(Ezekiel 37:5-6)
Tziporah:
Jewish prophecies of
resurrection express the unimaginable power of God to give life to the
lifeless. In the traditional liturgy,
when we praise God for gevurah,
strength, we refer to God’s unique capability to make the dead rise. Because many
Jews believe that the messiah’s arrival will herald the resurrection of the
dead and the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem, they are buried in Israel
to be present at the propitious moment. Some Jews argue against organ donation,
because they believe it is critical that their bodies be buried intact to be
resurrected. I can’t agree with this
idea, though; if God can raise me from death, can’t God endow me with a new
kidney? Unlike God, humans do not have the power to resurrect the dead, but we
are capable of saving lives. The rabbis considered pikuach nefesh, preserving life, to be the highest principle, and
they legislated that Jews exercise this power—even when it conflicts with the
observance of the Sabbath or dietary laws, and even if it means breaking one’s
fast on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year. I imagine that Christianity and Islam, like
Judaism, have multiple views of organ donation. Could you please share your thoughts?
Grace:
It will not surprise you, Tziporah, that these
words of the prophet Ezekiel are often contemplated by Christians in
preparation for Easter, since Christians see this prophecy as fulfilled in the
resurrection of Jesus and its eternal witness to the unimaginable power of God
to give life to the lifeless. Indeed, Resurrection is at the heart of the
Christian faith. In worship liturgies
that include the Nicene Creed, Christians affirm, “I believe in the
resurrection of the body and the life everlasting.” The resurrected body,
however, is understood to be a spiritual body, fully recognizable, but not
flesh and bones as is the physical body that returns to dust. Organ donation,
then, is not verboten in most Christian practice and may even be encouraged as
a way of passing along the gift of life when one’s earthly body is too
compromised to continue—a definite act of faith.
Yasmina:
Tziporah, the majority of scholars in Islam agree
that it is permissible to donate organs based on the general rule that
“necessities permit the prohibited,”[1]
and because the ultimate goal is the preservation of life. This view is supported
by verses in the Quran. On the other hand, scholars who disagree with the
practice state that organ donation compromises the special honor given to man’s
body, whether dead or alive. From these two views, one can see that the notion
of resurrection, although a fundamental Islamic belief, is not linked to the
issue of organ donation. The justification
for this separation is based on several Quranic verses, which reaffirm the
immeasurable and infinite power of God. One example reads, “Does man imagine
that We are not capable of reassembling his decayed bones? We are able even to
restore his fingers to their previous state.” (al-Qiyamah 75:3-4) I
personally admire the generosity of individuals who act in utter selflessness
and who, when faced with such challenging choices, give new meaning to the word
“sharing.”
[1] Al-darurat tubih al-mahzurat
