GEN693 Given the Judaic belief in Creation, and that the Torah is the expression of God’s will, the rights one has to one’s own body are dictated by the Torah and, in Orthodox Judaism, by halakhah, the body of laws developed by Torah scholars throughout Jewish history, including the Talmud, the Shulchan Arukh (codified laws), and responsa.  The scriptural source for rules on the care of one’s body is [this verse] “Your blood, which belongs to your souls, I will demand.” Although this appears to prohibit suicide, the Talmud (Baba Kamma 90b) extends this to self-injury, also referring to the verses that consider a Nazirite to be sinful because he has inflicted deprivation (of wine) on himself. Another source is the biblical prohibition of wanton destruction of any object, based on the verse prohibiting destruction of a fruit-bearing tree (Deuteronomy 20:19). The specific prohibition of self-mutilation, “You shall not cut yourselves and you shall not make a bald spot between your eyes for a dead person” (Deuteronomy 14:1) refers to the pagan ritual of mourning. That the Torah requires a person to preserve one's health is further derived from the verse, “But you shall greatly beware for your souls” (Deuteronomy 4:15). Although there are differences of opinion in the Talmud, halachah states that self-injury is forbidden and that caring for one's health is obligatory, although this may be of rabbinical rather than scriptural origin. An additional prohibition of self-endangerment may be derived from the commandment requiring a person to make a fence around his roof to prevent someone from falling (Deuteronomy 22:8). Based on this verse, Maimonides writes, “Many things are forbidden by the Sages because they are dangerous to life. If one disregards any of these, and says, ‘If I want to put myself in danger, what concern is it of others?’ or ‘I am not particular about such things,’ disciplinary flogging is inflicted upon him.” He then goes on to cite a number of practices that the Talmud considers dangerous (Hilkhot Rotze’ach 11:4). Not only is one prohibited from endangering oneself, but this is even more stringent than ritual prohibitions. Rabbi Moses Isserles, in his glossary on the Shulchan Arukh (Yoreh De‘ah 116:5), writes, “One should avoid all things that might lead to danger, because a danger to life is stricter than a (ritual) prohibition. One should be more concerned about a possible danger to life than a possible (ritual) prohibition.” Given this attitude, an immediate application of this is that cigarette smoking is forbidden by the Torah. There is no longer any question about the toxicity of cigarette smoking. It has been established that smoking is the leading cause of lung cancer and chronic obstructive lung disease. It is also a significant risk factor in coronary artery disease and cancer of the larynx. There are more fetal complications if the mother smokes during pregnancy. A number of authoritative rabbis have formally ruled that smoking constitutes a violation of Torah law. Whereas mutilation of one's body is prohibited, surgery that is beneficial to one's health is not only permissible but is also required by halakhah, as indicated by Maimonides’ statement that “Inasmuch as a healthy and whole body is the way of God, because it is impossible to understand or know anything about God if one is ill, therefore, a person must avoid things that are injurious to the body and follow practices that are healthy and wholesome.” Where the surgery corrects a disease, it is obligatory. Rabbi Moshe Feinstein ruled that surgery for cosmetic purposes permissible if there is adequate indication that it is of psychological value (Iggrot Moshe, Hoshen Mishpat 66). Whereas surgery to treat a disease is permissible and obligatory, the question arises whether one may injure his body by donating an organ. If one has no rights over one's body, may one subject oneself to surgery to help another person? The ruling is that the Torah requirement to save another person's life overrides the restriction on injuring one's body. Just as one has no unrestricted ownership over one's body during lifetime, neither does the body belong to anyone other than God after death. Is it, then, permissible to mutilate the body by doing an autopsy? Again, the Torah requirement to save another person's life overrides the restriction on injuring one's body. The prevailing opinion is that if it is believed that the findings of the autopsy may be immediately beneficial to a patient, it may be performed. (by Abraham J. Twerski)