Shas spiritual leader: Don't mourn Jews who give bodies to science
Rabbi Ovadia Yosef makes same ruling for those who commit suicide, in last book on Jewish law.
By Yair Ettinger and Haaretz Correspondent Tags: Jewish World Shas Israel newsThe spiritual leader of the Shas party, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, has declared in latest set of religious rulings that Jews who donate their bodies to science or commit suicide do not deserve to be mourned in the traditional Jewish way.
Yosef published recently a new volume in his well-known series of books under the title of Chazon Ovadia, which contains laws concerning Shabbat, medicine, burial rituals, holidays and other topics.
In the new volume, Rabbi Ovadia rules on topics focusing around mourning and burial practices relating to various irregular cases that go against the traditional Jewish law, such as donating one's organs, cremation, and suicide.
"He who donates his body to science, to have his organs dissected, even though his intention is to advance scientific research, he is committing a serious offense, and might be relinquishing the chance of resurrection of his soul and body, and therefore we must not mourn his death," Rabbi Ovadia wrote.
Regarding organ donations, Rabbi Ovadia has stated in the past that it is permitted and even desired as it saves lives.
Along these lines, Rabbi Ovadia was asked what should happen in the event that a Jewish person's will states that he wishes to be cremated, to which he responded that the will should be breached.
"This request should not be adhered to, as it is prohibited by the holy Torah," ruled Yosef. "He who requests to be cremated has kept his soul in limbo? and it is equivalent to sinning against the Ten Commandments and the entire Torah. Therefore his request should not be granted," Rabbi Ovadia said.
Yosef delivered his rulings on these issues in response to questions posed by people facing these actual dilemmas. Another example of a question brought before the rabbi ? who is considered an authority on Jewish law - was brought forth by a man, who wanted to know what to do after one of his parents requested in a will that he not say kaddish (the prayer for the dead) over the second parent.
"If the mother dies and she states in her will that the son should not say kaddish over the father, then the son should not obey the will. However, if the father writes in his will that he wants the son to refraim from saying the prayer over the mother, then the son should adhere to his wish," wrote Yosef.
The rabbi stressed, however, that if the father's request was based on his personal feelings towards the mother, then the request "should not be fulfilled."
On a different case relating to the prayer for the dead, Rabbi Ovadia ruled: "In the case of an adopted son, even though he is not required to mourn a deceased parent according to Jewish law, he is required to say the prayer for the rising of their souls, he must respect them in their lives and in their deaths, in recognition of the good deeds they did that brought him to where he is today."
Rabbi Ovadia deals also with the delicate subject of suicide in Judaism, and determines a severe ruling that those who take their own lives should not be mourned - without exception.
"Even if a person severely suffers and is poor he cannot take his own life, and must accept his pain with love," Yosef wrote, adding that this was relevant "especially to the young generation that have transgressed and learned from the actions of the gentiles in Europe, who lose themselves over every minor thing, because they do not believe in the untimely, supporting, rushing and healing Hashem [God]."
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Rabbi Ovadia Yosef |
| Photo by: (Archive) |
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Scientific research also saves lives!!! The great mitzvah of sacrificing yourself to save another soul must trump the technical specifications for ritual burial. If these brave people who donate their mortal vessels don't get into heaven, who does??
IF you want to know it, pray to G-D and ask Him His opinion on this like on everything else. He answers prayers.
We saw last week how Ayatollah Yusuf's party tried its damndest to destroy our relationship with our closest ally, over housing not for tax-paying miluim serving Israelis; but for the religious extremists who would sacrifice us all as they worship the golden calf of Greater Israel, turning what could have been a light to lighten the gentiles into some dark black place with medieval standards of decency and logic. Ayatollah Yussuf, typifies this approach.
This leader with a following has put the death sentance to many people. There must be research if we are to find cures, How about the diseases our children have ben cursed with because they are Jewish.It is the duty of every Jew to survive.And he just killed us. Donate your organs dont liston to him
My late father z"l, who died in an old age home in Israel on 1 October, bequeathed his body to science. Although he died at the ripe old age of 87 and although his death was expected, it shook me and I continue to grieve at my father's passing and to miss him. He was not religious, and leaving his body to science so that students of medicine might learn to save lives by using his mortal remains struck me as a noble and indeed life-affirming thing to do. Yes, it is not in keeping with certain mitzvot; but to instruct those who have lost a loved one that they are not to show or feel bereavement or grief because of it strikes me as insensitive. So does a blanket-stricture of this kind with regard to someone who committed suicide. Are the Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef's of this world in a position to know what might have driven a person to suicide? There is a Rabbinical saying: "Al tadin et chaverkha ad she-tagiah li-mekomo", "Don't judge your comrade until you are in the same situation".
this is respected in israeli society? This and not Reform? wow! SHAME
Perhaps the world needs to conduct a controlled experiment. The leaders of the world's fundamentalist and ultra-orthodox religions should be brought together at Jackass Flats in the Nevada Test Site. Nobel prize winners for science and mathematics will be assembled in the Painted Desert. The religious types will pray for their survival while the scientists will predict their chances of survival based upon knowledge and calculations. At a precise moment the religious will ask their gods to save them and smite the scientists. At that same time a B-83 hydrogen bomb will be detonated over the religious. If the god theory is correct this experiment will save the religious and destroy the scientists. If science is correct the device devised by science, the hydrogen bomb will work and we will be rid of a bunch of nut cases. What do you want to bet that scientists would go for the experiment, while the religious would forget their beliefs and refuse to test their faith?
