Skip to main content

My Jewish Learning: HEALTH & WELLNESS - Ask the Expert: Kosher Pig

My Jewish Learning Logo


Ask the Expert: Kosher Pig

Can a Jewish person receive a transplanted heart valve from a pig?

Question: A dear (gentile) friend’s brother recently had life-saving heart valve replacement surgery. The surgeons used a heart valve from a pig, which apparently is the best option for such a procedure. Would an observant Jew in need of the same operation be permitted to use a valve from a pig?
–Pamela, Baltimore
Answer: In modern medicine, pig skin is sometimes transplanted onto patients with severe burns, and heart valves from pigs are often transplanted into patients with damaged or diseased heart valves. This process, called xenografting or xenotransplantation, describes transplants from any non-human animal to a human.
One might assume that Jews would be prohibited from receiving xenotransplants from pigs because of the biblical prohibition against eating and touching swine in Leviticus 11:7-8: “And the swine — although it has true hoofs, with the hoofs cleft through, it does not chew the cud: it is impure for you. You shall not eat of their flesh or touch their carcasses; they are impure for Me.”
However, Rashi, an 11th-century  commentator, explained that this prohibition against touching pigs applied only when Jews were on their way to Jerusalem to observe the three pilgrimage festivals — PassoverShavuot and Sukkot. During those festivals the people were required to be in a heightened state of purity, so they had to avoid touching something like the flesh of a pig. Even on the way to Jerusalem, Jews were only prohibited from touching the flesh, that is, the meat of a pig. According to   (Jewish law) the skin of an animal does not transmit impurities, especially if it has been tanned.
So there is no halachic problem with pigskin and pig heart valves—on the way to Jerusalem or at any other time. Beyond that, there’s a very important tenet of Judaism called pikuach nefesh, or, saving a life. According to Jewish law, any of the mitzvot (commandments) in the Torah (except idolatry, murder, and forbidden sexual relationships) can and in fact should be violated in order to save a person’s life; the pikuach nefesh principle is that strong. This means that even if the use of pig parts wasn’t generally allowed by halacha, when people’s lives are at stake, we are commanded to do whatever is necessary to save them.
Incidentally, this exact issue was brought up on an episode of Grey’s Anatomy a few years ago. In the episode (“Save Me” Episode 8, Season 1) an Orthodox Jewish girl refuses to have a life-saving xenotransplant from a pig because it’s not kosher. The surgeons eventually do the procedure with a xenotransplant from a cow, instead. When the episode first aired, the Orthodox Jewish community responded by condemning the depiction of Jews and Jewish law. Rabbi Avi Shafran, director of public affairs for Agudath Israel of America, called the character’s refusal of the pig part “silliness.”
Bottom line: If it’s a life-saving procedure, there’s no problem using parts of a non-kosher animal — unless that part is a ham sandwich, and the procedure is not so much life-saving, such as lunchtime.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

BRILL: Human Rights and Humanitarian Law

Human Rights and Humanitarian Law JUST PUBLISHED  /  FORTHCOMING  /  JOURNALS  /  NEWS   JUST PUBLISHED   Revisiting the Geneva Conventions: 1949-2019 Edited by Md. Jahid Hossain Bhuiyan and Borhan Uddin Khan November 2019 - Hardback ISBN 978 90 04 37553 6 - € 140 E-ISBN 978 90 04 37554 3 - € 140 The European Union Returns Directive and its Compatibility with International Human Rights Law Analysis of Return Decision, Entry Ban, Detention, and Removal Izabella Majcher November 2019 - Hardback ISBN 978 90 04 36052 5 - € 250 E-ISBN 978 90 04 36053 2 - € 250 Immigration and Asylum Law and Policy in Europe, 45         Modernizing the UN Human Rights System Bertrand G. Ramcharan November 2019 - Hardback ISBN 978 90 04 20498 0 - € 119 E-ISBN 978 90 04 38734 8 - € 119 International Studies in Human Rights, 127 Counter-Terrorism Financing International Best Practices and th...

EGMONT Institute: Extremist Offender Management in Belgium

Extremist Offender Management in Belgium By Thomas Renard (27 July 2020)  In Other publications EU strategy and foreign policy, Middle-East / North Africa, Terrorism The presence of terrorist convicts in prison is not a new phenomenon in Belgium. However, radicalisation or recruitment was less visible, or at least less observed until it became a policy priority to monitor violent extremists in prison in 2015. This chapter, which is part of a broader report, analyses the specific policies and tools that have been developed in Belgium to address the challenge of radicalisation in prison, and the rehabilitation of terrorist offenders after their release. This chapter (view the PDF below) was published as part of the report “Extremist Offender Management in Europe: Country Reports” published by ICSR, and available here . (Photo credit: pxhere.com public domain)

DoD to extend Commissary/BX/MWR privileges to Veterans, MISSION Act Urgent Care, Lay Wreaths on Veteran Graves

DoD to extend Commissary/BX/MWR privileges to Veterans, MISSION Act Urgent Care, Lay Wreaths on Veteran Graves U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs sent this bulletin at 12/04/2019 06:30 PM EST #VetResources  - for Veterans, their Families, Caregivers, and Survivors Sign up for this weekly newsletter at  www.VA.gov/VetResources View and share as a webpage National Wreaths Across America Day is December 14th Wreaths Across America is a non-profit organization that has coordinated laying Christmas wreaths on Veteran’s graves every year since 2007. Their mission involves honoring and remembering Veterans around the holiday season.  You can get involved and volunteer to lay wreaths! LEARN MORE Veterans need Veterans Health Identification Card (VHIC) to access bases for commissary/BX/MWR privileges The Defense Department has announced expanded Commissary, Military Service Exchange and MWR access for Veterans on Jan. 1 and es...