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271: CHILD ADOPTION
AGAINST THE
PARENTS ’ WISHES
ɳ Question
A young boy was rushed to hospital with a deep gash on his body.
From what we gathered, his father pushed him in a fit of anger while
holding a knife, though the father denies this. In private conversation
with the child, it became clear that our assessment was correct and
that neither was this the first time that the father had pushed the
child with a knife in his hand.
Our question is: Are we allowed to return the child to his father’s
care or are we supposed to try and obtain an injunction for the child’s
transfer to an appropriate adoptive family, despite our knowledge that
having the child adopted will mean his being completely and perma-
nently severed from his birth family?
Dr. Pinchas Gonen, Specialist in Gen-
eral Surgery and Blood Vessels
ɳ Response
Parents have rights to their children which cannot be usurped with-
out a ruling from a beis din. This is particularly true in regard to a
daughter, to whose father the Torah grants certain monetary rights in
228 1 Medical-Halachic Responsa of Rav Zilberstein
