Deputy Health Minister Yaakov Litzman is forming a rabbinical committee to advise him in health-related matters likely to come head-to-head with halacha.
 
The committee will have to address some serious issues, including autopsies, IVF, organ transplants, and the matter of moving kevarim at Ashkelon’s Barzilai Hospital to accommodate an expansion plan to name a few. Towards the establishment of the committee, Litzman met on Tuesday with Maran Rav Elyashiv Shlita, who expressed support for such a vaad.
 
Litzman stated the Health Ministry is not becoming a chareidi institution but a ministry of all Am Yisrael. He added halachic issues are commonplace in the medical community and the establishment of the vaad will enable addressing such matters with the utmost of expertise.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)