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A source often cited by those who support cloning draws from the
Tiferet Yisrael commentary on the Mishnah: “Anything for which there
is no reason to forbid is permissible with no need for justification, for
the Torah has not enumerated all permissible things, rather forbidden
ones.”7 Rabbi Pinchas Lipner states: “Jewish medical ethics is basically
Jewish Halakhah. What is ethical in Judaism is legal, and what is legal is
ethical. We don’t divide the two. Anything which is legal [e.g., cloning—
F. K.] is ethical.”8
Indeed, in large measure, the discussion among rabbis and Jewish
ethicists, including such prominent figures as Rabbi Moshe D. Tendler
and Dr. Fred Rosner, has focused on the technical, legal permissibility of
cloning according to Halakhah.9 Human cloning raises issues of status.
Who is the clone’s family? Is the “genetic” parent of a clone a sibling or a
parent? How do we address the apparent absence of paternity (when a
female cell is the genetic source)? What is the clone’s religious identity?
In a thorough discussion of the technical issues of human cloning,
Rabbi Michael Broyde concludes, “I am unaware of any substantive vio-
lation. . . . Thus, in those circumstances where the clonor is a man faced
with the obligation to be fruitful and multiply . . . and he cannot fulfill
the obligation otherwise, cloning can be classified as a good deed (miz.vah).
In those circumstances where the clonor is a woman . . . cloning can be
classified as religiously neutral.”10
The Jewish tradition emphasizes that God has given man a positive
commandment to “master the world” (Genesis 1:28). Human mastery
over nature entails improving nature to meet human needs, and this is
considered to be both “right” and obligatory. The Torah commands us
to heal. Molecular cloning offers new forms of healing. Human cloning
offers new avenues for assisted reproduction, allowing infertile couples
to fulfil the commandment to be fruitful and multiply.11
A more reserved approach articulated by Rabbi Immanuel Jakobovits
zz.”l reminds us that “the Jewish Sabbath recalls not God as the creator,
but as He who knew when to cease creating.”12 And Israel’s Ashkenazic
Chief Rabbi Israel Lau has stated that human cloning is not permissi-
ble.13 Nevertheless, the emerging rabbinic consensus seems to be one of
cautious endorsement.
The rabbinic discussion outlined above views cloning as part of the
endeavor of Man as Creator (Adam the First in The Lonely Man of Faith)
fulfilling his mandate to “master the world.” The halakhic discussion
centers on how to ensure that in the exercise of this mandate, the
halakhic Jew does not violate specific prescriptives (questions of issur
228 The Torah u-Madda Journal
circumstances, have the moral right to tamper with the genes of future
generations? Even putting aside the fears of a recurrence of Nazi-style
eugenics, germline gene manipulations raise the specter of imposing
unanticipated risks or harm to future generations in a situation where
no informed consent is possible.26
Summation
of “man.” Man reaching for the stars is in consonance with his nature.
In “reaching” we endeavor to subdue the earth. The “benefit of man”
forms the guiding principle. Transforming the earth for the benefit of
humankind requires that we take care not to “reach” beyond the grasp
of any given moment. In so doing, we “manifest our obedience to rather
than rebellion against God.”
Notes
1. Joseph B. Soloveitchik, The Lonely Man of Faith (New York, 1992), 13.
Originally published in Tradition 7:2 (Summer 1965): 5-67.
2. See I. Wilmut, A.E. Schnicke, J. McWhir, A.J. Kind, K.H.S. Campbell,
“Viable Offspring Derived from Fetal Adult Mammalian Cells,” Nature 385
(1997): 810-813
3. A useful glossary of terms such as “molecular cloning” and “nuclear trans-
plantation cloning” is found in “Cloning Human Beings,” Report and
Recommendations of the National Bioethics Advisory Committee (NBAC),
Appendix A (June 1997), 77-80.
4. Ibid., 16.
5. Here I refer to the cloning of individuals for the sole purpose of generating
organs for donation. A third type of cloning, not discussed in this essay, is
cell, tissue or organ cloning, referring to copying of cells, tissues or organs
from the body in the laboratory.
6. See Peter Hirschberg “Be Fruitful and Multiply and Multiply and Multiply,”
The Jerusalem Report (April 16, 1998): 32-36.
7. R. Ephraim Lipschutz, Tiferet Yisrael, commentary to Yadayim 4:3. See
Hirschberg, 33.
8. From taped lecture of Rabbi Pinchas Lipner, “Human Cloning–Is it
Halachically Permissible?” at the Ninth Annual Conference on Jewish
Medical Ethics (San Francisco, February 13, 1998). Tapes of the conference
are made available through the Institute of Jewish Medical Ethics of the
Hebrew Academy of San Francisco.
9. See the comments of Dr. Fred Rosner and Rabbi Moshe Tendler in
Hirschberg, “Be Fruitful . . . .” See also the testimony of Rabbi Tendler to the
NBAC (n. 3). Cf. Fred Rosner in “Judaism, Genetic Screening and Genetic
Therapy,” articles online of the Institute of Jewish Medical Ethics of the
Hebrew Academy of San Francisco, http://www.ijme.org/content/tran-
scripts/Rosner/genetics, 9.
10. Broyde, “Cloning people: A Jewish Law Analysis of the Issues,” Connecticut
Law Review 30 (Winter, 1998): 533. See also Michael J. Broyde, “Cloning
People and Jewish Law: A Preliminary Analysis,” Journal of Halacha and
Contemporary Society no. 34(1997): 27-65.
11. See the references cited in note 9.
234 The Torah u-Madda Journal
28. D.C. Wertz and J. C. Fletcher, “Ethical and Social Issues in Prenatal Sex
Selection: A Survey of Geneticists in 37 Nations,” Social Science and Medicine
46 (1998): 255-273.
29. See above, n. 21.
30. See NBAC (n. 3), Testimony of John Robertson (March 14, 1997). See also
William Gardner, “Can Human Genetic Enhancement be Prohibited?,”
Journal of Medicine and Philosophy 20(1995): 65-84. See also Robert
Wachbroit, “Genetic Encores: The Ethics of Human Cloning,” Report from
the Institute for Philosophy and Public Inquiry 17 (Fall 1997): 1-9.
31. See Soloveitchik, Lonely Man of Faith, 16.