LOS ANGELES — For 25 years Rabbi Barry Silver has served as the spiritual leader of L'Dor Va-Dor, a progressive synagogue in Boynton Beach, Florida. Like most congregational rabbis, he offers a Jewish perspective on major life events, giving weekly sermons, performing weddings, funerals and baby namings, and occasionally counseling congregants wrestling with whether to have an abortion.
Silver tells his congregation that contrary to Roman Catholic and evangelical teachings, which state that life begins at conception, traditional Jewish law, known as Halakha, says life begins at birth: when the baby draws its first breath. Before then, the mother's physical and emotional well-being is paramount.
In some extreme cases — such as when the mother's life is at stake — an abortion is not just permitted by Jewish law, but required.
