Chinese Organ Transplants

Matthew Wagner, THE JERUSALEM POST, Jun. 3, 2007

A Chinese-language international TV station called New Tang Dynasty TV (NTDTV) recently broadcast a news item on Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv's adamant prohibition of Jews deriving any benefit from Chinese organ harvesting, even in life-threatening situations.

Elyashiv, the most respected halachic authority among haredi Lithuanian Jewry, ruled over a month ago that it was forbidden to use organs harvested from members of the Falun Gong, a spiritual movement that is being persecuted by the Chinese Communist regime.

Although Elyashiv did not mention the Falun Gong by name, he said it was a desecration of God's name for Jews to exploit the moral corruption of the Chinese regime, which kills political prisoners with the aim of turning a profit by selling their heart, kidney, lungs and other organs.

NTDTV, which calls itself "one of the few sources of uncensored news for the Chinese people," thought its hundreds of millions of viewers would be interested in learning what Judaism has to say about organ trafficking.

Submitted by: Yosef Ben Shlomo HaKohain, the director of "Chazon - Our Universal Vision"