Questions tagged [medicine]
NOTE: For professional medical advice, please contact your physician.
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Is a Jew permitted to have an abortion?
Under what, if any, circumstances may a Jewish woman undergo an abortion? Can a Jewish doctor perform an abortion?
As each case and individual is unique, please consult your rabbi for practical ...
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Medicines v. Spices on Shabbos
Medicines are forbidden on shabbos for the non-critically ill because in the old days, they had to be ground with a pestle beforehand.
Must not spices also be ground? How come spices are not also ...
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To know in advance when one is a niddah
The gemoro and shulchan aruch has much to say about 'vestos', way to find out in advance when one will be a niddah, which rarely work today. There are modern methods which do work: does one have to ...
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Should one say "Asher Yatzar" when giving a urine sample?
Should one say "Asher Yatzar" when giving a urine sample? This is assuming that the sample is "forced" and not when the person normally goes to the bathroom. He is urinating specifically for the ...
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If someone empties / changes his/her colonostomy bag, should s/he say "Asher Yatzar"?
If someone empties / changes his/her colonostomy bag, should s/he say "Asher Yatzar"? I would assume, yes, as this is the person's method of ridding waste. I assume the same answer would apply to ...
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Can a surgeon operate on his father
Suppose I am a surgeon, and I am renowned for doing a certain type of operation. If my father is in need of that operation, is there a heter for me to operate on him or is there still the prohibition ...
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Does use of bi-lateral cochlear implants eliminate the definition of a "cheresh"?
I have been reviewing Encyclopedia of Jewish Medical Ethics in the area that discusses people with partial hearing. I could not glean any answer regarding technological "fixes".
The insertion of ...
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In a non-life-threatening emergency, can a female doctor do a hospital procedure on a male or vice versa?
Surgery usually requires viewing parts of a naked person. Are there halachic problems with a doctor of opposite gender doing this on a Jewish patient? If the procedure is one where part of the body ...
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Is Some One With Alzheimer's Obligated in Mitzvoth?
My grandmother has pretty progressed Alzheimer's disease. I have seen throughout the Oral Tradition the concept of a person with certain medical conditions, such as a deaf mute, or a person who lacks ...
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Healing on Shabbos Nowadays
Is it still prohibited to heal on Shabbos? There is significant reason to assume that illnesses which are not typically treated by crushing herbs are allowed to be treated on Shabbos. (See, for ...
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is one obligated to employ conventional healing methods
A friend of mine has a medical condition. Doctors recommend a difficult surgery, which should stop the problem. If he does not undergo that surgery, his situation will deteriorate further, they say, ...
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What constitutes סכנת אבר and what can you do on shabbat
What damage done to your body would be considered סכנת אבר, and what shabbat prohibitions can you break. This is a NON סכנת נפשות case.
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May a woman with artifical metal legs wear a short skirt or pants?
May a woman (or a man) wear immodest clothing over an artificial part of her body?
(Lets assume that beged ish is not a consideration)
i.e. if she has artifical legs, may she wear short shorts?
...
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contact solution on shabbat
I use a contact solution that is hydrogen peroxide based. That is, the solution is hydrogen peroxide. The solution is put into a special case with a platinum disc at the bottom. The disc acts a ...
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Are there any Jewish sources which discuss the existence of auras or energy fields?
Are there any Jewish sources which discuss the existence of auras or energy fields? Is it permissible to learn about them and be involved with them for healing purposes?
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Can you make a beracha during hiccups?
If one has hiccups, and needs to make a beracha, is it a problem?
There are high chances that some words will be split and mispronounced...
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Life support for a dead pregnant woman for the sake of a pre-viable baby
Suppose a pregnant woman dies*, and it's too early in the pregnancy for the baby inside her to have any chance of viability if delivered now, but if the woman's body is kept connected to life-support ...
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Baldness in Judaism
There seem to be many aspects of hair that are thought to reflect a person's spiritual attributes in Judaism. Examples I can think of off the top of my head include the kabbalistic benifits that some ...
user3318
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Halachic status of sleep paralysis
Sleep paralysis is an intermediate state between sleep and awakeness in which a person experiences temporary paralysis. Would this state be considered sleep, awakeness, or its own unique category for ...
user3318
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Are sex change operations prohibited for non-Jews?
In very specific situations some halachic decisors have permitted sex change operations, such as for infants born with some types of genital anomalies. However, the consensus seems to be that they ...
user3318
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Elisha's Staff and Revival
When Elisha revives the son of the Shunamite woman, he first instructs his servant to place his staff on the boy's mouth. The next posuk says "...and there was no sound nor any attention; and [Gehazi] ...
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Woman with 2 wombs in regards to pidyon haben
There is a medical condition known as "Uterus didelphys". Wikipedia describes it as follows:
Uterus didelphys (sometimes also uterus didelphis) represents a
uterine malformation where the uterus ...
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May a Kohen become a doctor?
May a Kohen, who is not allowed to be around dead bodies and the like, become a doctor?
Please mention only sourced answers, and I realize that there are some programs that don't require work with ...
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Spaying of female dogs
Is it acceptable to spay a pet female dog, or is there a prohibition against neutering a female dog like that of a male dog?
