Friday, July 22, 2005

On Heshy, Organ Donation and Shari Kurzock



I find it ironic that on the same day that Heshy posts his categoric "forbidden to donate organs..." diatribe, the OU put out a press release asking for liver donors for Shari Kurzock, a young woman who gained acclaim by leading a 345 city "Save A Life Tour" to stress the importance of regular blood donation.

Heshy said: Why are ther no real rabbis who advocate being an organ donor?Why are there no rabbis who are known in the real Jewish community?

I guess according to Heshy, there are no real rabbis in the OU.

Shari needs a complete liver transplant within the next few days to survive. Potential cadaver donors must be Type A or Type O blood. Anyone wanting to help Shari with a liver transplant referral should call: 877-223-3386 or email: liverforalife@yahoo.com

The Wolf

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

It seems to me that Heshy is raising the issue that blanket unsupervised /unrestricted organ donations runs the risk of having the organ donated when the donor is still halachically alive. But clearly under hte proper circumstances, ain lecha tzedaka gedola mizu.

While on this point, why dont you visit Heshy in his palace this shabat and engage him in debate on this topic. And of course, please report back!

BrooklynWolf said...

Well "DovBear", as I indicated on his blog, I agreed with him that in many cases, where there is no clear-cut death indicator, the decisions must be made on a case-by-case basis. But he seems to take the position that it's categorically forbidden no matter what.

The Wolf

Anonymous said...

And with respect to the debate .....("Brooklyn" Wolf could presumably walk there on shabat)

BrooklynWolf said...

Sadly, no. It's too far (it's not like all of Brooklyn is three blocks long, you know), and I have elsewhere that I need to be.

BTW, DB, no disrespect was intended. I just put "DovBear" in quotes because I'm reasonably certain that the first response was not by you.

The Wolf

Jewish Atheist said...

Isn't Orthodox Judaism opposed to organ donation unless the organ is likely going to another Jew?

BrooklynWolf said...

JA,

Please see this article from the HODS site.

The Wolf

Jewish Atheist said...

That's interesting... not being allowed to be an organ donor was one of the issues which bothered me the most about being Orthodox. How widespread is that view among the Orthodox?

Anonymous said...

and by the way I am the real "Dov Bear"

BrooklynWolf said...

JA,

It's still very controversial. And there is still the very real concern that organs may be harvested from people who are clinically, but not halachically dead. That's why I don't believe there can ever be a blanket policy permitting organ donation. But I believe that cases can be permitted on a case-by-case basis.

The Wolf

Anonymous said...

why were you writing on shabas