DETROIT
Medical Ethics Student
Studies Complex Issues
ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM
Assistant Editor
A
t 29, Richard Weiss is
already tackling
questions of life and
death.
Weiss, a Detroit native, re-
cently graduated from
Yeshiva University's
Chaver Program, where he
was the first student to com-
plete a two-year course in
Jewish medical ethics. Now
working toward a medical
degree at Wayne State Uni-
versity, Weiss hopes to find a
position where he can put
his ethics training into use,
which means dealing on a
daily basis with such issues
as abortion and euthanasia.
The complexities of the
questions are exactly what
attracted Weiss to the
Chaver Program.
"It's a fascinating sub-
ject," he said. "Jewish
medical ethics draws on
philosophy, law, theology,
science and medicine. The
field is so rich."
Because the Talmud and
other Jewish texts rarely
directly address specific
medical ethics questions,
decisions are based on
careful interpretation of rel-
evant passages. This can
lead to a wide variety of opi-
nions on issues, though Or-
thodox Jewish position is
always to err on the side of
life, Weiss said.
He cited the case of abor-
tion, which has both sup-
porters and opponents in
Jewish circles. Some rabbis
say it is murder; others
believe the fetus is signifi-
cant, but that ending its ex-
istence is not akin to
murder, Weiss said.
The question is further
complicated when the fetus
has been shown to carry a
deadly disease, such as Tay-
Sachs.
Some rabbis would support
aborting a Tay-Sachs fetus
because Halachah (Jewish
law) permits injuring an-
other if the result is
beneficial, as when, during
an operation, a surgeon cuts
into a body to heal the pa-
tient, Weiss said. Abortion,
in the case of a Tay-Sachs
fetus, might mean saving
someone from terrible
agony.
The general Orthodox
interpretation is that abor-
tion is not permissible,
Weiss said. Scholars feel the
issue "can never be resolved,
so the best approach is not to
actively intervene unless the
fetus presents a danger to
the mother."
Another issue Jewish
medical ethics scholars must
address is exactly what con-
stitutes life. The vast
majority of Orthodox experts
hold that brain death does
not signify death and disap-
prove of suicide, even in the
case of future affliction,
Weiss said.
Consequently, physicians
would be prohibited from
helping another kill himself,
as in the recent case of an
Oregon woman, diagnosed
with Alzheimer's disease,
who committed suicide with
the aid of a Michigan physi-
cian.
"Approval for actively be-
ing involved in facilitating
death — if it was ever per-
mitted — would be extreme-
ly rare," Weiss said.
Jewish medical
ethics draw on
philosophy, law,
theology, science
and medicine.
"There is a group in Jew-
ish ethics who say that,
under circumstances, in the
case of a terminally ill pa-
tient in severe pain,
withholding treatment could
be permitted," he said. "But
there's a big difference bet-
ween active assistance and
passive involvement." Jew-
ish medical ethics is resolute
in offering a decision even in
the most difficult cases, said
Weiss, who will work this
August at the Detroit
Medical Center. "There will
be academic debates, but the
Talmud always comes up
with a conclusion."
Its adherence to decisions
based on text is what diff-
erentiates Jewish medical
ethics from secular ethics
programs, a number of
which can be found in
hospitals today, Weiss said.
While studying at
Georgetown University,
Weiss met ethicists who
made medical decisions bas-
ed on philosophical theories.
Inevitably, each adopted
principles of the philosopher
he found most relevant. "So
if you follow (Immanuel)
Kant, you apply Kantian
theories to your decisions,
and if you're a Utilitarian,
you apply others," he said.
"But Jewish medical
ethics are not a philosophy
so much as legal ethics," he
said. "Conclusions are based
on what the Torah says. It's
more academic and
technical."
One question Jewish
medical ethicists are con-
sidering today is the use of
tissue from newborns, who
will not live beyond 30 days,
to save lives of others. While
this specific issue is not ad-
dressed in the Talmud, the
work does discuss such chil-
dren, Weiss said. Now ex-
perts must study cases men-
tioned in the Talmud "and
find the underlying prin-
ciples of what the Talmud is
really trying to say."
