הרב ישראל מאיר מלכה
Rabbi Yosef Sprung
Toldot 5780 “And the children agitated within her, and she said, ‘If so, why am I thus?’ And she went to inquire of Hashem.” (Bereishis 25:22) In recent years, prenatal ultrasound imaging (as well as other advanced...
Rabbi Yosef SprungShiduchim and Disclosure of Confidential Medical Information
Vayeitzei 5780 And behold in the morning it was Leah. And he said to Lavan, “What is this that you have done to me? Surely, I worked for you for Rachel. Why have you deceived me?” (Bereishis 29:25) Those who are...
Husbands in the Delivery Room
Vayishlach 5780 “They journeyed from Beis El and there was still a stretch of land to go to Efrat, when Rachel went into labor and had difficulty in her childbirth. And it was when she had difficulty in her labor that...
Caregivers and Questions of Yichud
Vayeishev 5780 Then there was an opportune day when he entered the house to do his work – no man of the household staff being there in the house – that she caught hold of him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me!” But...
In God We Trust
Mikeitz 5780 It happened at the end of two years…” (Bereishis 41:1) Parshas Vayeshev concludes with Yosef’s plea to the Sar haMashkim to remember him, and help him procure a release from jail. The Sar haMashkim forgot...
“Yosef is Still Alive” – Communicating Dramatic News to Patients
Vayigash 5780 They went up from Egypt and came to the land of Canaan, to Yaakov their father. And they told him, saying, “Yosef is still alive”, and that he is ruler over all the land of Egypt; but his heart rejected...
Mitzvas Kevura and Issur Hana’ah in Organ Transplantation
Vayechi 5780 “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 truth...
Abortion and Bnei Noach
Shemot 5780 And the king of Egypt said to the Jewish midwives, one of whom was called Shifra, and the other of whom was called Puah. And he said, “When you deliver the babies for the Jewish women and you see them on the...
Service of the Heart
Vaeira 5780 And Moshe cried out to Hashem concerning the frogs that he had inflicted upon Paroh (Shemos 8:8) In the Parshiyos of Yetzias Mitzrayim, the Torah records how on numerous occasions Moshe Rabbenu Davened to...
Chametz-Containing Medications
Bo 5780 For a seven-day period you shall eat Matzos, but on the previous day you shall nullify the leaven from your homes; for anyone who eats leavened food – that soul shall be cut off from Israel, from the first day...
Smartphones, Smartwatches, and Shabbat
Beshalach 5780 “See that Hashem has given you the Shabbos; that is why He gives you on the sixth day a two-day portion of bread. Let every man remain in his place; let no man leave his place on the seventh day.” (Shemos...
Wheelchairs on the Bima
Yisro 5780 “And Moshe brought the people forth from the camp towards Hashem, and they stood at the bottom of the mountain”. (Shemos 19:17) Matan Torah was an extraordinary event of Divine revelation, an otherworldly...
The Cheresh That Learned to Speak – Is He Still a Shoteh?
Mishpatim 5780 “An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, a foot for a foot.” (Shemos 21:24) Chaza”l famously explain that this Pasuk refers to monetary compensation for physical injury. The Gemara in...
Halachic Measurements and Technology: Man vs. Machine
Trumah 5780 “Exactly as I show you – the form of the Mishkan and the form of all its vessels – so shall you do.” (Shemos 25:9) The Gemara in Bechoros (17b) discusses whether a human being is capable of acting with...
Women in Scrubs – Room for Slack?
Tetzaveh-Zachor 5780 “You shall make them linen breeches to cover their nakedness; they shall extend from the hips to the thighs. They shall be worn by Aharon and his sons when they enter the Tent of Meeting or when...
Shinui and Shabbat: Knuckles, Thimbles, and Left Hands
Vayakel – Pekudei 5780 On six days work may be done, but the seventh day shall be holy for you, a day of complete rest for Hashem; whoever does work on it shall be put to death. (Shemos 35:2) One of the...
Sleep, Anesthesia, and Mitzvos
Vayikra 5780 If one’s offering is a burnt offering from the cattle, he shall offer an unblemished male; he shall bring it to the entrance of the Ohel Moed voluntarily before Hashem. (Vayikra 1:3) The Gemara (Arachin...