Living in a fantasy perfect past is always productive. See: Iranian Ayatollah's, Islamist Fanatics, Christian Fundamentalists. Science itself, as well as the world science has brought us, is their real enemy.
... of whatever seems to be rising over Hollywood. I see its curious and insidious tendrils wrapping around the iconic "Hollywood" sign every time I step out my front door and look up and to the left. ( Like a great visionary once said: "Nub Shoggaroth! The Great Old Ones are rising!")
represent a clear threat to Israeli democracy. The legislation inititated by these parties and the plicies followed by their representatives in the cabinet (such as Deputy Health Minister Litzman) are gradually leading Israel back into the Middle Ages. In the end, Israel will become a theocratic state like Iran, unless secular Israeli citizens take matters into their own hands and remove the haredim from all seats of power and influence.
This rabi and the party who follows him are racist: SHAS, Sepharadis only, the others are not Casher, just an assambly of heretics.
Always on the cutting edge of every issue...
according to Ezekiel (27) it was only the bones he saw in his dream, no flesh, the flesh wuo was dressed on the bones was brand new, so there is no interdiction to contribute old flesh for those who need it (to save their life). To my poor knowledge nowhere else in the bible there is mention of taking away human parts except testicles. Our rabbis have allways tryed to find ways to make life as complicated and difficile as possible.
still, his dark ages views, his out of touch realities, his combination of superstitious belief and mysogenistic rulings, can only mean one thing , that anyone paying attention to him, has given the lucidity of reason for a mere hope of eternal salvation sold in a fairytale botle. one man's dysfunction is called a delusion , many men's, is called a religion.
The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits. (Albert Einstein) People don't even bother to read the article and still can't stop writing their stupid comments...
You did not even read the article. Your post makes you look like a complete fool.
what is amazing , is that there is whole group of people that consider him a "Gadol Hador". i guess it shows that to get that title , all you need is a group of follower, whose superstitious values had made them the perfect sheep in the herd. why does haaretz even publicize his remarks, leads us to understand the power of his relevancy whithin many . why not publicize articles by Dawkins, Dennet and the likes to show the relevancy of Science and secular ethics , there is apparently a need to balance vestiges from the dark ages briught on by people like Ovadia Yossef.
In earlier generations it was ruled that one does not mourn a Jew who desecrated Shabbos in public. Today we accept they probably don't understand that desecrating Shabbos is tantamount to denying the creation and the Creator, and we do sit shiva etc. Organ donation is a great mitzvah, BUT some doctors harvest organs after brain stem death and before the heart and lungs stop functioning. This is considered murder. Halachic organ donation requests the doctor to wait for the heart and lungs to stop.
Every so often, this clearly senile rabbi comes out with the stupidest comments. This is but his latest offering to the world. Disregard is the key word here. The best TV commercial for organ donation I have ever seen was several years ago on Israeli TV. A religious, kippa-wearing doctor speaks right to the viewers and asks them to consider whether it's really logical to believe that, on one hand, all the dead will miraculously be brought back to life once the Messiah comes but, on the other hand, God would be unable to help those who had saved lives by giving their organs.
And this is the man who dictates the policy of the israeli government through Yshai (or rather Yeush) and company. It is perfect casher to accept human spare parts but it is a major sin to donate such, be it in order to save life. The perfect equality man/woman when it comes to mourning is a beatifull example of 21st century deep jewish religious spirituality. Why does'nt he go back in time to the exodus from pharoh's Egypt and remain in the desert like Moses did. THE LESSON IS SIMPLE GET RID OF RABBIS CONTROLLED "POLITICAL" PARTIES, THEY ARE THE DESTRUCTION OF ISRAEL.
Im sure medical science will find it a great challeng to look for a brain in Ovadia Yosefs body !
He is FOR organ donations to save life, but AGAINST using organs for scientific experiments... And Haaretz, thanks for changing the headline; albeit belatedly. Most Jew- & Israel bashers don't bother to read the article and fire of their venom right away... Best, Michael
Rav Ovadia, is one hundred percent for organ donation. Please re-read the article and you will notice this
Yeah. Right. Whatever.
the spiritual leader of the Shas party could use a little sun.
I think the appropriate response would be to not mourn Rabbi Ovadia Yosef when the time comes. Don't even (in fact, particularly) religious Jews say that you must save a life at all cost, even if you have to break the most important mitzvot (such as Sabbath). Doesn't donating organs do just this - save lives? In which case the commandments pertaining to burial etc., should be able to be broken. It seems to me that people bend the rules when it suits them. This is a particularly important issue over which to bend the rules.
Ovadia seems unconcerned by people or lives. His views have no relevance to people living in the real world.
ORGAN DONATION TO SAVE A LIFE!!!!!!
I have my "Adi" organ donation card since February 1991 and I hope, that in the event of an untimely death, my organs will help save a life or two. But I don't want my organs to be used for science. I have a problem with scientists getting to close to "playing G_d" and I wouldn't want to further anything like cloning, "growing spare-part-bodies" etc... So, although I'm not a very religious person and usually disagree with many religious "mandates" (segregation on buses is one example), I don't find this ruling to be objectionable. But then again, who am I? Why would anybody care about what I think... :-) Best, Michael
in the Palace. The pellet with the Poison has the brew that is true. There! Can I now be Chief Spiritual leader of Shas? Or do I need the Flagon with the Dragon?
Religion is kind of OK, until it gets organized.