[Avodah] Brain Death

[David Riceman]

RAM:

<<But I believe that this is *not* the case. Torah Jews *do* believe in 
Techiyas HaMeisim. It *is* possible for one who is dead to live again.

However, please recall what I quoted from Igros Moshe regarding a decapitation. He wrote that such a person is "meis mamash", even though there*is*  a method by which he can be brought back to life.>>

RMB:

<<All science can do is describe in great detail various medical states.
Halakhah tells us which of those states are in the set we call "chai", and
which are in the set we call "meis". The machloqes is in the definition of
the chalos sheim chai.>>

Does this mean that a surgeon who removes a person's heart in order to transplant a new one is a murderer?  Isn't the body in the intermediate state "dead"(RAM) or doesn't it have a "chalos sheim meis"(RMB)?

Introducing hazakah solves this problem neatly, since hazakos can change depending on circumstance (e.g. being on the operating table in the middle of a heart transplant operation contradicts the presumption of death).  I don't see how, according to your explanations, we can permit such operations.

David Riceman

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