09 Jan KASHRUS QUESTIONS & ANSWERS WITH RABBI MOSHE ELEFANT

Taking ozempic,
wegovy, and the
new wave of weight
loss treatments.
Is it allowed
halachically?
Those of us who are learning Daf Yomi are
now learning Mesechata Bava Kama and
the premise of Mesechta Bava Kama is that
you’re not allowed to damage anyone, not
physically nor financially. It’s a very serious
prohibition that one must be aware of.
And of course, the subject of the mesechta
is that not only are not allowed to do it, but
if you did it, what are your responsibilities?
Not only may you not damage someone
else, you’re not even allowed to hurt
yourself. Jewish law looks at our bodies as
something that does not belong to us. We
do not have free rights to treat our body
how we want. In other words, if I own
something, I could technically break it.
There may be concern about baal tashchis,
(non-constructive destruction) but I
could technically break it if I chose to. One
is not allowed to harm oneself. By saying

“well it’s my body and this is what I want to
do” does not give you free rein. You don’t
own your body; your body is what Hashem
gave you, and you don’t own it. You’re not
allowed to do whatever you want with it,
and that’s why halacha is very strict about
one hurting or wounding themselves, and,
of course, ultimately against suicide under
any circumstance.
Having given you this background, the
question that’s been discussed for many
years is if someone is allowed to have
surgery for purely cosmetic purposes.
Certainly, if somebody has surgery
for a medical reason which will help
cosmetically as well, not only is he allowed
to have the surgery but he must have
the surgery because the Torah tells us
“V’Nishmartem Me’od Le’nafshoseichem.”
We have to do whatever we need to do
to be healthy, including having a medical
procedure which is going to make us better
and healthier. The gray area is cosmetic
surgery. Cosmetic surgery is defined here
as a person who wants to have a type of
surgery, and although they are Baruch
Hashem healthy, they are uncomfortable

with whatever issue they have. Most
poskim are of the opinion that if this
procedure is in no way life threatening,
it’s a cosmetic procedure. I would imagine
that most health insurances would not pay
for cosmetic surgery, as it’s not medically
required. If the person who feels that they
need to have that surgery is uncomfortable
and wants to have that surgery because
they want to feel better about themselves,
so long as it’s not life threatening and
it’s something that’s a standard, typical
procedure, they could do it even if it will
cost them money.
However, if somebody’s going to take one
of these medicines, and I’m not qualified
in any way to comment on this aspect, if
a doctor tells him or her that taking this
medicine could bring up other medical
situations that you wouldn’t have had if
you didn’t take this medicine and they were
only taking this medicine for cosmetic
purposes, I don’t know what gives you
the right to take the medicine. These are
very complicated questions because being
overweight is also a medical situation.
There are questions for Rabbis and there

are questions for doctors. A doctor is the
one that’s going to have to tell you what
is more important: For you to lose weight
even though it involves taking a medicine
that could have negative side effects, or
not losing the weight and not taking this
medicine that could bring on different side
effects. The halacha is clear. We must do
what’s medically right and if taking the
medicine, even though it will cause you to
lose weight, will put you into peril, then
you shouldn’t take it. If the doctor says
that the side effects are not serious or the
effect of you being overweight is much
more serious than the effect of losing
weight, you should take the medicine. You
should speak to a responsible doctor who
understands all the issues involved.