Some maintain Torah prohibits organ donation
TAMI BICKLEY
Staff Writer
When we donate food or clothing to the poor, it's an act of tzedakah (charity) to be commended.
The same can be said when we donate money to a humane cause.
But when we donate our bodies, or parts of them, to save a life, some maintain it is a violation of God's law.
"No matter how trendy something is, if it's not what God wants, then it can't be something good," asserts Rabbi Laibel Blotner, principal for Judaic studies at Phoenix Preparatory High School on the campus of the Chabad-Lubavitch Center.
In the Torah, explains Blotner, God forbids the mutilation of the human body. "No matter how much contemporary society looks at (organ donation) in a good light, if the Torah forbids it, there's obviously a reason for (that prohibition)," he says.
The Torah was written almost 4,000 years ago, long before organ and tissue transplants were possible. Still, Blotner says, the prohibition against mutilation applies.
There are religious and halachic (Jewish legal) experts, however, who say that in light of the increasing success of organ transplants, it is a mitzvah (commandment) under certain circumstances to volunteer oneself as a donor. "If we are in a position to help, and we refrain from helping, such as saving a life, then we are, in a sense, in violation of Jewish law," explains Rabbi David Rebibo of Beth Joseph Congregation, an Orthodox synagogue in Phoenix.
There are two types of organ and tissue donors. There are those who donate organs or tissue such as a kidney, bone marrow or blood while they are alive. And there are people who arrange in advance to become donors after death, making provisions to donate their entire bodies for research or needed organs and tissue, or specifying which body parts may be used.
Sara Pace Jones, spokeswoman for the Donor Network of Arizona, the state's federally-designated, non-profit organ procurement organization, says the decision to donate once someone has died is "incumbent upon the family," regardless of whether the deceased has documented a desire to be a donor. Therefore, she says, the most effective way for a person to secure wishes in relation to donation is to communicate those wishes to family members.
Rebibo, who consults with families facing the decision of whether to donate their deceased loved one's organs, notes that "the whole (issue) of organ transplants has ethical, moral and legal consequences" which must be addressed.
For example, when dealing with donation after death, Rebibo says one must first consider the halachic definition of death. "Death is usually when you have cessation of respiration; when you have an absence of heartbeat for a given period of time and it becomes impossible to resuscitate the individual," he says. Therefore, Rebibo says, Jewish law forbids the donation process if the potential donor is in a vegetative state. (The accompanying story includes further discussion of Jewish legal definitions of death.)
Once someone is determined to be dead according to Jewish law, Rebibo says, there are three additional concerns with which to contend: mutilation, benefits of the procedure and delaying interment.
Jones insists that an organ donor, whether alive or dead, is not left with a mutilated body. "Everything ... is recovered surgically," she says. "It's a sterile (operating room) setting. ... The organs are recovered and the person is surgically closed. There is a scar where they've been opened and shut, but (that's all).
"The utmost importance of anyone who works in organ or tissue recovery is (placed on) thinking of the donor family and the gift they're giving. So the body is treated with a great deal of respect."
With that in mind, the next question a Jew should ask, according to Rebibo, is: For what benefit exactly will the body/organs be used? If the body is to be used for experimentation or in an experimental procedure, then this use is forbidden by Jewish law, Rebibo says. But if the procedure is widely practiced and the donation will undoubtedly save a life, then "the organ transplant is a must," he says.
"If (someone wants to) donate an organ, and it's in great demand, and we know it is going to be used, even if there's no one on hand right now (to receive it), then (we can do it)," Rebibo adds. "The problem (arises) when (someone wants to donate an organ) but has no assurance that it will end up saving the life of someone."
It is not sufficient, Rebibo says, that the body be used in experimentation that may help lead to a medical development, possibly saving lives in the future, or that the donation merely better someone's life, such as restoring their sight.
Finally, Jews should make sure that the procedure will not postpone burial. Since most donations take place within 24 hours after death, according to the Donation Network of Arizona, they generally do not delay the interment.
Rebibo says there are no Jewish legal restrictions against receiving donated organs.
DNA estimates that about 800 Arizonans are on the national waiting list of the United Network for Organ Sharing. Last year, one person in Arizona died each week while waiting for an organ.
When a hospital patient dies, DNA workers or trained hospital staff approach the family to ask if they wish their loved one to become a donor. DNA and hospital staff are sensitive to religious guidelines, says Jones, because even though "all major religions in the United States support donations," many of them, including Judaism, harbor concerns, as they struggle with what was written in ancient religious texts and what current technology makes possible.
"If someone is concerned, I'll give them the information that I have, and then I'll recommend they talk to their (clergy person)," says Jones.
Rebibo suggests that Jews consult their rabbis prior to becoming donors or volunteering their loved ones as donors, because "in the overall operation there are so many people involved. It's something we have to look at positively, but (we must) proceed with caution."
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