הרב ישראל מאיר מלכה
Rabbi Yosef Sprung
Reeh 5780 You shall break apart their altars; you shall smash their pillars; and their sacred trees shall you burn in the fire; their carved images shall you cut down; and you shall obliterate their names from that...
Tube Feedings and Bracha Rishona
Ekev 5780 And you will eat and you will be satisfied and you will bless Hashem your G-d. (Devarim 8:10) Patients who are unable to meet their nutritional requirements through normal eating often require formula feeding...
Preventive Medicine and Disease Screening
Vaetchanan 5780 “But you shall greatly beware for your souls.” (Devarim 4:15) In our essay for Parshas Va’eschanan last year[1], we focused on the Mitzva found in the Posuk above – “v’Nishmartem M’od l’Nafshoseichem” –...
Fasting AMA (Against Medical Advice)
Devarim 5780 “You shall not tremble before any man, for judgment is God’s.” (Devarim 1:17) This Posuk obligates the Dayanim of Beis Din not to fear the litigants that stand before them, even if they are powerful or...
All in the Family
Matot-Masei 5780 The daughters of Tzelafchad, as described in the Posuk above, married their first cousins. Previously, Moshe Rabbenu had been told that they could “marry whomever was good in their eyes, but they should...
A Doctor’s Salary
Pinchas 5780 The Gemara (Bechoros 29a) famously rules that one may not take compensation for performing Mitzvos. This is derived from the Pasuk, “See, I have taught you statutes and laws just as Hashem...
Inserting Vascular Catheters on Shabbat
Shlach “The Children of Israel were in the wilderness and they found a man gathering wood on the Shabbos day. Those who found him gathering wood brought him to Moshe and Aaron, and to the entire assembly. They placed...
Pikuach Nefesh After a Suicide Attempt
Kedoshim 5779 “You shall not stand over the blood of your friend.” (Vayikra 19:16) This Posuk serves as one of the sources for the Mitzva of saving human life (Sanhedrin 74a). Elsewhere, Chaza”l derive this Mitzva from...
Performing Medical Procedures on Parents
Mishpatim 5779 ‘And somebody who strikes his father or mother shall surely die’ (Shemos 21:12) Paragraph In this verse we learn of the grave sin of striking one’s father or mother. The Gemara in Sanhedrin (84b-85a)...
The Conduct of Medical Practitioners in Cases Where Halacha is at Odds with the Law of the Land
Shemot 5779 ‘And the midwives feared G-d and they did not do as the king of Egypt spoke to them, and they kept the boys alive’...
Should Midgestation Fetal Surgery be Considered Leidah (Halachic Birth)?
Tazria 5779 “Speak to the Children of Israel saying: When a woman conceives and gives birth to a male, she shall be impure for a seven-day period…” (Vayikra 12:2) There are many laws of the Torah that...
Is All Uterine Bleeding Considered Dam Nidos?
Chukat 5780 The intrauterine device (IUD) is a common method of contraception that can be utilized for an extended period. Broadly speaking, IUDs may be divided into two groups; copper devices and hormone-releasing...
Traveling to and from the Hospital on Shabbos
Balak 5780 Doctors, nurses, and members of Hatzala often need to carry out their work on Shabbos. Medical personnel are sometimes unable to avoid Shabbos hospital shifts, or are summoned on Shabbos to attend to a...
Frequently Asked Questions by Doctors: Hadlakas Ner Chanuka
Vayeishev- Chanuka 5781 Teshuvos from Moreinu HaGaon HaRav Asher Weiss shlit”a Contents 1) Lighting for One Who Arrives Home Late at Night. 3 2) Lighting in a Hospital Room Alone. 6 3) Shlichus for Ner Chanuka, Lighting...
End-of-Life Issues: Who Decides?
Vayechi 5781 And the time approached for Yisrael to die, so he called for his son, for Yosef, and said to him, “Please – if I have found favor in your eyes – please place your hand under my thigh and do kindness and...
Are You My Mother? Maternity and Surrogacy in Halacha
Vayigash 5781 And the sons of Shimon: Yemuel, Yamin, Ohad, Yachin, Zohar, and Shaul, son of the Canaanite woman. (Bereishis 46:10) Who was “Shaul, son of the Canaanite woman”? Chaza”l reveal that he was the son born to...
Sweet Dreams
Mikeitz 5781 And Pharaoh said to Yosef, “I dreamt a dream, but no one can interpret it. Now I heard said of you that you comprehend a dream to interpret it.” (Bereishis 41:15) Parshas Mikeitz opens with the famous...
