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Judaism’s position on the question of freezing/suspending life

שו”תCategory: Meta HalachaJudaism’s position on the question of freezing/suspending life
asked 3 years ago

There are companies that offer a freezing process after a person is declared legally dead in the hope that future technologies will be able to revive and cure them. There is also research underway into the possibility of suspending life for a period similar to the hibernation of other mammals in order to facilitate travel to other stars and give hope to incurable patients. The question is, from the perspective of Jewish law and perspective, does this issue constitute a problem and a loss of life in doubt?


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מיכי Staff answered 3 years ago
I didn’t understand the question. Do you mean frozen from life?

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אסתר replied 3 years ago

This is a case of a terminally ill patient who wants to be frozen while still alive in the hope that in the future they will be able to find a treatment for his disease and then he will be thawed and treated, for example a brain cancer patient who wants to be frozen before his brain is destroyed.
At the moment this is still a theoretical question but research is being conducted on the subject. (https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/Hibernate_for_a_trip_to_Mars_the_bear_way)

מיכי Staff replied 3 years ago

I think there is no prohibition on this, since in simple terms freezing is not death but more like long-term dormancy. If it is a healthy person, there is room for debate, since in the frozen state he cannot do anything and at least de facto it is like death. But in a terminally ill patient whose goal is to try and gain life, as they allowed him to undergo a dangerous operation to have a chance of saving his life, it makes sense that they would also allow him to freeze himself for this purpose.

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