Re: Cloning and Halacha

Moshe Freedenberg (free@actcom.co.il)
Wed, 19 Mar 1997 19:47:32 +0200

Ruth Zerwitz wrote:
>I work in the Physics Department at the University of Maryland and I had
>a discussion with a faculty member recently about Dolly, the sheep that
>was cloned. He believed that this was one of the biggest breakthroughs
>in history and that cloning of humans (even people who had died) would
>follow quickly. I don't know whether that is true or not but I found
>the idea to be frankly terrifying. What does the Torah say about it?
>What are other people's thoughts on this?

This item was recently reported on Arutz-7 News in Israel:

CHIEF RABBI LAU: CLONING IS FORBIDDEN
Chief Rabbi Lau said today that although there is no specific prohibition in
Jewish Law to utilize artificial genetics to reproduce a human being, it is
entirely against basic Jewish conceptions to do so. "The Torah gave a
specific dispensation for doctors to use their knowledge to cure, and even
to lengthen life, but the formation of new life goes way beyond that. We
have no permission to enter the domain of the Creator on questions of life
and death." He said that he does not know of one rabbi who permits genetic
engineering in this manner.