Jewish Law About the Rights of the Dead and Organ Transplant

Jewish law varies on the concept of burying the dead and organ transplants. Jewish law states that all parts of a body must be buried together as a whole. That is why when there is a suicide bus attack in Israel, doctors and paramedics are scrambling to recover all of the limbs and body parts of the people who have been killed. However, this law only applies to limbs and not to internal organs.

Jewish law states that you cannot use the parts and limbs of a dead body to benefit the living. For example, you cannot use a dead person's hair to make a wig for a person.

Jewish law regarding burying the dead states that a person must be buried within 24 hours of the person's death. Jewish law prohibits an autopsy in part because a dead body must be buried within 24 hours and a dead body is at peace and should not be disturbed by being cut open during an autopsy.

The issue of organ donation has interesting ideas attached to it. Jewish law states that if a life can be saved than a person must do everything in his power to save that life. Thus, organ donation has the ability to save a person's life. It is interesting to note that in the 1970s when Rabbi and scientist Moshe Feinstein ruled on organ transplant, he viewed it as a "double homicide" because he felt that if a person sacrificed their own organs than it would lead to a quicker death because organ transplant operations did not have a high chance of success. Now that theory has been revised because organ transplant surgeries have a great chance of success.

There are a few concerns about organ transplant under Jewish law and I address them here below. The first criterion is if there is a good chance of saving a person's life from the organ transplant procedure. The second thing to consider is if a person can be buried without this organ. The answer is yes according to Jewish law. As I have previously stated, a person cannot be buried without their limbs but can be buried without their internal organs. The third concern is desecrating the body of the dead person. This could be problematic to some people but Jewish law states that the chance of a life saving procedure through the donation of organs could save a person's life and overrides the concerns about the burial of the person. The fourth and final concern is that it has to directly benefit someone to save their life.

Only a kidney from a live person can be used for organ donation while a heart, liver, lung can be taken from a brain dead person.

Getting back on the subject of determining if a person has in fact died, Rabbi Moshe Feinstein came up with an interesting test for determining if a person was dead by administering a liquid into a person's body. The results of this liquid determine if the person is alive or dead. When the brain liquefies this process is called Lyses. The test has been modified today to use a radio isotope to determine if there is brain activity. However the test is imperfect and has some flaws.

Rabbi Moshe Tendler who is also another prominent Rabbi has stated that it is his belief that Jews should sign in their wills to donate organs to save the lives of other people.

A big concern in the Jewish community has been the thinking that since there is such a long list for people in need or organs, there is increased pressure on doctors to get organs to be transplanted. As a result, a doctor might rush a person on his death bed into death just so that the doctor can use that person's organs to be transplanted into another human being.

Finally, as one last thought I would like to share, the definition of brain dead for a person is not concise and clear to everyone. While all Jewish laws point to an agreement that breathing is a sign of life, there is a disagreement in the equation of respiration to brain death and existing life. While some Rabbis believe that any type of respiration shows that a person is alive, others believe that life activity in the brain is subtle and can still exist.