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Does life begin at conception, or does Judaism take a different view? At what point does life begin?

msh210
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simchastorah
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    Issac the question seems a little sparse now – simchastorah Sep 04 '11 at 06:07
  • And leaving the word different and not saying different then what seems odd – simchastorah Sep 04 '11 at 06:20
  • Other than the comparative religion reference that @tom edited out, I didn't take out any content. You wrote "diffident," not "different." – Isaac Moses Sep 04 '11 at 06:44
  • The halacha is actually very clear. Born is alive, not born yet is not alive. No shiva unless the baby was alive for 30 days. – avi Sep 04 '11 at 06:58
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    avi thats an answer no? – simchastorah Sep 04 '11 at 07:03
  • It would be, but I don't have sources, as usual, and I know people who for political reasons want to disagree and so will demand sources. – avi Sep 04 '11 at 07:07
  • Wow, that's interesting I am intrigued who are these people? – simchastorah Sep 04 '11 at 07:46
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    @avi I have no such desire, but I'd request sources on principle. – Isaac Moses Sep 04 '11 at 08:14
  • Isaac Moses, I meant debate not just request :) – avi Sep 04 '11 at 08:20
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    This question seems very vague right now. Who cares when "life" begins, unless there's some practical outcome of having that definition? Surely the classical sources don't talk about "life", even if they do talk about chay or chiyus, and I doubt that even the latter is discussed out of a specific context (though I don't know). I suggest this question be closed or edited to ask "from what point in the ovulation to childhood spectrum does the requirement for shiv'a begin" or "does the chiyuv chinuch begin" or "does the prohibition of murder begin" or the like. – msh210 Sep 04 '11 at 15:19

2 Answers2

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For most halachic purposes, life begins at birth - to be exact, at the emergence of either most of the head for a normal birth, or most of the body if it's a breech birth (Niddah 28a). For that reason, if a pregnancy is endangering the mother's life, an abortion may be performed (see Shalom's answer here), whereas once the head has emerged we may not do so, because that would be outright murder (Sanhedrin 72b).

Generally, though, a baby less than 30 days old is considered possibly non-viable; for that reason, if he dies (G-d forbid) during that time, his parents don't sit shiva for him (Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh De'ah 353:4).

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Alex
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Beginning at the time an embryo is implanted in the uterus, we have a "potential life." If a woman is pregnant at a very early stage (even between implantation and forty days), Shabbat or Yom Kippur may be broken for the needs of her pregnancy. (Now practically anything that puts the fetus at risk is putting the mother at risk too, as it's far more dangerous for the mother to birth a stillborn than a live child; but the medieval commentaries made it clear that this was even true theoretically, to allow a potential life to come to fruition.)

Shalom
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  • You never answered the question. "potential life" is not the same as 'life begins'. – avi Sep 04 '11 at 09:16