On 3 Sep 2013 at 15:47, Pollak, Edward (Retired) wrote: > Michael asked if there was an Orthodox Jewish position on vaccinating > one's children and Where in the Torah, Talmud, or Pentateuch (sic) are > medical issues addressed?
A now-rare reply from me (retirement keeps me busy, busy, busy): My Jewish mother (an authority, of course, but definitely not a Talmudic scholar) used to claim that it is permissible to break any Jewish rule if health or life is at at stake. So while you're not supposed to work on the Sabbath, if you have to build a fire to keep from freezing to death, you're permitted. Or if you're going to die unless you get a ham sandwich, snack away. But only if this was literally true. I also recall that it is written, presumably in the Talmud, that if one child in a family bleeds excessively on circumcision, later-born babies are excused from having the trim. This illustrates both my mother's principle and the fact that way, way back, they did have some understanding of the genetic basis of hemophilia. Obligatory circumcision joke: Stranger in town needs to have a watch fixed. Passes a shop with watches in the window, goes in , asks to have the work done. The shopkeeper says he's sorry, he's not a watch repairman, but a mohl (someone whose job is to to circumcise). "A mohl!" exclaims the stranger. "Then why do you have watches in the window?" The shopkeeper sighs. "So, what you _you_ put in the window? Stephen -------------------------------------------- Stephen L. Black, Ph.D. Professor of Psychology, Emeritus Bishop's University Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada e-mail: sblack at ubishops.ca --------------------------------------------- --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: arch...@jab.org. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=27552 or send a blank email to leave-27552-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
