21
votes
Accepted
Why does medical marijuana need a kosher supervision?
Rather than guessing, read it directly from the source.
Some have also suggested that a natural product, derived from the
Cannabis plant, for a life-threatening condition, does not require
...
- 14.2k
13
votes
Accepted
Circumcision for conversion of someone whose male genitalia have been removed
The Shulchan Arukh (YD 268:1) rules (like the Tur, quoting a Gaon; see too Tosfot Yevamot 46b) that a male whose genitals have been removed ("Nikhrat haGid") doesn't need Milah or Hatafat Dam Berit, ...
- 97.2k
9
votes
Accepted
What is the source for Rambam's "physician's oath"?
This text was not authored by Maimonides. Upon the original author's request it first appeared as a Hebrew translation, from the original German, in a journal called 'Ha-me'asef' (המאסף - May 10, 1790,...
- 11.9k
9
votes
The question of euthanasia
Ohr Someach clearly states:
Jewish law forbids euthanasia in all forms, and is considered an act
of homicide. The life of a person is not "his" - rather, it belongs to
the One Who granted that ...
- 47.1k
9
votes
Accepted
Is one allowed to have his child take a non-kosher oral vaccine if the law requires it to attend school?
Even when the circumstances are not life-threatening (neither for the choleh nor for others), but the medication/immunization would prevent illness (choli she'eyn bo sakana), non-kosher medication may ...
- 17.7k
7
votes
Is there a prayer for seeing an ambulance?
R Telushkin asks exactly this question in one of his earlier books (I believe it is The book of Jewish values but can check if important to someone). He is quoted here
Rabbi Telushkin mentioned ...
- 47.6k
7
votes
May a man become a gynecologist?
R Abraham Abraham (Nishmat Avraham, vol. 2, p. 134) writes that "Rav (Shlomo Zalman) Auerbach told me that a man may learn a medical or paramedical profession, since they involve pikuach nefesh". He ...
- 47.6k
7
votes
Plastic surgery
The background to this discussion is that the Torah doesn't considers a person's body to be his to do what he wants with it. It is an instrument in the service of God.
Here is how the Nishmat Avraham ...
- 47.6k
7
votes
Pekuach nefesh and punishment
We have similar concepts in the Mishna.
One is the exiled murderer who is not allowed to leave his city of refuge, even if the entire nation needs him.
See Makos פרק ב - משנה ז
וַאֲפִלּוּ ...
- 42.8k
7
votes
What things are done differently for an adult circumcision?
THe Gemmorah (Kiddushin 29 I think) says: "If father didn't Ccized him he's obligated to Ccze himself when he grows up" (it is not clear who's Mitzvah it is in the first place - חפצא or גברא).
It's ...
- 25.7k
6
votes
Is it permissible to listen to a Rabbi instead of a doctor?
The Maharik as well as the Shevus Yaakov bring the Gemara in Niddah to prove that, on the contrary, Chazal would rely on the doctor's prognosis even in cases of potential Kares. Indeed, as the Rambam ...
- 4,313
6
votes
Use tefillin without permission?
Shulchan Aruch O.C. 14:4 states that one may borrow someone's tallit without permission. Rema adds that this rule applies to tefillin, as well.
However, this article states that this assumes a few ...
- 70k
6
votes
How much blood makes a niddah?
Any small amount of uterine blood at all that leaves the uterus is enough. There is no minimum. (See Gemara Niddah 40a; Yoreh Deah 183:1, with Shach:3)
"...even if she only saw a drop of blood the ...
- 10.7k
6
votes
Accepted
6
votes
Egg donation within a family
Nishmat's Women’s Health and Halacha deals with some of these issues.
The page on “Egg Donation & Surrogacy” contains this information:
There is no clear halachic consensus as to whether the ...
- 47.1k
6
votes
Intimacy, עוֹנָה and Narcotics
"One is not allowed to be drunk during intimacy with one's spouse.
See... Issurei Biya 21:12."
The Rambam does not use the word אסור (forbidden) as he does by the case of thinking of ...
