hfavr@mtuxo.UUCP (a.reed) (02/22/86)
> >> > From: Adam Reed <ihnp4!mtuxo!hfavr> > >> > The Holocaust has to do with the murder of a living > >> > Jewish *soul or mind (nefesh)*. In the Jewish tradition, a newborn is > >> > not considered a nefesh until he or she has lived the prescribed number > >> > of days on earth. > >> I am intrigued; how many days are prescribed? I have never seen > >> mention of this in the Bible. The human embryo develops a brain three > >> weeks after conception. On the other hand, my understanding is that > >> nefesh has nothing to do with mind or soul as most people think of it. > >> Dr. H. M. Orlinsky of Hebrew Union College has said, "the Bible does > >> not say we have a soul. 'Nefesh' is the person himself, his need for > >> food, the very blood in his veins, his being." This would seem to mean > >> that a person is a nefesh right from birth, if not from conception. > >1. The Oral Tradition prescribes 30 days from birth before a newborn is > > considered a nefesh. A newborn who dies without having lived on > > earth for 30 days is not mourned. > >2. Nefesh is indeed what one is, and not something one has. This is > > because in the Jewish tradition, the mind is the soul is the person. > > Biological functions necessary to support the mind are indeed a > > component of nefesh, but the mind is indispensable: no mind > > means no soul means no person. > >3. The fact that the human embryo develops a brain three weeks after > > conception is not relevant to the question of nefesh: animals > > have brains, but they do not have minds and are not persons. > So, under Jewish law (as described here), infanticide is perfectly > acceptable, if the mindless, souless human is less than 30 days old, > correct? > I am sure that something is missing. > Can someone who knows more enlighten us? What is missing is appreciation for the Jewish conception of continuous growth of the potential for becoming a person, and of the protection of this potential in Jewish law. A healthy newborn is considered close enough to becoming a person, that to kill it would be indistiguishable from murder, and is of course absolutely prohibited. The potential for the eventual growth of a person is present in the sperm and the unfertilized egg. Therefore celibacy is explicitly prohibited. From this prohibition is derived a prohibition against abortion, except when necessary to preserve the life (and to varying extents the well-being) of the mother. However, this prohibition does not apply unless the obligation to procreate, from which this prohibition is derived, is applicable. For example, the prohibition against abortion does not apply to a pregnancy resulting from a prohibited relationship. As the developing embryo comes closer to realizing its potential, it is treated increasingly like the person it is about to become. In case of abortion or miscarriage after the sixth month of pregnancy, the embryo is buried in a cemetary. Killing it is treated as murder from the moment of birth. After 30 days from birth the infant is treated as a full-fledged person with respect to mourning, etc. Adam Reed (ihnp4!npois!adam)