(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].
Rav Pappa said: The dispute with regard to how far to check for signs of life applies when the digger begins removing the rubble from below, starting with the feet, to above. In such a case it is insufficient to check until his heart; rather, one must continue removing rubble until he is able to check his nose for breath. But if one cleared the rubble from above to below, once he checked as far as the victim’s nose he is not required to check further, as it is written: “All in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life” (Genesis 7:22).
אגרות משה, יו״ד
ע״י זה שע״י המכונה הוא שייך שינשום אף שהוא כברת מת דנשימה כזו הוא
לא מחשיבו כחי...אבל כשפסקה מלעבו שנחסר העקסינזען שהיה שם לא יחזירו
לפיו עוד הפעם עד עבור זמן קצר כרבע שעה, שאם אינו חי כבר יפסיק מלנשום
וידעו שהוא מת, ואם יחיה היינו שיראו שהוא נושם גם בלא המכונה אך בקושי…
Igrot Moshe, Yoreah Deah III: 132, 1976
[Halakhically,] breathing of this kind is not regarded as a sign of life. The "breath of life" test requires that the patient breathe on his own. Breathing by means of a machine does not satisfy the Halakhic definition of respiration, and therefore the patient is considered to be dead so long as the other criteria are met...But when the ventilator is being serviced or the oxygen replaced, it is possible to observe him for a period of approximately fifteen minutes [while the ventilator is off]. If there is no evidence of independent respiratory activity during this period, it is certain that [the patient] is dead.
הרבנות הראשית לישראל: הנוסח המלא של החלטת מועצת הרבנות הראשית בנושא ההשתלות
״בהסתמך על יסודות הגמ׳ ביומה (פה) ופסק החת״ס חיו״ד של״ח נקבע המות על פי ההלכה בהפסקת הנשימה.״
The Chief Rabbinate of Israel: Organ Donation, 1986
Relying upon the Talmud Yoma (85a) and the ruling of the Chatam Sofer (Yoreh Deah, 338), death is determined by irreversible cessation of breathing. (See Responsa "Igrot Moshe," Chelek 13, 132).
For more information and to sign up:
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For more information and to sign up:
www.hods.org, halakhic and scientific/medical information, ability to sign a halakhic organ donor card that permits donation either after brain death or irreversible cessation of heart-beat.
www.donatelifecalifornia.org, scientific/medical information, ability to sign an organ donor card that permits donation after brain death, ability to choose which organs you would like to be donated after death
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