- 6,401
5
votes
Halachot of IVF
For future reference, there are two more very relevant books on the topic in English. I read them both and they are excellent
Third Key: Jewish Guide to Fertility by Baruch and Michal Finkelstein, ...
- 47.6k
5
votes
The question of euthanasia
There are at least two classical cases in the gemara, and (unsurprisingly) they would lead to conflicting generalizations. The halakhah's position is nuanced.
The first case is the people of the city ...
- 9,368
5
votes
Popular Medical Halacha Poskim for Modern Medicine?
Rabbi Avraham S. Avraham has written a few popular books including Nishmat Avraham on Medical Halacha that have been translated into English, too.
He was very close with Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach ...
- 6,175
5
votes
Jewish prayer for our doctor after baby delivery?
Mazal Tov!
I suggest Psalm 128:
שִׁיר הַמַּעֲלוֹת אַשְׁרֵי כָּל יְרֵא יְהֹוָה הַהֹלֵךְ בִּדְרָכָיו:
יְגִיעַ כַּפֶּיךָ כִּי תֹאכֵל אַשְׁרֶיךָ וְטוֹב לָךְ:
אֶשְׁתְּךָ | כְּגֶפֶן פֹּרִיָּה ...
- 47.7k
5
votes
Gechazi's accursed descendants
Interesting theory as to the potential translation into psoriasis, but it seems unlikely based on Rav Hirsch's challenges to those who compared tza'raas to leprosy:
Tzaraat is not 'leprosy' as we ...
- 13.8k
5
votes
Why do the best of doctors go to Gehinnom according to the Maharsha?
I am reminded of an insight I heard from R' Aharon Lichtenstein zt"l.
Shaul was assigned the job of killing all of the tribe of Amaleiq. He led a war that almost did it; but he left one person -- ...
- 9,368
5
votes
Accepted
Is the pain from the brit milah most severe at the 3rd day after it?
This comes from IbnEzra on the pasuk in Vayishlach about the people of Shechem. The Mishna in Shabbos Perek 9 Mishna 3 cites this pasuk.
Vayishlach 34:25
וַיְהִי֩ בַיּ֨וֹם הַשְּׁלִישִׁ֜י ...
- 42.9k
5
votes
Is it proper to daven for someone who has "no hope"?
To quote the Gemara in Berachos 10a:
For background: King Chizkiya was ill. Yeshaya gave him a Nevuah that he would die from this illness, and after telling Chizkiya that there was nothing that could ...
- 34.1k
5
votes
How did the Rambam write about kidney removal?
The Rambam didn't know a successful kidney removal was possible. He was working under the assumption that anyone whose kidney was removed would necessarily die soon.
The Rambam's source is Bechorot 7:...
- 24k
5
votes
Are Noahide women permitted to undergo a tubal ligation?
According to sefer Sheva Mitzvot Hashem, (Vol II, helek 5, 9:1), a tubal ligation is permitted for bnot noach. And further says: that even more than this could be done for reasons of safety or health ...
- 6,864
5
votes
Black seed (Nigella Sativa) - "קצח" in talmud
Ketzach - assuming that this name refers to the same plant in question - is mentioned in the Talmud twice as a cure for heart disease:
"He who is in the habit of taking black cumin will not ...
- 24.8k
5
votes
What blessings would one say upon receiving the COVID19 vaccine?
I will present a brief survey of opinions here; much (digital) ink has been spilled on this topic so I can't claim this answer to be fully comprehensive, but it should provide an outline as well as ...
- 41.7k
5
votes
Corona "parties" for children
Regarding "corona parties", one contemporary Rabbi did indeed rule that it is forbidden to purposely get together to infect oneselves. Rabbi Yehoshua Pfeffer is quoted in this late 2020 ...
- 19.6k
4
votes
Headache remedy on a fast day?
The Toronto Kollel has developed a sustained-timed release caffeine capsule
which is taken before the ta'anis and begins to release 8 to 10 hours later.
It has been available for many years and ...
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