[Avodah] [Areivim] URL: article about halachic

[Chana Luntz]

RDI wrote:

> On Fri, 15 Dec 2006 05:04:34 -0700 Chana Luntz 
> <chana at kolsassoon.org.uk> wrote:
> >Also I do wonder - the mitzvah of pru u'rvu we generally seem to
> >hold,
> >occurs only upon the birth of the children (of the correct sex) -
> >whereas does not the mitzvah of yibum has its kiyum in the act 
> >itself?
> 
> It's not so clear, IIRC.  See, for example, Chagiga 2b, Tosfos D"H 
> Lisa Shifcha, where it appears that the mitzvah occurs with "gamar 
> biah."  Again, if IIRC later meforshim discuss this point exactly.  
> See also the Minchas Chinuch.  
> 

Yes, I know, I was actually trying to be precise in using the
phraseology "we generally seem to hold".  

The thing is this - if you hold like this tosphos then in the case of
IVF (or artificial insemination for that matter) there is no ma'ase
biah, and hence no gmar biah and hence no kium of the mitzvah of pru
'urvu, no matter how many children may be produced by such method.  I
believe there have been poskim who hold this but "we generally seem to
hold" that in fact IVF etc is a fulfilment of the mitzvah of pru u'rvu -
as can be seen by the responses on this list suggesting that with the
existence of IVF, artificial insemination etc, there is no need to mess
around with the shiva nekiim (this is despite this being based, as you
point out, on achronic analysis, such as that of the Minchas Chinuch).
And there are certainly enough poskim (Rav Moshe springs to mind) who
held you could fulfil pru u'rvu by means of these technologies.

If you did want to be choshesh for these other opinions, though, that
provides an additional reason to look at heterim that involve the shiva
nekiim rather than heterim that involve modern technology.

> --
> Daniel M. Israel
> dmi1 at cornell.edu

Regards

Chana