DEVELOPING HALAKHIC ATTITUDES TO SEX PRESELECTION
6. Psalm 17:14 reads,"U'tzafun'cha t'malei vimam yisb'u vanim." The Talmud translates this as"And whose belly Thou fillest with Thy treasure , who have sons in plenty"(Berakhot 5b ). Without vowels,"tzafun'cha,""thy treasure," could be read as"tzafon'cha,""Thy north," and hence Rabbi Yitzhak's advice.
7. Tractate Kallah, as quoted in J. David Bleich , Judaism and Healing- Halakhic Perspectives, New York , 1981, p. 111.
8. It is possible that this goal is also the rationale behind the advice of Rabbi Yehoshua in Baba Batra 10b, and that of Tractate Kallah, to make one's wife"happily disposed” or to "woo" her prior to intercourse. Berakhot 60a contains a parallel version.
10. Bleich , op. cit., p. 111. A Progressive approach to the halakhah would certainly concur with this outlook.
11. The heat of the debate surrounding this method is well-illustrated in Mark Cohen, "Repro Man," The Washington Post Magazine, June 26, 1994, p. 26.
12. Kevin M. Stanley,"Moral Issues and Public Policy Concerns Surrounding Sex Preselection," in Logos , March 13, 1989, p. 195.
13. Jones, loc. cit., p. 17.
14. In 1989 the cost was quoted at"around$400" and is likely to have fallen somewhat since then. See Stanley, loc. cit., p. 195.
15. Jones, loc. cit., p. 16.
16, Ibid., p. 16, see footnote# 68.
17. While genetic engineering, as it is known today, could not have been foreshadowed prior to this century, simple genetic manipulation of animals seems to have been understood. Yet, despite this, a profound reluctance to extend genetic experimentation to human beings apparently prevailed. As Dr. Fred Rosner puts it,"Tampering with the very essence of life and encroaching upon the Creator's domain are considerations worthy of extensive discussion from the Jewish standpoint." The Jewish heritage, however, communicates no such scruples about sex preselection. See Rosner , op. cit., pp. 180-183.
114