Abraham de Sola was born in London and became rabbi of the Spanish and Portuguese congregation in Montreal in 1846 at the age of 22. In 1849, when a religious furor arose over the use of obstetrical anesthesia, he was asked to interpret Genesis 3:16, which implies that childbirth must inevitably be accompanied by great pain. His reponse, published as a three-part article in a Canadian medical journal, was in favor of pain relief during childbirth. The Sanatory Institutions of the Hebrews relies on Biblical, Talmudic, and modern medical sources to justify the Jewish dietary and hygienic laws. Sola was the first Jew to be awarded an honorary degree from McGill University. Excerpt from Abraham de Sola's The Sanatory Institutions of the Hebrews concerning the eating of birds
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