Q&A: The Right to Give Life
The Right to Give Life.
Question
Hello Rabbi,
It is clear from a moral standpoint that every person has a right to live, and no person has any greater right than another. As they said, "What makes you think your blood is redder?"
However, from the standpoint of utility, when I am engaged in saving a life, such as through kidney donation, it would seem one could argue that it is preferable to donate to a person who observes Torah and commandments, since in my view his life will have greater meaning, and he will attain eternity.
As opposed to a secular person, regarding whom, in my outlook, my kidney would be used for a life whose meaning and level are literally like the life of an animal.
True, there is a chance that he will choose the good, but a religious person has a double advantage: 1. From a probabilistic standpoint, there is a higher chance that he will choose the good. 2. And even if we say that the point of choice is relative for each person according to his situation, we still wonder whether there is an advantage to a person who does the right thing even if he is not really choosing it.(?)
And even if we say that performing commandments in which there is no real choice does not confer superiority on the life of the one performing them, we still wonder whether one should prefer the life of a Jew over the life of a gentile, for even if the gentile always chooses correctly, it still stands to reason that conversion is not at his point of choice. And therefore the quality of the Jew's life is preferable.?
Thank you very much.
Answer
It sounds reasonable to me. If there is something that is yours (a kidney or a canteen of water), you have the right to choose to whom you will give it, and it is reasonable to make a utilitarian calculation if, in any case, the options are otherwise equal.
Discussion on Answer
Indeed. Absolutely correct.
With God's help, eve of the holy Sabbath, Vayigash, 5782
To I.L.R. — greetings,
There is an advantage in a Jew who observes Torah and commandments, but there is also an advantage in a Jew who was not educated toward Torah and commandments, since he is a complete inadvertent sinner in all conduct not in accordance with the Torah; and perhaps, on the contrary, the very life-saving donation to a non-religious Jew may bring him somewhat closer to the heritage of his forefathers, whether much or little. If so, your donation would be rescue and healing in the spiritual sense as well.
And what is more correct, in my humble opinion, is to proceed simply and innocently, and not multiply demands and investigations or make conditions based on the life-paths of the recipient of the donation. The correct consideration, in my humble opinion, is to determine who needs the donation most urgently, for whom this is an immediate matter of life and death, and he should be given priority.
Every donation that goes through successfully and is done in a good spirit helps not only the kidney recipient, but also inspires others to donate and leads to enlarging the "donor pool," so that the donor brings about the saving of several souls in an ever-increasing "exponential column," with the result that "at the end of the day" the likelihood increases that everyone will receive.
With blessings, Sharga Kopel Feitelovsky-Neve
Just take into account that a secular person can do the exact same thing. A secular person can also think that the religious person is just wasting his time, and instead of going to develop the world or study something useful, he goes and wastes his time on religion, while among the Haredim the situation is even worse, since a large portion of them (if not most) throw away their intellect and stop thinking for themselves (and in my opinion that is living like an animal, since intellect is what separates us from animals).
In that case most religious people will start complaining about antisemitism.
And a Haredi could also refuse to donate to a Religious Zionist, who according to quite a few Haredim is worse than a secular person; a Hasid will donate only to a Hasid, and a Lithuanian only to a Lithuanian, etc.
So if you choose this path, go with it all the way, and don't complain when others make a similar calculation according to their own approach.