Hgr"n Karelitz: Who said it is alright to perform bariatric surgery?

A question bright before Hgr"n Karelitz and his answer to the question – has provoked a storm. The topic in question is a bariatric surgery, during which a portion of the patient's stomach is amputated, causing a significant reduction in the amount of food that the body can digest. This surgery is primarily designed for patients who suffer a range of problems, and the operation for them is a life saver.


In recent years, surgery has become more and more popular among the population which suffers from an excess of fat, and in these cases there is a disagreement amongst doctors if the damage outweighs the benefits.

Recently an overweight young man, standing before bariatric surgery, came to the house of Hgr"n Karelitz, and laid out the following question: "Since the operation system causes a regular eating disorder, is it better to avoid doing the surgery, so that there won't be a problem eating matzah at the Seder."

Hgr"n surprised the questioner and replied: "I do not know whether it is even permissible to do the surgery, because the Torah has forbidden inflicting oneself, but unless he is in danger. But for losing weight, there are other ways to do that - who said it is allowed? "

Hgr"n did not want to ban the surgery decisively following the discussion, because he had not heard the position of the doctors on the case.

"You will have to learn to overcome the lust for eating", offered him Hgr"n a suitable alternative…

'בחדרי' גם ברשתות החברתיות - הצטרפו!