[Avodah] Who is the father redux - from R' Aviner

[Rich, Joel]

A widow becoming impregnated by her deceased husband

Q: Is it permissible for a widow to become impregnated by the frozen
sperm of her deceased husband?

A: It is forbidden to perform such an act from a deceased man.  First of
all, a deceased man is not obligated in the mitzvah to be fruitful and
multiply.  A deceased man is not obligated in the mitzvot at all.  He is
free.  Secondly, it is forbidden to cause a child (or anyone for that
matter) sorrow.  The Torah says over and over: an orphan is unfortunate,
an orphan is unfortunate.  But sometimes there is an orphan and we have
mercy on him.  Here, however, we create a child orphaned from his father
with our own hands!  And he is even worse than an orphan, because an
orphan had a father and he died, but here the man died and only then did
he become an orphan.  We must explain to the child that he never had a
father.  We understand that the mother is suffering from loneliness and
she would be happy if she had a baby, but we do not save her from
loneliness by causing a child to suffer his entire life.   

 

 

 

KT 
Joel Rich

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