[Avodah] Brain death

[Doron Beckerman]

A few comments:

IIUC, RMT's position regarding brainstem death is linked to autorespiratory
ability, not cardiac death. I don't think the heart beat requires a
functioning brainstem.

Re heart transplants and techiyas hameisim - the Tzitz Eliezer has a lengthy
discussion about this, or very much related to this, somewhere in his huge
10:26 series of Teshuvos. IIRC there is no identity shift when the recipient
gets the new heart. Otherwise, this would mean that he is his artificial
heart, which is ludicrous.

R' Slifkin's article was irrelevant to the issues, and had some demonstrably
incorrect assertions.

An interesting Yerushalmi in 3rd chapter of Niddah - the way you define
whether a person is a human or animal (relevant to the aforementioned
article) is not by his daas, it is by his facial features (those he was born
with, I presume). Even if someone with a bovine face is up there reading the
Torah, you can tell him "come, let us slaugter you", and even if one with a
human face is plowing in the field, we tell him to give his sister in law
yibum or chalitzah should the need arise. [This Yerushalmi is brought about
in respect to anencephalic babies - they may not be born with a tzurah
(facial characteristics) of an adam! RSZA held that they most probably may
be killed in utero, but not once they were born.]
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