Hot answers tagged medicine
13
If the genetically-engineered pig was gestated in a normal pig, then no it would not be kosher.
Rambam, Laws of Prohibited Foods, 1:5--6 (or 4--5 depending on your edition):
א,ה [ד] בהמה טהורה שילדה כמין בהמה טמאה--אף על פי שאינו מפריס פרסה, ולא מעלה גרה, אלא כמין סוס או חמור לכל דבר--הרי זה מותר באכילה. במה דברים אמורים, בשילדה בפניו. ...
א,ו ...
12
Well according to Wikipedia, here's the list of organs that can currently be transplanted from a living donor. For something like a kidney donation, the donor has two and gives one. For something like a liver donation, they take a piece from the donor, which he can live without (and will be enough to help the recipient):
Lung
Kidney
Liver
Intestine
...
12
There are 2 approaches in halacha for distancing meat to dairy (see Shach YD 89:5). The Gemara says the distance is from meal to meal. Some interpret this as needing to bentch on your meat and start your milk at a different meal- the upshot being to distinguish it through separate meals.
Others interpret the gemara as waiting the amount of time sages ...
12
According to http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/~uzwiak/AnatPhys/Cardiovascular_System.html
the heart touches the chest wall between the 5th and 6th ribs. So if this passage means that he literally stabbed him at the 5th rib, it would have been a very efficient and quick kill.
11
See this comprehensive survey at Aish, about plastic surgery in general. It mentions this kohen reason, in the name of Rabbi Menashe Klein, in his Mishneh Halachos, and (IIUC) Rav Shlomo Zalman Aurbach. But others permit for very different reasons:
Thus:
In 1961, Rabbi Immanuel Jakobovits, considered by many to be the father of the discipline of Jewish ...
10
I don't have sources, but logically:
On a purely halachic level, the prohibition is "eating" and your eating is done. It is a m'uvas lo yuchal liskon (Kohelet 1:15).
One can argue that as long as the treif is in the system, there remains a kabbalistic issue of timtum halev, that the treif spiritually affects the body. However, this is not clear since the ...
10
http://www.valleyfig.com/c_figs/index.htm
It may surprise you to know that when
you eat a half-cup of figs you get as
much calcium as when you drink a
half-cup of milk.
http://www.health-benefits-of-olive-oil.com/foods-high-in-calcium.html
However, olive oil is relevant to
another part of the calcium puzzle,
which is the calcium ...
10
The Gemara there is discussing verse 24:1:
א. וְאַבְרָהָם זָקֵן בָּא בַּיָּמִים וַי־הֹוָ־ה בֵּרַךְ אֶת אַבְרָהָם בַּכֹּל:
And Abraham was old, advanced in days, and the Lord had blessed Abraham with everything.
The different Rabbis are giving different interpretations how Avraham was blessed.
This didn't happen until after Sarah passed ...
9
I'm sure there are several lectures on YUTorah.org about this; probably an article or two in Journal of Halacha & Contemporary Society as well. But in short:
"having a shift where one must be in the hospital or be on call" -- we generally try to avoid putting ourselves into a situation in which a matter of life-or-death might occur which would ...
9
Short answer: Any STD.
Basis for answer:
This is discussed in the Tur and the Shulchan Aruch; Even HaEzer, Siman 9.
It seems (based on reading the commentators on the above) that there are 2 approaches in the Gemara and both are considered as valid in Halacha.
Medical approach
The woman has a disease (what we'd call a STD) which results in her ...
9
The Tzitz Eliezer 13:35:3 brings down not to, the reason being that the throat and taste buds don't get pleasure (Minchas Yitzchak uses the same reasoning.)
9
Basically, if a couple has valid reason to not have children right now, then a pill that prevents menstruation is fine.
Judaism regards having children as a mitzvah, though (as in many things in life) it's complicated and there are caveats. It's recommended -- and according to some, required -- that a couple consult with their rabbi first before using birth ...
9
The Rambam in Mishna Torah Hilchos Milah 1:7 says that someone who has 2 Orlos they make the Bris for both on the 8th day.
ומי שיש לו שתי ערלות, מלין את שתיהן בשמיני.
The Aruch HaShulchan Yoreh Deah 262:13 and the Sefer Minchas Ani - Hilchos Milah 13 says that although the Bris is done on the 8th day by such a child it would not be done on the 8th day ...
9
The Be'er Moshe 8:36 discusses this issue and says it is something that they used be makpid on not to step over a child and if they went over him they would ask the person to step over him the other way so he can grow to his full height.
The Be'er Moshe continues that this custom is considered among the custom of old women which the Rashba (Shu"t 1:69) ...
8
Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh De'ah 179:5 (citing Sanhedrin 90a and 101a), states:
הלוחש על המכה או על החולה ורוקק ואחר
כך קורא פסוק מן התורה אין לו חלק
לעוה"ב ואם אינו רוקק איסורא מיהא איכא
ואם יש בו סכנת נפשות הכל מותר.
