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Posted on 02/14/2005 10:36:58 AM PST by Alouette
The Efrat Organization, dedicated to fighting unnecessary abortions, tells the story of a soldier who was saved by his friend - who himself had been saved before birth, in "unique" circumstances.
The Efrat organization, dedicated to preventing the #1 cause of death in Israel - abortion - continues to register successes. In the year 2004, Efrat saved the lives of 1,658 Jewish children in Israel, by providing social and financial support to mothers who had planned to abort for socio-economic and related reasons. The number of successes in 2003 was 1,448.
Recently, a story was publicized in a work entitled Aleinu L'Shabe'ach (We Must Praise) by Rabbi Zilberstein of Bnei Brak, son-in-law of Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv and the rabbinic advisor to the Maayanei HaYeshuah Hospital in Bnei Brak. Though the names have been changed, the facts are accurate, as testified to by more than one person. The incident occurred as follows:
Yoav, a young IDF soldier, was manning an isolated guard post in Hevron in the middle of the night when he was shot by an Arab sniper. With no one to help him, and unable to radio for help, it appeared that he would bleed to death before he could be found. Another soldier, however, did hear something. Not sure, he went to investigate, and spotted Yoav lying on the ground, bleeding profusely.
The soldier immediately began to administer first aid, and arranged for Yoav to be transported to a medical facility - applying manual pressure until the ambulance could arrive. Eventually, Yoav arrived and was treated at a proper medical facility. The doctors told his parents that had it not been for the immediate and appropriate actions of the other soldier, their son Yoav would definitely not have survived. It was indeed a miracle that the other soldier heard what no one else heard, the parents felt, and looked for him to thank him. But he had already left the hospital.
During Yoav's recovery period, his family called the army to find out the name of the soldier who had saved Yoav's life. No one knew. Finally, Yoav's parents put up a sign in the grocery store they own in Kiryat Malachi. They described the miracle that had occurred, and asked for information on the identity of Yoav's savior. "Israel is a small country," they thought, "and someone might know someone who knows someone, etc."
It took a year. A woman entered the store one day and saw the sign. She was positive that her son Doron had mentioned such an account. She took out her cellphone and called Doron on the spot. Sure enough, he remembered the incident quite well, and it was he who had saved Yoav's life.
Soon all the families gathered together for a joyful, tearful celebration - but one of the mothers knew that there was an extra reason to celebrate. Doron's mother pulled Yoav's mother aside and told her, "There is a specific reason why I came to your store today. You don't remember me, but twenty years ago, I was standing in your store feeling lost and forlorn. You and your wonderful husband noticed how sad I looked and asked me what was the matter. I explained that I was pregnant and was overwhelmed. There were so many unbearable difficulties, financially, socially and emotionally. I had decided that the only way out was to have an abortion.
"You both stopped everything, and calmly and lovingly sat with me. You listened to me. Then you offered so much encouragement and support. Because of you, everything began to look different and I chose to keep my baby. I no longer live around here, but I happened to be passing through and I figured it would be nice to visit your store again to thank you once again for all that you did for me. The name of that precious baby was Doron. My beloved Doron, who would not have been born were it not for you, grew up to save your son Yoav's life."
North Americans who want more information on how to help Efrat can call toll-free 1-800 273 4314.
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wow.... I have always said that the most important resource on earth is human life. Who knows how many scientists, doctors, fathers, mothers, how much life, has been lost to abortion? All those minds, all their ideas, all their love, lost forever.
Ping of interest
Amazing story! Thanks for posting.
It reminds me of the scene in It's a Wonderful Life, in which George sees his brother Harry's tombstone, and the angel says "Harry drowned when he was 6 because you weren't there to save him," and when George says "that's not true, Harry was a war hero who saved an entire battleship," the angel replied "all of those sailors died because Harry wasn't there to save him."
One life certainly does affect every other life around it, which is why we can't simply make abortion "safe, legal and rare" but nonexistent.
*PING*
The monitor's a little blurry for some reason. Thank you for sharing this.
If we DON'T stop murdering our unborn children, we might as well surrender to the Islamanazis now, cause we're allowing THEM, who breed like rats, to win their war of attrition by default.
Abortion is the #1 evil in the world today, IMO. It's esp. heartbreaking to know that it exists in Israel, where every life in precious.
As opposed to abortion as I am, if the life of the mother is in danger, it is morally permissible to abort the fetus.
Additionally, to state that abortion is the number one evil in the world today, is to forget that there are thousands of people who see it as their mission in this world to harm, maim, or kill innocent human beings in the prime of their lives, with whom they have had no previous contact, all in the name of the perversion of their world-dominating objective. As bad as abortion is, this is a malicious act,which is THE leading act of evil in our world today, IMO.
I don't think that there are varying degrees of evil. Something is either evil or it isn't. When we compare the murderous dictators of the world, can we say that one is less evil than the other because he was responsible for fewer deaths? Was Hitler less evil than Stalin because he murdered six million rather than 20 million? I don't think so.
Isn't this what an abortionist does?
What a beautiful and spiritual story.
* dumbfounded silence *
Ping for life.
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Do you then want to equate the aborting of every baby with the murder of every innocent human being by a savage terrorist? I'm not minimizing the misdeed of abortion, but can we keep things in proper perspective? Why not then send the US Military into every abortion clinic in the country with submachine guns? Abortion is wrong, it is not murder.
One more question: If it is either the mother or the fetus who can be saved, who do you save the mother or the fetus?
You won't regret it!
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You are wrong. Abortion is murder.
Kewl. Stopping cultural suicide.
The baby is innocent in the absolute. A killing in a war may or may not be just, but the casualty has lived and has accumulated some sin. To kill in an abortion is then a greater sin.
