CARR 133-135 - Central Conference of American Rabbis

Purposes

QUESTION: May a donor sell blood for medical purposes, i.e.,

plasma, transfusion or medication? (Rabbi M. Staitman, Pittsburgh, PA) ANSWER:

There is a clear line of reasoning in the Jewish tradition which demands that a person remove all

possible danger to himself (Deut. 4.9; 4.15; Ber. 32b; B. K. 91b; Yad Hil. Rotzeah

Ushemirat Hanefesh 11.4; Hil. Shevuot 5.57; Hil. Hovel Umaziq 5.1). This has led modern

rabbinic tradition to limit operations to those matters in which there is a high likelihood of success

(see “Dangers of Surgery” in this volume). In the matter of blood donation there is virtually no

danger to the donor, although there may be some danger to the recipient, as he may unwittingly

receive a disease. We must, therefore, ask whether the ownership of one’s body is

such that we can dispose of it as we wish. The traditional view holds that no harm can be

permitted to the human body (Shneir Zalman of Ladi, Shulhan Arukh Shemirat Haguf

#14; Eliezer Waldenberg, Tzitz Eliezer, Vol. X, #7). Waldenberg goes further and claims

that man is only the temporary possessor of his body. It is provided by God on loan, and so,

must be carefully guarded. In the case of blood donations, however, no real change in

the body’s material occurs, as the blood will be replaced fairly quickly. Nothing irreplaceable has

been removed. We must, therefore, turn from the questions of physical harm and ownership to

the commercial aspect of the transaction. Clearly there would be no problem with simply

donating blood. We might go even a step further and state that it is our duty to help a fellow

human being through donating blood. This should be encouraged. Tradition has stated that we

should not stand idly by while our neighbor is harmed (Lev. 19.16; San. 73a; Shulhan

Arukh Hoshen Mishpat 426). Helping a person is, therefore, a duty whether it involves

physical effort or a gift. In the later rabbinic discussion of this mitzvah, the only question

raised is that of piquah nefesh, in other words, how far should an individual endanger his

own life in such an effort. As we have pointed out, there is little danger to the

donor. The nearest similarity to the sale of blood is the sale of milk by a wet nurse.

There a nursing mother is willing to sell some of the fluid produced by her body, in this case milk

during her period of lactation. Her milk will save the life of a child and nourish it. The use of wet

nurses has continued throughout the ages from Biblical times onward (Gen. 35.8). Sometimes

this was done as an act of friendship, but frequently such an individual was hired for this specific

task. Such wet nurses were often engaged for a period of two or three years (Ket. 60b; 65b).

There is some discussion about the acceptability of a non-Jewish wet nurse; the Tosefta

permitted this practice. The only stipulation added was that she should live in the household of

the baby (Tosefta Nidah 2.5; A. Z. 26a). A woman might even milk her body’s milk into a

bowl and feed a baby in this fashion, though this was frowned upon (Tosefta Sab. 9.22).

Clearly, the rabbinic tradition had no hesitation about such a transfer of life giving fluid from one

person to another as a commercial transaction. We have no hesitation about the

commercial sale of blood at plasma centers on these grounds. We have concerns on other

grounds, however. The individual involved in these transactions are generally the poor and

homeless who have absolutely no other resources except their blood. Their plight should move

us to help them rather than encourage commerce in blood. There is a constant

medical need for human blood. Its donation will help to save lives. We encourage and urge

individuals to participate in this effort and are willing to accept the sale of blood as it, too, saves

lives.November 1985