Posted on February 13, 2026 by Rabbi Noah Diamondstein
Dear friends,
This Shabbat we read Parashat Mishpatim, in which we find this age-old law concerning pregnant mothers: “When [two or more] parties fight, and one of them pushes a pregnant woman and a miscarriage results, but no other damage ensues, [the one responsible] shall be fined according as the woman’s husband may exact, the payment to be based on reckoning.” (Exodus 21:22).
This verse is significant because it shows that the damaging of a fetus to the point of miscarriage is not considered murder by Jewish law, but rather as a hurt that requires a payment of damages–that is, the fetus is not considered a life that has been killed. This law from the Torah becomes the basis of the Jewish legal position that fetuses are not considered to be living humans that have the rights of humans until a baby is more than halfway out of its mother’s womb at birth. The mother’s life takes legal primacy in all circumstances until that point. Life does not begin at conception in Judaism, and neither is the abortion of a fetus considered to be murder. Click this link to learn more about reproductive rights in halakhah (Jewish Law) from the wise Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg, whose Torah we will examine on Shabbat morning.
As a registered Rabbi for Reproductive Justice with the National Council for Jewish Women, I am proud to amplify the issue of reproductive rights each year on this Shabbat, which–in light of that verse from our parashah–we call Repro Shabbat. Reproductive freedom is a Jewish value, supported by not only our values of compassion and care for the living but also by our legal tradition. The United States federal government’s overturning of Roe vs. Wade in 2022 not only had a catastrophic effect on women all over the country–forcing many to travel across state lines illegally for medical care they desperately needed and many others who did not have those means to take more drastic and harmful measures– but was also an assault on Jewish religious freedom. I am grateful to live and pay my taxes in a state where access to legal abortion is still protected, but there are millions who are not so lucky.
This Shabbat, on our bimah and in our study sessions, we will reaffirm our stance that reproductive freedom is a Jewish value, and I encourage you to make your own social media posts reaffirming the same using the hashtag #ReproShabbat. When we join thousands of congregations across global Jewry in lifting up this critical issue, we are doing holy work and honoring the humanity of so many who feel dehumanized by the current law of the land. In pursuing reproductive justice, we are pursuing a more compassionate world.
B’shalom,
Rabbi Noah Diamondstein