Other issues being debated
in Jewish medical ethics are
the use of contraception;
what work physicians may
do on Shabbat; genetic engi-
neering; and fetal tissue
transplantation — whether
physicians may use the
tissue of aborted fetuses,
which has been shown to
help individuals with
Parkinson's disease and
diabetes. ❑
Cantor Louis Klein, Sexton Shalom Ralph, Norbert Reinstein and
Rabbi Allan Meyerowitz carry Torah scrolls from Congregation B'nai
Moshe. While its new home is being constructed in West
Bloomfield, B'nai Moshe is using several scrolls at its.services at
the Maple-Drake Jewish Community Center and storing additional
Photo by Glenn Triest
Torahs at Congregation Beth Shalom.
Gay Rabbi Decision
Lauded, Condemned
Yeshiva Contract
Goes To Arbitration
STAFF REPORT
Secular studies teachers
and administrators at
Yeshiva Beth Yehudah met
with arbitrators last week to
discuss a contract dispute.
In May, afternoon teachers
at the Joseph Tannenbaum
School for Boys in Southfield
and the Sally Allen Alex-
ander Beth Jacob School for
Girls in Beverly Hills went
on a three-week strike. The
teachers had been working
without a contract since
September.
The strike ended when
teachers and administrators
agreed to arbitration by
P'shara, Jewish Dispute
Resolution Inc., a rabbinical
and legal group based in
Washington,D.C.
For two days last week,
teachers and administrators
discussed the proposed con-
tract with a three-person
panel, said Rabbi E.B.
Freedman, school ad-
ministrator.
"We discussed the full con-
tract as well as the history
leading to the strike," Rabbi
Freedman said.
The arbitration "was long
and arduous. But I felt we
got a good hearing," Rabbi
Freedman said. "There was
a good feeling that everyone
got a chance to air his
grievances."
Rabbi Freedman expects
the panel to make a decision
within the next three weeks.
decision to allow gay
and lesbian rabbis to
serve as full-fledged
members of the Reform rab-
binate has been lauded and
condemned by members of
Detroit's Jewish community.
The reaction follows last
month's meeting of the Cen-
tral Conference of American
Rabbis, an association of
Reform rabbis throughout
the United States, where
rabbis adopted a report mak-
ing Reform Judaism one of
the first major religious
groups to allow acknowl-
edged homosexuals among
its clergy.
Orthodox leaders were
quick to condemn the deci-
sion, calling it an "outright
distortion" of Jewish tradi-
tion and a deeply disturbing
move. Leaders of Conser-
vative Judaism, while less
outspoken, disclaimed any
affinity with the Reform
statement.
"It is a great sense of
tragic sadness," said Rabbi
Elimelech Goldberg of
Young Israel of Southfield, a
modern Orthodox congrega-
tion. The more people
move away from the will of
God, the more they will
identify with the general
society than the Jewish peo-
ple.
"It is against Jewish law
— period," Rabbi Goldberg
said.
"This is not in keeping
A
with Jewish law as it is
defined in biblical terms and
any later interpretations,"
said Rabbi Irwin Groner of
Congregation Shaarey
Zedek, who recently began a
two-year term as president
of the Rabbinical Assembly.
"I have a great amount of
compassion for all human
beings regardless of sex and
I don't want to see sexual
preference become a matter
of pain, anguish and dis-
crimination," said Rabbi
Allen Meyerowitz of Con-
gregation B'nai Moshe. "But
the central element of Jew-
ish life is family life — with
men, women and children.
The rabbi becomes a role
model and it is difficult for a
rabbi who espouses a diff-
erent lifestyle to teach that
role."
Rabbi Harold Loss of Tem-
ple Israel, who attended the
Seattle conference, said he
agrees with the committee's
decision. Sexual orientation,
he said, has nothing to do
with rabbinical duties.
"All human beings are
reflected in the divine
image," Rabbi Loss said.
Temple Beth El's Rabbi
Daniel Polish added, "I rec-
ognize the report creates
controversy. This is not a
call to ordain homosexual
rabbis.
"This is not encouraging
homosexual rabbis. It is
recognizing what already is.
It is a statement of status
quo — no more than that." ❑
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
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