazon Ish neurosurgery diagram
There is a well-known story about the Chazon Ish, where someone who was scheduled to undergo a neurosurgical procedure came to him for advice, and the Chazon Ish drew a diagram for the surgeon ...
2
votes
3answers
222 views
Demon or Sheidim
My son since birth never has been peaceful. At around 1 year old he would stand on his crib while sleeping fighting who knew what and crying and crying, I tried to calm him and soothe him. But that ...
5
votes
2answers
87 views
Does the existence of insurance affect end-of-life Halacha?
Consider the following case:
A baby is born with severe congenital defects. The doctors say that if nothing is done to address them, the baby will die within days. They also say that there's a series ...
5
votes
1answer
695 views
Doctors working on Shabbat
What are some general guidelines regarding the halakhic permissibility for Jewish doctors to work on Shabbat? I know that saving lives generally overrides Shabbat, but I am curious about less ...
