In the Washington Post piece, scholar-in-residence at the NCJW, Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg, tries her best to justify legal abortion in Judaism with a long and winding exegesis on Exodus 21:22-25. She believes that abortion is a religious right and a Jewish value, and that the reference to involuntary manslaughter and its monetary penalties in the Babylonian Talmud provide justification for unlimited abortion rights in Jewish law.
Alternative biblical translations of the Exodus verses in the Greek translation of the Talmud (the Septuagint) and many Christian versions of the Old Testament, clearly confer full personhood on the child in the womb. These references Rabbi Ruttenberg rejects as a threat to abortion rights, and goes to great lengths in the article to undermine the legitimacy of these 'mistranslations.' Of course, the rabbi never mentions the responsibilities we have as righteous Jews and gentiles for protecting innocent life and aiding mothers and their children to live and thrive.
Rabbi Ruttenberg omits another translation of the Exodus verses that offers conclusive evidence that both Torah and Rabbinic Halacha regard the pre-birth child as fully human and subject to the same protections and respect as all other people. In his response, JPLF board member Rabbi Shlomo Nachman provides this explanation:
"Exodus 21:22-25 must be carefully understood. Many translations read “and a miscarriage occurs” rather than as “a premature birth results”. The passage is to “a premature birth” when the context is considered. The text actually says that if the child “departs” [“yasa”] the womb and no other damage ensues from the event. In other words, if because of the struggle the baby is born early but is otherwise fine, then the men may be required to pay damages for their carelessness but no more. “But if other damage ensues,” i.e. the baby is born with some deformity or born dead, then the standard penalties will apply, 'an eye for eye, tooth for tooth'. If the child dies as a result the men are guilty of the murder, a life for a life. The text makes no sense any other way. The Hebrew term shachol references an abortion or miscarriage. That word is not used here "
I tried to leave this comment under the article, but the Washington Post comment app wouldn't process it, so I emailed it to the editor, Ms. Buzbee, and asked her to publish articles that reflect a more authentic Jewish perspective on the abortion issue, and I emailed it to Rabbi Ruttenberg, too.
I also added the language we used in our communication with the editor of the Jerusalem Post - that Ms. Buzbee and the Rabbi please keep in mind that any reversal of Roe would still allow exceptions to save the life of the mother. This aligns beautifully with Jewish law in the way that it was intended - a rare situation and almost nonexistent with today's medical technology and the abundance of support for women in crises. The NCJW, and Rabbi Ruttenberg by association, have taken this narrow allowance for abortion and grossly distorted it to make the case that abortion is a Jewish value and a religious right, putting us on equal footing with the Satanic cult and giving moral cover for late term and birth day abortion, ie, infanticide (which in not by any stretch of the imagination a Jewish value)
In America and in Judaism, it is a crime to murder innocent people. It is a well known fact that unborn children are innocent people, and SCOTUS has a chance to rectify the mistake it made in 1973 when it denied this evidence.
Religious rights must coincide with our legal code, which before Roe protected people in the womb, and God willing, soon will again.
The NCJW's position is extremely threatening because it casts Jews as baby killers, fomenting anti-semitism. It is, of course, very threatening to the children who are poisoned, starved, and dismembered because their parents get religious consent to abort their children without knowing about or seeking lifesaving alternatives.
Please email editor Buzbee and Rabbi Ruttenberg - you will need to use the link to her contact form - to educate them about Judaism's life affirming principles and about abortion's threat to infant life, mothers, fathers, and our national safety and security.
And please email Rabbi Nachman to thank him for providing a wise and scholarly response that speaks for our helpless pre-born children.
A friend emailed us this link to an article in JewishLink, authored by attorneys Howard Slugh and Mitchel Rocklin of the Jewish Coalition for Religious Liberty, who reached out to us requesting we submit an Amicus brief to SCOTUS for the Dobbs case. Thank you, Gentlemen!
Jewish Groups Should Stop Distorting Religious Liberty When Debating Abortion
This is a battle for good and evil. We believe good will prevail but only if good people do something to protect our God given liberties. Thank you for helping us and encouraging us!
Cecily
May there be abundant peace from Heaven, and good life upon us and upon all Israel. Amen.
