A visitor to the Har Hamenuhot cemetery in Jerusalem will be surprised to see the headstone for one girl buried at the cemetery,which states that she was "murdered by the doctors."
"She was murdered by the doctors at Shaare Zedek Hospital in Jerusalem under the law of the Knesset of the heretics and the masses, may their names be erased. May G-d avenge her blood. All is in the hands of the almighty," the headstone reads.
Last month, 16-year-old Orah Mahfoud passed away at Shaare Zedek Medical Center. She had been hospitalized following the development of difficulties in her motor functions that indicated problems in her brain functions. Her condition deteriorated and she was declared brain dead.
The medical staff at the hospital issued a death certificate for the girl even though her heart was still beating, in line with the accepted medical opinion that brain death is true death.
The girl's father refused to accept the death certificate and petitioned the court against the hospital's conduct. The judges accepted the hospital's decision.
After the girl's heart stopped beating, the girl was laid to rest with the family's agreement. Before her heart had stopped beating, hospital officials maintained life support for the girl despite the death certificate, in keeping with Israeli law.
The status of brain death as true death has been a subject of debate among halakhic scholars and rabbis for decades. In 1986, the Chief Rabbinate of Israel issued a ruling recognizing brain death as true death.