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This short survey shows that modern Judaism has been
presented with difficult issues in the realm of medicine. Most of the problems
discussed are those which one wishes did not occur. Who, for instance, would
choose to bring children into the world by artificial rather than natural means,
if it were not for an unwanted medical condition? But these issues are part of
life, and Judaism responds to life; it is not a religion that hides its head in
the sand. Medical questions are just a few of many issues confronted by rabbis
through the ages. There is no unanimity among rabbis concerning the problems
raised here, since rabbis have different perspectives and different outlooks.
All of them, however, attempt to solve modern questions by recourse to the
Jewish tradition, a 3000- year-old tradition marked by loyalty to the past and a
willingness to confront the present in order to survive in the future.