Passover Miracles Today

The miraculous sweep of Jewish destiny, from ancient Egypt to nuclear Iran, set to the music of Yaakov Shwekey.

By Chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein Chief Rabbi of South Africa

The miraculous sweep of Jewish destiny from the Exodus to nuclear Iran -- and what it means today.

Have A Happy Passover!

UPDATE: When does life begin.

When I posted the article When does life begin, I included in it this story:

Preemie spontaneously breathes hours after pronounced dead

Medical staff at Nahariya hospital stunned by premature baby showing vital signs five hours after being pronounced dead, kept in hospital cryolab. Case dubbed medical miracle, Health Ministry to launch probe.

A medical miracle or gross negligence? A premature baby girl, born as a result of induced labor, was pronounced dead Monday at the Western Galilee Hospital in Nahariya, only to be discovered, by chance, as has having viable vital signs five hours later.

According to the information available about the case, the baby's mother, five months pregnant at the time, checked into the hospital several days ago, for a series of prenatal tests.

The tests indicated she was experiencing some intrauterine bleeding and that her fetus had no pulse. Her doctors then scheduled a second-trimester termination procedure, which was carried out on Monday morning.

Ynet has learned that once the procedure was completed, the medical staff followed protocol and verified that the preemie was not breathing, subsequently pronouncing her dead.

The body was then transferred to the hospital cryogenic laboratory (cryolab), before being sent on to the pathology lab for a battery of routine postmortem tests, meant to give the doctors and her parents more answers as to the cause of her death.

The preemie spent five hours inside the cryolab's cooler when her father, accompanied by the medical staff, asked to see the body.

Upon opening the cooler, the baby began showing signs of spontaneous breathing. She was rushed to the neonatal intensive care unit and placed in an incubator and on a respirator, to assist her breathing.

Read the full story

It is with a heavy heart that I now have to announce that this child, this gift from G-d, has not survived.

'Miracle preemie' dies

Baby who stunned hospital staff by breathing after believed stillborn dies after short, fierce fight for life. 'We did everything we could but such premature babies have very little chance of surviving,' says hospital administrator.

The "miracle baby" who was born in the Western Galilee Hospital in Nahariya, only to be mistaken for dead and stun the medical staff by spontaneously breathing hours later, was able to hang on to life for less than 24 hours.

Sadly, the daughter of Ali and Phaiza Mardov, from the village of Kfar Yassif, was pronounced dead at 5:15 am Tuesday, in the hospital's neonatal intensive care unit.

Read the full story

Although the parents of the child didn't expect for a miracle to occur, it did. The doctors did all they could to save this precious gift from G-d, but in the end it was of no avail. G-d in his wisdom decided that this little girl was not ready for this world and brought her back into his light.

My prayers go with Ali and Phaiza Mardov in this time of sorrow for them. May they find the strength to continue with life after such a devastating loss.

When does life begin?

That is a question that no 2 doctors can agree upon. Some say conception, some say birth and even more say viable birth. It depends on what you believe life is and what your view on abortion is.

I believe that abortion is a moral wrong. But I also believe that life doesn't begin at conception but at viable birth. Unless a child is able to live outside his or her mother's womb, it cannot be considered alive, but has the potential for human life.

We can argue this for years and not come to a consensus. Yet Barack Hussein Obama doesn't even believe that a child has the right to live after viable birth. When asked at the Saddleback Church Forum the following:

Question: At what point does a baby get human rights in your view?

He answered: Well, I think that whether you are looking at at it from a theological perspective or a scientific perspective, answering that question with specificity, you know, is above my pay grade.

He never answered the question. He skirted the issue and then went on to lie about his record. His vote in the Illinois State House was against partial birth abortion was in favor of it.

I bring this up because of the following article I read today:

Preemie spontaneously breathes hours after pronounced dead

Medical staff at Nahariya hospital stunned by premature baby showing vital signs five hours after being pronounced dead, kept in hospital cryolab. Case dubbed medical miracle, Health Ministry to launch probe.

A medical miracle or gross negligence? A premature baby girl, born as a result of induced labor, was pronounced dead Monday at the Western Galilee Hospital in Nahariya, only to be discovered, by chance, as has having viable vital signs five hours later.

According to the information available about the case, the baby's mother, five months pregnant at the time, checked into the hospital several days ago, for a series of prenatal tests.

The tests indicated she was experiencing some intrauterine bleeding and that her fetus had no pulse. Her doctors then scheduled a second-trimester termination procedure, which was carried out on Monday morning.

Ynet has learned that once the procedure was completed, the medical staff followed protocol and verified that the preemie was not breathing, subsequently pronouncing her dead.

The body was then transferred to the hospital cryogenic laboratory (cryolab), before being sent on to the pathology lab for a battery of routine postmortem tests, meant to give the doctors and her parents more answers as to the cause of her death.

The preemie spent five hours inside the cryolab's cooler when her father, accompanied by the medical staff, asked to see the body.

Upon opening the cooler, the baby began showing signs of spontaneous breathing. She was rushed to the neonatal intensive care unit and placed in an incubator and on a respirator, to assist her breathing.

Divine intervention?

Dr. Moshe Daniel, Deputy Chief of Staff at the Nahariya hospital, told Ynet the case stunned the staff:

"I've been a doctor for 35 years and this is the first time I've ever seen such a thing happen. This is somewhat of a medical miracle. We've informed the Health Ministry and I guess they'll appoint a commission of inquiry. The hospital will ask for an external investigation of the case."

Dr. Daniel was unfortunately pessimistic as to the baby's chances of survival: "Because of just how premature she is, her chances are very slim. Then again, she already saw divine intervention once so you never know. We're doing everything we can for her."

As for the miracle, Daniel estimated it was the cold that kept the baby's metabolism rate and use of oxygen low, adding that medical literature is familiar with case of children and adults who have "come back to life" after being seemingly frozen. He was, however, unaware of any recorded case involving a baby.

A second-trimester termination procedure, done in this case in the 23rd week of pregnancy, is done by inducing labor, and while considered a termination, had the medical staff detected any fetal vital signs they would have immediately done everything in their power to resuscitate the baby.

A wonderful miracle for the parents and a reminder to those who say they don't know when life begins. Life begins at birth. And for this little girl it will be a hard struggle to survive, but with G-d's help she will.