All activities of Matnat Chaim are conducted in accordance with Jewish law (Halacha), the Torah and Jewish ethics, from which the organization draws its sense of mission and obligation. Whenever a halachic question arises, Matnat Chaim consults with Rav Yitzchak Zilberstein, Rav Avigdor Nebenzal and with Rav Dovid Ostroff, the Rav of Matnat Chaim. One may contact Rav Ostroff with any question: rebdovido@gmail.com, 052-7611745.
Fasting Limitations
Rabbi Heber wrote a detailed article containing guidelines for fasting on Yom Kippur for for kidney donors and kidney recipients. Read the full article.
Organ Donation: Halachic Opinions
The great halachic debate about organ donations according to Jewish law relates only to cases where removing a live organ from a person’s body will shorten the donor’s life. But kidney donation from a live donor is certainly permitted and it is even a mitzvah to do so.
“It is certainly permitted to perform surgery to remove a kidney from a healthy person in order to transplant it to a sick person. This also constitutes the great mitzvah of saving a life.”
Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach z”l (Shulchan Shlomo, Medical Section A, 44)
“It is permitted and even a mitzvah to donate a kidney in order to save the life of a Jew who is threatened by kidney disease, … God-fearing medical experts have informed us that the risk level of kidney donation is very low and ninety-nine percent of such donors return to complete health.”
Rav Ovadia Yosef z”l (Responsa Yechave Da’at, Volume III, Chapter 84)
“Not only is it permitted but it is a very great mitzvah.“
HaRav Yosef Shalom Elyashiv z”l (from a letter to Rav Heber, shlita)
“Although one is not obligated to do so, it is a great mitzvah. It is proper advice. The reasoning is that God gave man two kidneys so that if one fails, he still has the other. If there is no sign that one’s kidney is not functioning, he is permitted to donate it to his fellow Jew.”
Rav Chaim Kanievsky, shlita (Derech Sicha, Parashat VaYera)
Halachic Articles dealing with Kidney Donation
- תרומת כליה בהלכה (Hebrew) – a comprehensive article dealing with kidney donation according to Halacha
- וחי עמך (Hebrew) – written by a kidney donor