תינוק שנפגע אין קורין עליו פסוק ואין מניחין עליו ס"ת.
"One who whispers over a wound or over a sick person, expectorates, and ...
8
To sum up what's been said so far:
A Cohen, like any other Jew, is obligated to attempt to save a life.
I'm not sure whether someone whose brain is alive but heart has stopped temporarily is halachically "alive", "dead", or possibly something in between.
Again, this state doesn't naturally last for very long, so usually the discussion was about whether ...
8
See question #533 over here:
Many contemporary Poskim rule that teeth that fall out or are extracted may simply be discarded and do not require burial or any other special treatment. There is no difference between adults and children or between baby teeth or permanent teeth.
See Shu"t Mishneh Halachos Vol. 16 Siman 113 where he brings some ...
8
M'tzudos quotes Rabi Yochanan as saying that that spot is particularly dangerous because of the presence there of the liver and gallbladder.
7
The Midrash is quoted as saying "Why is its name called chazir? Because the Holy Name Blessed Be He will return it to Israel."
A lot of commentaries learn this non literally (see here and here and here for examples). Others learn it literally. The Or Hachayim (Vayikrah 11:7), for example, says that when Moshiach comes the nature of the pig will change, and ...
7
Excerpted from a statement Rabbi Breitowitz emailed to his congregants a few months ago:
A number of poskim-the Chief
Rabbinate of Israel, Rabbi Moshe
Tendler, and the official position of
the Rabbinical Council of America
(with many ,many dissenters in their
ranks) consider ... to be halachically
dead. As such, life support can
certainly ...
7
Nit'ei Gavriel (Aveilus 4:4) cites various sources that there is a common practice to not tear kriyah in this instance anyway (and in note יב he mentions other variations, such as leaving a button undone for a while, or tearing kriyah at the moment of death only for a distinguished person).
In 4:7 he also writes that it is indeed not customary for doctors ...
7
I haven't studies the sources inside, but a couple observations, and some places to do more research:
There are several different ways that DNA may be used in Halacha, and these ways may have different laws.
There's using DNA for paternity tests in cases of inheritance, which may (or may not) be different than paternity cases that concern Mamzerut. In ...
7
First of all, as many major agencies point out with regards to Passover, if it's a heart medication, antidepressant, or any other medication without which there would be serious risk to one's life; take it first and ask kosher questions later. If you can get one with better ingredients kosher-wise that's great, but first and foremost make sure you're taking ...
7
There is a machlokes haposkim on this matter.
Igros Moshe wrote in 1964 that since there is a possibility of danger from smoking, one should refrain from doing so, however, it is not forbidden because "Shomer Psaim Hashem", Hashem guards the fools.
In 1981, R' Moshe wrote that the danger of smoking is no more than the danger of eating unhealthy foods, ...
7
A man who has undergone a vasectomy is most likely in the category of Petzua Daka (crushed testicles) who is forbidden to marry a regular Jewess per Devarim 23:2 (although this might depend on the specific medical technique used). (See Shulchan Aruch EH 5:8,10.)
The Talmud (Yevamot 76a) discusses whether a Kohein who is a Petzua Dakah can marry a convert. ...
7
Asked and answered by the Baba Sali (as quoted in Yerios HaMishkan pgs 12-13)
Someone once asked the Baba Sali which of his kidneys he should donate to a Jew in need of a transplant. After all, Chazal teach that one kidney provides good advice, while the other is somewhat of a yetzer ha-ra. Presumably, the right kidney is the yetzer ha-tov; should he ...
7
Nechpa B'Kesef Vol 2 Even Hoezer 19 says that the prohibition from the Torah is specifically to avoid actual relations, and one who is unable to have relations there is no prohibition. However, he says, it is definitely prohibited M'Drabanan, and it is disgusting and the way of fools.
7
Tzitz Eliezer (Vol. 6, Siman 40, Perek 22, Ois 8, and Vol. 7 Siman 46 and Vol. 12 Siman 67) says that it is allowed.
However, Rabbi Moshe Feinstein (Iggros Moshe Even HaEzer Vol. 4 Siman 65 Ois 10) says only rabbinic Yichud is allowed, but cases which are forbidden Biblically are not.
6
It appears in the Artscroll biography (or hagiography) of the Chazon Ish. I know the widow and children of the man (who was a bochur at the time) who had the brain tumor and required the operation.
A surgery sketch is mentioned in the newly translated biography of Rav Shach (in the 500's), not as a "Daas Torah" plug, but rather matter-of-factly, that the ...
6
I know of one posek who proved that this is perfectly fine, from the fact that many seforim cite traditional segulos to determine a fetus' gender. Obviously, then, there is nothing improper about knowing the gender beforehand. (One could argue that knowing with certainty is worse, but this seems like a distinction without a difference. And besides, even ...
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