DanielJ. Lasker KABBALAH, HALAKHAH, AND MODERN MEDICINE: THE CASE OF ARTIFICIAL INSEMINATION I Artificial insemination is the medical technique of introducing male sperm into the genital tract of a female, without sexual intercourse, to promote conception. There are two types of human artificial insemina- tion, the first using the sperm of the husband (known as AIH, artificial insemination from husband) and the second using the sperm of an anony- mous "donor" (known as AID, artificial insemination from donor). Both types of insemination raise a wide range of halakhic questions: Is such an activity permissible altogether according to Jewish law? Does the source of the sperm, husband or donor, make a difference? May a man emit sperm for the purpose of artificial insemination? Is the child produced by artificial insemination considered the child of the provider of the sperm for various purposes, e.g., honoring one's parents and the laws of inheritance? Has the provider of the sperm fulfilled the Biblical prescription of "being fruitful and multiplying"? Is AID adultery, in which case a woman who undergoes this procedure must permanently separate from her husband? Is the child who is born as a result of AID a mamzer who cannot marry other Jews? How can two children sired by the same anonymous donor, but born of different mothers, be prevented from marrying each other in the future? How can one guarantee that a woman who has given birth by artificial insemination from a donor will undergo levirate marriage (yibbum) or its release (hali.zah) in the event of the decease of the husband? And so on and so on.1 These questions and others have been dealt with at length by number of rabbinic authorities in their responsa. Even though the medical technique is new, the decisors have been able to find in the vast sea o Jewish literature appropriate precedents on which halakhic determina tions can be made. In fact, there are at least three references in the sources which mention conception without intercourse. The first deals with the question of the permissibility of a high priest marrying a pregnant virgin;2 the second is the prohibition of a woman's sleeping on 1