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According to Talmud (Mishnah Sanhedrin 4:5; Babylonian Talmud Tractate Sanhedrin 37a),

Whoever destroys a soul, it is considered as if he destroyed an entire world. And whoever saves a life, it is considered as if he saved an entire world.

I wonder, does it apply to someone who donated blood to be used as part of a transfusion?

For the purposes of this question, lets assume:

  • The blood was received by a person who would die without blood transfusion
  • Giver's blood was received by chance. There is nothing specific about giver's blood other then that it was available when needed and was of right type
  • Giver does not know whether blood was used to save a life or as part of a routine surgery
JAM
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    Hello JAM and welcome to J.SE! Thanks for bringing your very interesting question here. Hope to see you around! – Hacham Gabriel Feb 27 '12 at 01:48
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    Why wouldn't it? – Double AA Feb 27 '12 at 02:52
  • @Vram Do you know that they throw out extra blood every so often? I doubt they do. If they don't then your blood is guaranteed to save someone's life (or 3 people). This is especially true of O- blood which is rare and useful. – Double AA Feb 27 '12 at 02:57
  • Agreed with @DoubleAA comment 5 – Hacham Gabriel Feb 27 '12 at 03:50
  • @Vram Certainly for the rarer blood types. Note that blood has a shelf life of some time so the supply and demand even themselves out over time. – Double AA Feb 27 '12 at 04:18
  • @DoubleAA, they do sometimes throw out blood, I know. After 9/11, for instance, there were throngs of donors, and blood was wasted. In general, though, I suspect they wind up using all usable blood. – msh210 Feb 27 '12 at 09:20
  • related: http://judaism.stackexchange.com/questions/3126/organ-donations – Charles Koppelman May 28 '13 at 17:31

2 Answers2

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I don't understand the question. The statement that a person who saves one life, saves the world is an aggadic statement, not a halachic one. Halacha does not allow you to sacrifice one life for the sake of many.

If you save a life, that is a great and wonderful thing. If you think you are saving a life, but don't actually do so, it doesn't take away the good actions that you are doing. It does not matter if you actually save a life, or just get yourself into a position to help save a life, all are great and wonderful things to do.

Moral dictums that may never apply, or may not apply based on the particularities of a case, are still valid as general moral statements.

Seth J
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avi
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Of course donating blood to a total stranger counts as saving a life. If you donate $10 to feed the hungry or help the tornado victims in Moore, OK, it doesn't matter if other people give more. You still did it. As a Catholic Christian nurse I have performed the Heimlich maneuver on choking geriatric patients several times. This is not heroic in a health care center but I was there and did it so I count that also.

Sharon Adcock
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