Human body parts invade Haifa

March 19, 2009 - 1:39 PM by David · 5 Comments
Filed under: General, Israeliness, Medical Breakthroughs, Technology

body1 Wherever it’s been exhibited since it debuted in 1995, Body Worlds by German anatomist Gunther von Hagens has generated loads of controversy. So why should Israel be any different?

For the uninitiated, Body Worlds is a traveling exhibit of plastinated human specimens created by German anatomist Gunther von Hagens. Plastination, a technique patented by von Hagens in the late 1970s, creates durable, life-like anatomical specimens by replacing the fat and water in human body parts with plastic. Over 26 million people have seen the exhibit around the world, and now it’s having its Israeli debut on April 6th at the Madatek Science Museum in Haifa.

According to a museum spokesman, the exhibit is scientific and educational – designed to educate laymen about the human body, which will leadi to better health awareness.

The problem is that the bodies in the exhibit contain actual human body parts – donated by individuals before their deaths – which has raised the rackles of religious groups wherever it’s been displayed.

There’s pretty clear-cut laws about dead bodies in Judaism – they have be buried as quickly as possible out of respect to the dead – and displaying parts of them in a museum is definitely a no-no.

Haifa’s Chief Rabbi Shear Yeshuv Cohen said he’s not going to initiate any formal protests, but he’s urging a boycott of the exhibit. And knowing when they have a cause to fight about, it’s likely the local haredi population (in Haifa, it’s pretty small – maybe that’s why they chose the northern city to host the exhibit) will come out to protest the opening.

To add more tabloid elements to the mix, the macabre former king of pop Michael Jackson, has evidently approached von Hagens about getting plastinated at the end of his days. And no story would be complete without a Holocaust angle. German magazine Der Spiegel, revealed a couple years ago that von Hagen’s father was in the SS during WWII.

All in all, a perfect story to take our minds off of Gilad Schalit, and the endless coalition talks.

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