"It is not up to us to determine who is worthy of living
and dying. Quality of life is not a criterion for Jews in
that determination. However, according to traditional
Jewish law, Judaism does allow removing obstacles,
including life support machines, to the natural dying
process for someone who is terminally dying."

— Rabbi Lauren Berkun, director of lifelong learning at Congregation Shaarey Zedek and
facilitator of seminars on Jewish medical ethics for JTS and Shaarey Zedek.

Shutting D
Down?

SHELLI LIEBMAN DORFMAN

StafiWriter

Terri Schiavo case
spurs look at Jewish
medical ethics.

wring the many days and nights Terri
Schiavo lay in her Florida hospice bed with-
out nutrition or hydration, the people of the
world waited and watched, hoping she was in no
pain, many with a question in their hearts.
"What would I do if this were my loved one?" or
"What would I want done if this were me?"
As the severely brain-damaged woman's husband
and parents battled in court after court — as they
have for more than a decade — religion entered the
debate as well.
Terri Schiavo and her parents, Mary and
Robert Schindler, are Roman Catholic; and
many of their most fervent supporters are
fundamentalist Protestants. They wanted to
keep their daughter's feeding tube in place
to sustain her.
Husband, Michael Schiavo, wanted it removed so
his wife could die, which he says is what she would
have wanted.
Jews, like others caught up in the debate, have a
range of beliefs, with rabbis of various streams pre-
dictably divided, basing their views on halachic
(Jewish law) interpretations of their religious move-
ments.

At the traditional end of the spectrum, Rabbi
Herschel Finman adamantly stated, "It is totally
and completely forbidden to remove a feeding and
hydration system.
"If you took the strongest man in the world and
tied him to a bed with no food or water, he
would die — and we would call it murder," said
Rabbi Finman of Oak Park, who was trained in a
fellowship program on Jewish medical, legal and
business ethics in Melbourne, Australia. "The
same was the case in removing Terri Schiavo's
feeding and hydration tube. Removing it was
committing murder."
• Rabbi Finman said a patient may
request a DNR or "do not resuscitate"
order, meaning that they do not want
what he termed, "heroic measures" —
like mechanical life support — to be
used. But a DNT or "do not treat" order
— which would include no food or
hydration — may not be requested.
"A feeding tube is never considered heroic," he
said. "People have to eat; and if there are the means
for them to eat, they must be fed."
Rabbi Finman said that the purpose of our govern-
ment is to protect its citizens, "So it is absolutely
incumbent for the government to pass laws to pro-
hibit such behavior.

CO VCR
ST ORT

JN

3/31

2005

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