As noted previously, the problem with deducing the status of brain death from the Gemara is not so much that Chazal had incorrect ideas about which organs house the mind, but rather that Chazal simply don't deal with which bodily systems determine life and death in the first place. Chazal's ruling that a person trapped under rubble has a chance of being alive and surviving only if they are breathing - which was certainly true at the time! - in no way tells us the status of someone who is brain-dead and breathing only by virtue of a respirator. The RCA document expresses this point very well: "the entire purpose of this סוגיא in יומא is to offer practical direction to those involved in a rescue from a collapsed building, and not to address the deeper issue of what actually marks the end of life."
When There Is No Halachic Precedent
When There Is No Halachic Precedent
When There Is No Halachic Precedent
As noted previously, the problem with deducing the status of brain death from the Gemara is not so much that Chazal had incorrect ideas about which organs house the mind, but rather that Chazal simply don't deal with which bodily systems determine life and death in the first place. Chazal's ruling that a person trapped under rubble has a chance of being alive and surviving only if they are breathing - which was certainly true at the time! - in no way tells us the status of someone who is brain-dead and breathing only by virtue of a respirator. The RCA document expresses this point very well: "the entire purpose of this סוגיא in יומא is to offer practical direction to those involved in a rescue from a collapsed building, and not to address the deeper issue of what actually marks the end of life."