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12-step recovery programs with Gentiles
Based on well-known results, 12-step programs based on Alcoholics Anonymous and branching out to narcotics and such, appear to be extremely effective. However, since Jews are roughly a 1:100 ...
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Will editing genome of embryo having Jewish parents diminish Jewish status of later child? [closed]
There's a dreadful genetic illness known as Tay-Sachs requiring two
carriers to activate the fatal effects in a child.
Probably, in reaction to the 20th century eugenics movement and its
terrible ...
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May someone avoid drinking on purim when on medication that could interact with alcohol?
For better or for worse, a great many people take medication for depression or anxiety which would be truly bad news to combine with alcohol. I was under the impression a celebrant MUST get drunk ...
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If a Cohen couple gets an embryo donation do they perform pidyon?
If a Cohen couple gets an embryo donation and their first born is a boy, do they have to do pidyon or is the baby a Cohen?
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pidoyon haben for a baby born from egg donation?
If a non married bat Cohen donates an egg to a yisraelite couple who have a first born son from it, do they have to do a pidyon haben?
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Can a man who has undergone sex change give his wife a Get?
If a married Jewish man undergoes the hormonal and surgical procedure of sex change, and "he's become a woman".
Would he still have the Halachic status of a man, at least relating to his marital ...
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Should you say a blessing on diet soda used to swallow a pill?
The halacha is that you should only say a bracha on water if you're thirsty. All the seforim I've read agree on the following: if you're not thirsty, but you drink water in order to swallow a pill, ...
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responsibility for passing on a virus (medical)
Would one be obligated to pay any of the five types of damages paid upon wounding someone, if they were to infect that someone with a viral/bacterial disease, whether through:
Peshia (negligence)?
...
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When is there a heter to use a condom?
When, if ever, is there a heter for a married couple to use a condom as a form of birth control?
Question was inspired by this article
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Taking a pill together with a food
Suppose someone is not able to swallow pills. What doctors will tell them to do is put the pill in something like applesauce or pudding in order to swallow the pill. In such a case, should the person ...
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Wing clipping and pinioning
Wing clipping and pinioning are measures that bird keepers take to ensure that their birds don't escape.
Wing clipping involves cutting the primary feathers of a bird such that there wont be enough ...
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How early in the cycle can a woman who is undergoing IVF go to mikvah?
How absolutely early can a woman undergoing IVF (in vitro fertilization) go to mikvah: is there a limit to the 7 deoraita days or is it even earlier like after five or six days, when she would still ...
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Is a Jewish med student allowed to use body parts donated to science?
Would you be required to refuse to work on bodies donated to science for educational purposes?
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Chazon Ish and Medicine
I have recently studied the Chazon Ish's work Emunah U'Vitachon and in the opening pages, the Chazon Ish displays a vast knowledge of human anatomy. Also, the Chazon Ish successfully mapped out a plan ...
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May a Brit Milah be performed by a (non-Jewish) doctor?
Some friends would feel more comfortable having their newborn circumcised with a regular doctor and in a hospital setting where the environment is more sterile, maybe better pain management options ...
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Is a man allowed to waste his seed for medical reasons?
Is a man allowed to waste his seed for medical reasons, for example if a couple is having difficulty conceiving and the fertility specialists are requesting a sample.
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Two people but only one kidney
if there are two patients about to die of kidney failure and there is only one kidney available, does the halacha have a way to choose who gets the kidney? (such as lottery)
(assuming both cases are ...
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Do dental instruments need to be toyveled?
Metal utensils that will be used to handle food that's to be consumed generally need first to be immersed in a mikvah ("toyveled") (if owned by a Jew). If the food or utensil is hot, the utensil must ...
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Tehillim while waiting for medical test results
When one is waiting for a medical test result, which tehillim is it customary to recite?
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Can two siamese twins be separated by killing one if that one would die anyway and the other would live
In two Simaese twins where the first will definitely die soon, whereas the second has a chance of life if the first stops being a 'drain' him. Like if there is only one heart. Can one kill the first ...
user2800
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are bionic abilities legal for shabbos
Today the world is high in technology; many medical fields are experiencing breakthroughs in artificial limbs and what not.
What are the legalities of these in Jewish law?
For example, a pace maker ...
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Are placebos permitted without telling the person they are getting one?
Does Judaism allow placebos where the person thinks it does something, and is thereby cured, even though the item does nothing?
Is this gnevas da'as (or some other issur), or because it can help them ...
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Are homeopathic remedies kosher?
I'm not sure what they put in the remedies but I would like to know if they are kosher and would batel beshishim apply in this case if there was a non-kosher ingredient?
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Can members of Hatzolah learn how to deliver a baby?
This seems like a very simple thing. Is there anything wrong with male members of Hatzolah (a frum Jewish emergency medical organization) learning how to deliver a baby? I recently heard that Rabbonim ...
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Stitches on Shabbos
If someone cut their finger (lo aleinu!) on Shabbos in a way that wasn't going to threaten them however is a fairly deep cut may they get stitches put in by a non-Jew on Shabbos? Theoretically they ...
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How to handle cadavers
My fiancée is going to university, working towards a degree in dentistry. For about a year, she will be required to handle cadavers in the classes. First of all, is this forbidden in Torah? Secondly, ...
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