{"id":227240,"date":"2020-07-14T18:45:50","date_gmt":"2020-07-14T23:45:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=227240"},"modified":"2020-07-18T23:23:04","modified_gmt":"2020-07-19T04:23:04","slug":"rabbi-judaism-unambiguously-pro-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/rabbi-judaism-unambiguously-pro-life\/","title":{"rendered":"Rabbi says despite claims to the contrary, Judaism is ‘unambiguously pro-life’"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Rabbi Yaakov Menken<\/span><\/a>, the Managing Director of the Coalition for Jewish Values, recently responded to a claim from the National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW) that Judaism is a pro-choice religion. Contrary to the group\u2019s claims, Menken argued that abortion is not a <\/span>\u201c<\/span>Jewish value<\/span><\/a>.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe ethical lessons of the Five Books of Moses, what Jews call the Torah, are today so commonly held that they are almost taken for granted,\u201d Menken wrote over at Newsweek. \u201cWe forget that beliefs such as the inestimable value of every human life, the superiority of peace to warfare and a justice system that must treat all as equals were hardly common in the ancient world.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Menken observed the desire of mankind to strive for the Bible\u2019s \u201cmoral ideal,\u201d only to inevitably fail due to our flawed human nature. The goal of every \u201choly person\u201d is to aim to do better after every fall. The issue we\u2019re seeing today is a preference to reconstruct the biblical word in order to justify behavior that diverges from the Bible\u2019s teachings.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

According to Menken, this is precisely the problem with the <\/span>\u201cAbortion and Jewish Values Toolkit\u201d<\/span><\/a> from NCJW. It relies on several untruths about Judaism and attempts to use religion to find moral grounds for abortion.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Jewish Bible and Abortion\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

NCJW claimed that \u201cJudaism permits abortion. Full stop.\u201d Menken objected to this, stating that the Jewish Bible is \u201cunambiguously \u2018pro-life\u2019.\u201d Menken identified the Jewish Bible as the source of Western society\u2019s respect for human life. As the <\/span>Jewish Pro-life Foundation<\/span><\/a> explained on its website, Judaism was the first religion to classify human life as \u201csacred\u201d and to prohibit child sacrifice. Various scriptures also appear to contradict the view that Judaism is a pro-choice religion.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Menken pointed to Jacob and Esau being referred to as \u201ctwo nations\u201d in the book of Genesis while they are within <\/span>Rebecca\u2019s<\/span><\/a> womb. Even in utero, the brothers\u2019 distinctive personalities are acknowledged as already being present. Adding to this, the prophet <\/span>Jeremiah<\/span><\/a> is directly told by God that the Lord knew him before he was born and had a plan for Jeremiah\u2019s life.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Some abortion-choice advocates point to Judaism\u2019s alleged support for abortion because of <\/span>Exodus 21:22-25<\/span><\/a>. Pro-choice individuals assume the verse is saying two men will merely have to pay a fine if they cause a pregnant women to have a miscarriage, proving that Jewish law does not bestow the same protections on the unborn as they do with born humans.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As <\/span>Rabbi Shlomo Nachman<\/span><\/a> explained on his website, this verse is often misunderstood. According to the site, Rabbi Ahron Soloveitchik\u00a0stated that the verse is not referencing a miscarriage, but a premature birth<\/em>. If no harm comes to the child after the men cause a premature birth, then the penalty is only a fine. But if their actions result in the death of the baby, then it is \u201can eye for an eye\u2026.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The text found in Exodus is also referencing involuntary manslaughter and the punishment that must follow for such a crime. It is not offering justification through Jewish law for a woman to deliberately abort her child.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

While <\/span>76%<\/span><\/a> of American Jews identify as pro-choice, this position seems to be derived more from secular influences than Jewish law and tradition. Judaism promotes the idea that God established a covenant relationship with His creation. It is difficult to align the deliberate killing of preborn children with this principle.<\/span><\/p>\n