BAG
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BACKGROUND
Jews View Procreation
Differently Than Catholics
JOSEPH AARON
Special to the Jewish News
W
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Friday, March 20, 1987
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
hile the Vatican has
now imposed a com-
plete ban on all
conception by artificial
methods, the Jewish view on
that issue is more flexible.
That's because the Jewish
view of the world is different
from the Catholic view, ac-
cording to Dr. Moses Thndler,
professor of Jewish medical
ethics at Yeshiva University
and one of the country's
leading experts on procrea-
tion and Halachah (Jewish
law).
In an interview, Thndler
said that one must under-
stand the differences in the
attitude toward procreation
one must understand the dif-
ferences in the attitude
towards man's place and role
in the world.
In its policy document, the
Vatican denounced recent
biomedical achievements as
contrary to nature, and so, im-
moral. That view, said Tend-
ler, is contrary to Judaism.
"The word 'natural' is holy
to the Pope. lb him, 'un-,
natural' means evil. The con-
cept of something being un-
natural and so against the
will of God is uniquely Cath-
olic. It is equally uniquely
Jewish, on the contrary, to
emphasize the role man has in
nature to complete God's
work. lb us, something un-
natural is a mitzvah. Cath-
olics see that man completed
his work in the New Testa-
ment. In Judaism, we see
that God completed his work
in the Old Testament and
gave man the world to com-
plete. We are here to start up
with the world."
Beyond that, said Thndler,
a biologist and Orthodox rab-
bi, Judaism and Catholicism
have completely different at-
titudes toward the relation-
ship between marital sex and
procreation.
"In Catholicism, there is an
absolute link — you have sex
to procreate. That is irrational
and not in keeping with the
Judeo-Biblical heritage. A
Jewish man has a mitzvah to
sleep with his wife as a way
of physically showing her af-
fection and giving her pleas-
ure. Thus, he is obligated to
sleep with her even if she is
sterile, post-menopausal,
pregnant, nursing, etc. It is
an act recognized for reasons
other than procreation.
"And the fact that there is
no link goes in both direc-
tions. Just as Judaism rec-
ognizes that sex is allowed
when procreation is not pos-
sible, so does it also recognize
that there can be procreation
without the sex act."
Unlike the Vatican, then,
which said a flat 'no' to both
artificial insemination and in-
vitro fertilization as means to
achieve conception, Thndler
said Jewish law allows the use
of both methods.
Artificial insemination, the
insertion by laboratory
methods of sperm into a
woman, is allowed by Hal-
achah as long as it is the hus-
band's sperm that is used and
Artificial
insemination is
allowed, as long
as it is the
husband's sperm
that is used.
as long as the sperm is pro-
cured through Halachically
accepted means. Masturba-
tion, said Thndler, is definite-
ly not allowed, but, he said,
acceptable methods are avail-
able, including the use during
normal sex of a special
condom-like sheath.
In-vitro, or test-tube fer-
tilization, involves fertiliza-
tion in a laboratory container
of the eggs removed from a
woman's body and sperm
from her husband.
That, too, said Tender, is
"perfectly acceptable," as
long as it is the egg and
sperm of a husband and wife.
He said Judaism does not
have the Vatican's problem of
being concerned with damage
to any eggs not used.
"Normally, eight eggs are
taken out of a woman's body
but only four are put into the
jar. Still, the other four are of
no real concern. They can be
flushed away. There is no
potential for life in a petri
dish. There is no abortion
since there is no life. It is a
place where no life is
available."
There are, however, several
potential problems with in-
vitro fertilization, lender
said. The major one is if the
husband is incapable of pro-
ducing sperm on his own,
necessitating the use of a
third party.
The problem there is not as
some might think, one of
adultery, Thndler said. "There
is no sin. She does not sleep
with a strange man. You can't
commit adultery with a cath-