Organ Donation

Pikuah Nefesh

The preservation of human life takes precedence over all the other commandments in Judaism. The Talmud emphasizes this principle by citing the verse from Leviticus [18:5]: “You shall therefore keep my statutes…which if a man do, he shall live by them.” The rabbis add: “That he shall live by them, and not that he shall die by them.” (Babylonian Talmud, Yoma 85b)

Sanhedrin 73a:7

From where is it derived that one who sees another drowning in a river, or being dragged away by a wild animal, or being attacked by bandits, is obligated to save him? The verse states: “You shall not stand idly by the blood of another” (Leviticus 19:16).

Bava Metzia 62a:2

If two people were walking on a desolate path and there was a jug [kiton] of water in the possession of one of them, and the situation was such that if both drink from the jug, both will die, as there is not enough water, but if only one of them drinks, he will reach a settled area, there is a dispute as to the halakha.

Ben Petora taught: It is preferable that both of them drink and die, and let neither one of them see the death of the other.

This was the accepted opinion until Rabbi Akiva came and taught that the verse states: “And your brother shall live with you,” indicating that your life takes precedence over the life of the other.

Mishneh Torah, Murderer and the Preservation of Life 1:14

(14) Anyone who can save and does not save transgresses 'do not stand by the blood of your neighbour'. So too one who sees his friend drowning in the sea, bandits attacking him or a bad animal attacking him and he is able himself to save him or he could hire others to save him but he does not; one who hears idol worshippers or informers plotting harm for him or laying a trap for him and he doesn't tell his friend and inform him; or if he knows that an idol worshipper or a thug are on their way to his friend and he could appease them on behalf of his friend to change their intention and he doesn't appease him; and so too any similar case; One who does any of these transgresses 'do not stand idly by your neighbour's blood'.

Radbaz

Similarly, if it is an "even risk" he is not obligated to risk his life because [of the rule] ‘What did you see to make you think that your blood is redder, maybe the other’s blood is redder.’ But if the risk is not "even,” and there is the probability of rescue and he chooses not to endanger himself and does not rescue, then he is in violation of the prohibition, "Do not stand idly...."

How do you understand the statement:

"What did you see to make you think that your blood is redder, maybe the other's blood is redder."

Can Jews be Organ Donors?

Concerns about organ donation after death have traditionally rested on laws concerning the handling of dead bodies and the mistaken view that bodies must be buried intact if they are to be resurrected after the Messiah comes — the traditional belief known as techiyat hameitim.

How does Judaism define death, particularly in this modern age of life-support systems?

Though by no means unanimous, many rabbis hold that death in Jewish law occurs with the irreversible cessation of brain stem function. In brain death, a patient is unable to breathe independently without a mechanical ventilator, but his or her heart may still be beating, which creates a window for the harvest of vital organs like the heart and lungs.

The Conservative movement has endorsed an even more expansive position. In 2010, the movement’s religious authorities ruled that in situations where a person is unconscious, dependent on a ventilator and has no hope of recovery — even if he or she may show some limited brain activity — the person can, under certain conditions, be removed from life support and their organs taken for transplant after the heart stops beating.

A more restrictive opinion held by some Orthodox rabbis maintains that death occurs with the cessation of heartbeat, a criterion that makes vital organ donation much more medically difficult. Under this opinion, any harvesting of organs from a patient whose heart is beating would be absolutely prohibited.

Organs from Live Donors

Judaism prohibits placing oneself in unnecessary danger, and organ donation is never entirely risk-free. Authorities from across the denominations agree that if a live transplant would place the donor in mortal danger, it should not be undertaken.

Can you donate your organs for medical research?

Most rabbis say no, though there are exceptions. With research, the line between the donation of a specific organ and the saving of life is sufficiently indirect that most authorities do not believe it qualifies as pikuach nefesh

Can an organ donor still be buried in a Jewish cemetery?

Yes. Though there is historical precedent for those who committed certain infractions being denied a Jewish burial, or buried in a separate section of a Jewish cemetery — suicide being a common one — in the modern era, it is exceedingly rare to deny any Jew (including those who have died by suicide) a traditional burial. According to HODS, there is no known case where a person was denied burial in a Jewish cemetery because they donated their organs.

Jewish Renewal:

Rabbis and scholars across the spectrum of Jewish life have upgraded organ donation from a corpse to the status of a mitzvah chiyuvit, an obligatory mitzvah, that fulfills the mitzvah of pikuah nefesh, that of “saving a life.”

Reconstructing Judaism:

Organ donation from a living donor, so long as it will not significantly risk the donor’s life, is a mitzvah kiyumit, a praiseworthy but not obligatory mitzvah, since with all surgery there is some danger and distress to the donor.

The Reform movement’s position is to permit transplantation of organs or body parts from a corpse for any legitimate medical purpose.

Reform Judaism accepts the standard of brain death as a sufficient indicator. Thus, when clinical tests reveal that the donor is brain dead and that the function of his or her vital organs is being maintained solely through artificial means, then those organs may be used for transplantation.

Conservative

Jewish law and tradition endorse the principle of k’vod ha-Met, (honoring the deceased), including prompt burial and respectful treatment of remains. At the same time, Judaism affirms the centrality of the mitzvah of pikuah nefesh, (saving lives).

Members of The Committee on Jewish Law and Standards of the Conservative movement (CJLS) have long grappled with the tension between k’vod ha-Met and pikuah nefesh, asking whether it is possible for pikuah nefesh to override the concern with k’vod ha-Met. Their answer is that not only is it okay for a Jew to donate organs, and not only is it an act of hesed (loving kindness), it is a mitzvah, a positive command

Modern Orthodoxy

When early modern medicine showed that an autopsy could save a life by establishing causes of death and the pattern of mortality, Rabbi Yehezkel Landau (1713-1793) ruled that when there is an ill person whose life can be saved by performing an autopsy on a recently deceased individual, then the mitzvah of lifesaving overrules the prohibition of use from a dead body. The halachic authorities then followed with permission to donate organs with family approval. Rabbi Moshe Feinstein widened this permission to corneal transplants, arguing that blindness is a form of death: the handicap so reduces the quality of life that restoring sight is equivalent to lifesaving.

Organ donation is the highest mitzvah and the most religious person should perform it. The ultimate respect for the dead is to enable them to save a life; giving life is the highest form of respect for life.

Lubavitch Hasidism

While you are alive, to donate an organ that you can live without in order to save another life is one of the greatest acts you could do. “To save a life is to save an entire universe,” our sages have declared.

After death too, organ donation is permitted—and constitutes an awesome mitzvah—in the case when an organ is needed for a specific, immediate transplant.