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Reality And Ethics

June 18th

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Ohr Somayach rabbi explores diverse topics.

Every Friday

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SUSAN TAWIL
Special to the Jewish News

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I,

abbi Dr. Akiva Tatz of London,
England, was able to enthrall
two audiences last week with
his expertise in medical ethics and Torah
.
study.
At an Ohr Somayach-sponsored
lunch and learn on May 28 at the Max
M. Fisher Federation
Building in Bloomfield
Township, he spoke
about "Torah, the
Cause of Reality." On
May 27, he gave a talk
on biomedical ethics at
a Partners in Torah
learning session at
Yeshiva Beth Yehudah
in Southfield.
Rabbi Tatz, a native
of Johannesburg, South
Africa, also is a medical
doctor who served as a
medical officer in the
South African Army.
He practiced medicine
while studying at Ohr
Somayach yeshivah in
Jerusalem and founded
Rabbi Tatz
and directs the
Jerusalem Medical
Ethics Forum.
He is the author of several books,
including Anatomy of a SearckLiving
Inspired and The Thinking Jewish
Teenager's Guide to Life. Currently, Rabbi
Tatz is senior lecturer on Jewish thought
and medical ethics at the Jewish
Learning Exchange in London.
In his talk at the lunch and learn,
Rabbi Tatz compared the text of the
Torah to the genes of a body, saying that
the Torah doesn't merely reflect the way
the world is, but is, in fact, the cause of
it. He referred to the Torah as "the blue-
print of the world," quoting the
Talmudic phrase that "God looked into
the Torah and created the world."
He also spoke about how the essence
of an object is reflected in the word it is
called by in the holy language of biblical
Hebrew. For example, the word "word"
and the word "thing" are the same in
Hebrew (d'var), since all things were cre-
ated by God's word, Rabbi Tatz
explained. He gave other examples, not-
ing, for instance that one cannot say "I

have" in Hebrew Things are only spo-
ken about in relation to one's self (yesh li
literally means "there is to me") because
everything actlinlly belongs to God.
Rabbi Tatz noted there are no vulgar-
ities in Hebrew. "If you want to swear,
you have to do it in Arabic," he said to
the audience of 150. Also, there are no
biblical words for such things as adven-
ture, fun and romance — indicating
that these concepts
have no basis in
reality.
The Oral Law
studied and
ingrained in the
hearts and minds
of the Jewish peo-
ple has transferred
the ability to cause
reality into human
hands, said Rabbi
Tatz. He went on
to give several
examples by which
Torah sages actual-
ly caused reality by
their halachic
(Jewish law) pro-
nouncements.
Zaron Frumin
of Farmington
Hills said, "I
learned so much.
More young people should come to
these programs and find out what
they're missing," he said.
At Rabbi Tatz's talk on biomedical
ethics the previous evening, he discussed
complex cases in medical triage, explain-
ing how difficult decisions are rendered
according to Torah principles. Examples
he used included that of eight sick
patients and only two doses of medi-
cine, or the dilemma of putting a
patient who won't ultimately "make it"
on a hospital's only lung machine versus
reserving use of the machine for a
potential patient who will.
When this official study session
ended at 9 p.m., Rabbi Tatz paused to
allow people to leave, but not one of the
more than 150 participants moved, all
stayed to hear him continue.
"Rabbi Tatz is one of the people I
could listen to indefinitely," said Aviva
Gordon of Oak Park. "He's compelling,
brilliant and inspiring." 7

