.gif)
As I looked at a Reform beit knesset on my way from Reistertown Road back to Upper Park Heights, I couldn't help but wonder about the Union for Reform Judaism and eugenics. I should've brought my mom along because I had so many questions for her, including this one: "Mom, why is abortion allowed in Talmud?" Reform Judaism defends their position on abortion with Talmud.
"Talmud states, 'IF A WOMAN IS IN HARD TRAVAIL, ONE CUTS UP THE CHILD IN HER
WOMB AND BRINGS IT FORTH MEMBER BY MEMBER, BECAUSE HER LIFE COMES
BEFORE THAT OF IT. BUT IF THE GREATER PART HAS PROCEEDED FORTH,
ONE MAY NOT TOUCH IT, FOR ONE MAY NOT SET ASIDE ONE PERSON'S LIFE FOR
THAT OF ANOTHER.' Haven't you been studying 'Ohalot'?"
I went back to my hotel room at the Red Carpet Inn that night and reexamined the URJ documents. I guessed that their argument would be that the case of a child having a genetic disease could so unbearable to the mother that she "is in hard travail", thus "her life comes" first. I then understood why my mom once said that what seems to contradict Torah in Talmud is just a sh'eilah."
I was reminded of when she literally threw Talmud at me for me to catch and quoted, "Withhold not correction from the child; for though thou beat him with the rod, he will not die. Thou beatest him with the rod, and wilt deliver his soul from the nether-world." She then explained, "In your case, the rod is the book. As the old saying goes, 'Throw the book at him.'"
I asked her to further explain her sh'eliah comment, meanwhile. "We are given sh'eliot, such as Ohalot 7:6, to see whether or not we will follow the mitzvot in Tanakh. The sh'eliot are paradoxical only in the sense that they are mitzvot until they are realized as sh'eliot which Torah and rachamim override. Actually obeying anything that is a purposeful violation of Torah means that we have failed a sh'eliah."
Wishing my mom "L'Laila tov", I hung up the phone and recited the "Bedtime Shema". I had a long day ahead of me.
"Talmud states, 'IF A WOMAN IS IN HARD TRAVAIL, ONE CUTS UP THE CHILD IN HER
WOMB AND BRINGS IT FORTH MEMBER BY MEMBER, BECAUSE HER LIFE COMES
BEFORE THAT OF IT. BUT IF THE GREATER PART HAS PROCEEDED FORTH,
ONE MAY NOT TOUCH IT, FOR ONE MAY NOT SET ASIDE ONE PERSON'S LIFE FOR
THAT OF ANOTHER.' Haven't you been studying 'Ohalot'?"
I went back to my hotel room at the Red Carpet Inn that night and reexamined the URJ documents. I guessed that their argument would be that the case of a child having a genetic disease could so unbearable to the mother that she "is in hard travail", thus "her life comes" first. I then understood why my mom once said that what seems to contradict Torah in Talmud is just a sh'eilah."
I was reminded of when she literally threw Talmud at me for me to catch and quoted, "Withhold not correction from the child; for though thou beat him with the rod, he will not die. Thou beatest him with the rod, and wilt deliver his soul from the nether-world." She then explained, "In your case, the rod is the book. As the old saying goes, 'Throw the book at him.'"
I asked her to further explain her sh'eliah comment, meanwhile. "We are given sh'eliot, such as Ohalot 7:6, to see whether or not we will follow the mitzvot in Tanakh. The sh'eliot are paradoxical only in the sense that they are mitzvot until they are realized as sh'eliot which Torah and rachamim override. Actually obeying anything that is a purposeful violation of Torah means that we have failed a sh'eliah."
Wishing my mom "L'Laila tov", I hung up the phone and recited the "Bedtime Shema". I had a long day ahead of me.
No comments:
Post a Comment