A mother had made a decision to get pregnant, or at least, to expose herself to a probability of pregnancy. With this comes the acceptance of risk associated with childbirth. The baby, to the contrary, had not assumed any risks. When (very rarely these days) a choice must be made, the surgeon may kill the baby only as an inintended and unavoidable side effect of protecting the life of the mother. In a wholly symmetrical case he should save the baby.
Because the Supreme Court, in its infinite wisdom (spit) insists, against all rationality, that the slaughter of the unborn is a Sacred Constitutional Right. In a sane country, armed police would shut down abortuaries.
This country is deeply schizophrenic.
When (very rarely these days) a choice must be made, the surgeon may kill the baby only as an inintended and unavoidable side effect of protecting the life of the mother. In a wholly symmetrical case he should save the baby.
Do you not see a contradiction in what you're suggesting? Why should the surgeon in an unavoidable circumstance sacrifice the life of the fetus for the sake of the mother? If, as you say, the mother has both lived and sinned, why should she be spared in favor of the "wholly innocent never-having sinned fetus?
You are misreading my post. The baby's life takes precedence. Do I need to rephrase #23?
I'm one of those women who had to choose between risking my own life or aborting my "fetus".
I had been told all my life that I should never have children because it would kill me or if I was fortunate enough to survive that my child would either die or be born with severe birth defects. To say that my pregnancy was difficult is an understatement. I spent a large part of it in the hospital. I had seizures during my first trimester. During my second trimester, the doctors were afraid that I would be blind by the end of my pregnancy. And during the third, they were afraid that my kidneys were going to shut down.
But I went through with it. I wanted my child to live so much that I was willing to die for her. I was very lucky. I made it through the pregnancy and gave birth to a healthy daughter who is 14 years old now. My life without her wouldn't be worth living.
If as you say, abortion is murder, does that include the first trimester? Should we convict and apply capital punishment to anyone who performs an abortion? Wouldn't the woman be an "accomplice to murder?"
Should abortion be outlawed? Yes, unless the mother's life is endangered. Is it murder? No.
And to that I say G-d bless you and your dear daughter. The sacrifice you made is heart-warming.
I'm just trying to point that it is hyperbole to call abortion murder. It is wrong, should be outlawed, but is not murder.
I'm afraid you're misreading your own post. You say that, and I will quote,"a choice must be made, the surgeon may kill the baby only as an unintended and unavoidable side effect of protecting the life of the mother."
If the mother has lived and sinned, why should she be protected. The baby, as you say, is completely sin-free.
There's a saying that when you save one life, it's as if you are saving the world.
This story illustrates that saying.
Mark
And this is in keeping with even the most orthodox of Jewish sects.
My Grandfather was Orthodox, and one Yom Kippur (a fast day, where no food or water is to be consumed, and one of the "High Holy Days") he became a bit dizzy. The Rabbi ordered my Grandfather to stop praying, to drink some water, and to rest a while (he was well into his 80's). After giving him some more water and a snack, the Rabbi drove my Grandfather home, which he would have never done. But it's a far greater sin to put your health in jeapordy than to blindly "follow the rules." That and the Rabbi would never have asked anyone else to break the rules of not working on Yom Kippur (by driving).
Mark
All life should be protected when possible, regardless of the state of sin. You posed an issue of so-called double effect, when saving the mother needs to bring about a death of the baby. Then, as in all such dillemmae, for the good (life of mother) to be pursued, the evil (death of the baby) must be unavoidable, unintended, and a side effect of the good. For example, a surgeon may do a procedure that carries risks for the baby if that is the only way to save the mother. He may not do the procedure where the baby is killed to make the procedure safer or more convenient, but the procedure is possible without killing the baby.
The surgeon also may not do the procedure if the death of the baby is certain, like I said before.
Thank you for your kind words. I really don't think it's necessary for us to argue about this. You said that you would like to see abortion outlawed and so would I. We may use different words to describe the procedure, but ultimately our desire is the same and that's what matters.
This is the position that halachah takes, but medical science has advanced to a stage where this situation can be avoided.
In the context of the "pro-choice" argument, this is a red herring. "Choice" is not the issue here. Theraputic abortions to save the mother's life were always performed legally even before Roe vs. Wade.
Once abortion is put back into it's proper place in the murder statutes, will you stop apologizing for abortionists?
Besides, to get the desired effect, all you would need to do is incarcerate a couple of hard-core abortionists and the rest would disperse and go out of business.
Yes
Should we convict and apply capital punishment to anyone who performs an abortion?
Yes (although I doubt the death penalty would ever be applied here.)
Wouldn't the woman be an "accomplice to murder?"
Yes
Should abortion be outlawed? Yes, unless the mother's life is endangered. Is it murder? No.
Every effort should always be made to protect both mom and baby until the baby can survive outside the womb. If a woman who is not healthy enough to have a baby becomes pregnant, she owes it to the child to continue the pregnancy as long as possible, even if it endangers her own life.
Tops Schindler by several hundred.
40,000,000 aborted, including the lady that would have came up with the AIDS vaccine, The boy who would have grown up to be a spy and assinate Osama, Both of the people that would have found the way of using adult stem cells to allow Chris Reeve to walk again, The girl that would have grown up to work in science to predict and warn of up-coming tsunami's, and last but not least, 39,500,000 voting democrats.
Of course there are grievous situations where the life of the mother is in danger. Whatever decision is made in those cases (to save the mother or to save the baby), must be heart-wrenching for everyone involved. But in any case, that argument does not negate my assertion, that abortion is the Number One Evil in the world. We have all been given the right to life. Why should we deny it to an innocent child, just for the mother's or father's convenience?
Yes.
You don't always hear much about these heartwarming stories from the State of Israel. Good news travels slowly, whilst bad news often moves at the speed of editorial light.
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