(טז) לֹא־תֵלֵ֤ךְ רָכִיל֙ בְּעַמֶּ֔יךָ לֹ֥א תַעֲמֹ֖ד עַל־דַּ֣ם רֵעֶ֑ךָ אֲנִ֖י ה'.
(16) Do not deal basely with your countrymen. Do not profit by the blood of your fellow: I am the Lord.
(יט) בָּדְקוּ עַד חָטְמוֹ וְלֹא מָצְאוּ בּוֹ נְשָׁמָה מַנִּיחִין אוֹתוֹ שָׁם שֶׁכְּבָר מֵת. בָּדְקוּ וּמָצְאוּ עֶלְיוֹנִים מֵתִים לֹא יֹאמְרוּ כְּבָר מֵתוּ תַּחְתּוֹנִים אֶלָּא מְפַקְּחִין עַל הַכּל שֶׁאֶפְשָׁר בְּמַפּלֶת שֶׁיָּמוּת הָעֶלְיוֹן וְיִהְיֶה הַתַּחְתּוֹן חַי:
...
(ד) אֲפִלּוּ מְצָאוּהוּ מְרֻצָּץ, שֶׁאֵינוֹ יָכוֹל לִחְיוֹת אֶלָּא לְפִי שָׁעָה, מְפַקְּחִין וּבוֹדְקִים עַד חוֹטְמוֹ; אִם לֹא הִרְגִּישׁוּ בְּחוֹטְמוֹ חַיּוּת, אָז וַדַּאי מֵת לָא שְׁנָא פָּגְעוּ בְּרֹאשׁוֹ תְּחִלָּה, לָא שְׁנָא פָּגְעוּ בְּרַגְלָיו תְּחִלָּה.
Even if the victim was found so severely injured that he cannot live for more than a short while, one must probe [the debris) until one reaches his nose. If one cannot detect signs of respiration at the nose, then he is certainly dead whether the head was uncovered first or whether the feet were uncovered first
(ו) אָדָם אֵינוֹ מְטַמֵּא, עַד שֶׁתֵּצֵא נַפְשׁוֹ. וַאֲפִלּוּ מְגֻיָּד, וַאֲפִלּוּ גוֹסֵס. זוֹקֵק לַיִּבּוּם וּפוֹטֵר מִן הַיִּבּוּם, מַאֲכִיל בַּתְּרוּמָה וּפוֹסֵל בַּתְּרוּמָה. וְכֵן בְּהֵמָה וְחַיָּה אֵינָן מְטַמְּאִין, עַד שֶׁתֵּצֵא נַפְשָׁם. הֻתְּזוּ רָאשֵׁיהֶם, אַף עַל פִּי שֶׁמְּפַרְכְּסִים, טְמֵאִים, כְּגוֹן זָנָב שֶׁל לְטָאָה שֶׁהִיא מְפַרְכָּסֶת:
(6) A human does not impurify [others] until his life leaves him. And even someone dismembered or terminally ill, obligates in or exempts from levirate marriage, and qualifies or disqualifies one from eating Terumah [a portion of a crop given to a priest which becomes holy upon separation, and can only be consumed by priests or their household]. And so too domestic or wild animals do not impurify until their lives leave them. If their heads were cut off, even if they are convulsing, they impurify - like the tail of a lizard which convulses [after being cut off].
(ה) מָצָא עֶלְיוֹנִים מֵתִים, לֹא יֹאמַר: כְּבָר מֵתוּ תַּחְתּוֹנִים, אֶלָּא מְפַקֵחַ עֲלֵיהֶם שֶׁמָּא עֲדַיִן הֵם חַיִּים.
(5) Even if they found him [in exremis], that he can only live for a short hwile, they remove the collapse and check until his nose, and if they do not sense at his nose life then he is definitely dead - it does not matter whether they reached his head or his feet first.
שו"ת חתם סופר, יו"ד, סי' של"ח
אבל כל שאחר שמוטל כאבן דומם, ואין בו שום דפיקה, ואם אח"כ בטל הנשימה, אין לנו אלא דברי תורתנו הקדושה, שהוא מת, ולא ילינו אותו, והמטמא לו, אם הוא כהן, לוקה אחר ההתראה"
Responsa - Hatam Sofer Yoreh Deah 338
But as long as he lies like an inanimate stone and has no pulse, if afterward breathing ceases, we have only the words of our holy Torah [to rely on and determine] that he is dead, and they shouldn’t leave his body overnight, and one who is defiled by it—if he is a kohein, he is liable for lashes if he is forewarned.
Rabbis who object to organ donation do not do so because a body must be buried whole. They object because organs are usually taken from a person who is brain-stem dead but whose heart is still beating with the help of a ventilator. These Rabbis consider a beating heart to be a sign of human life and therefore donating organs at this point would be killing the donor. The question is whether or not a brain-stem dead person is alive or dead. Other rabbis who view brain-stem death as death view the organism is dead while the organs remain alive with the mechanical artificial help of a ventilator supplying the organs with oxygen.
The organ donor card of the Halachic Organ Donor (HOD) Society is unique because it allows donors to choose to donate their organs at brain-stem death or after cardiac death.
Do we need to be buried with our organs in order to be resurrected?
No. While being buried whole is a value in Judaism, there is no source in classical Jewish literature that says you need to be buried with your organs in order to be resurrected. In fact, a few months after your death, your organs will have disintegrated so you will not have your organs for resurrection.
Why does the belief persist that Jews can’t donate organs? It is common knowledge that a Jew may eat non-kosher if he or she is starving to death and there is nothing else to eat. The ability to save a life by cutting into a dead body, however, is very recent. For more than 3,000 years, Jews have been taught that the body is sacrosanct and it is never to be violated because there never arose the thought that perhaps by doing so you could save someone else’s life. It will take much time to break this taboo that has been firmly entrenched in the collective Jewish awareness.
Does the HOD Society issue piskei halacha (religious rulings)?
No. While the HOD Society recognizes brain death as halachic death it also understands there is a plurality of halachic positions on this issue. HODS, therefore, offers a unique organ donor card that allows people to choose between different halachic options.
Can a corpse have a proper Tahara (ritual washing) if the person was an organ donor?
The custom to wash a corpse upon death is to pour water over the corpse. This can be done to an organ donor as it can be done to a badly-injured car-accident victim or someone who died on the operating table during open-heart surgery.