interview to journalists at age 12. David's
wife, Constance, also an attorney, serves as
CI's contract officer.
Robert Ettinger said his daughter,
Shelley Ettinger, lives in New York and
"has no interest in cryonics!"
When asked if any other family mem-
bers are involved at CI, Ettinger respond-
ed: "Not living ones!'
In 1977, Ettinger's mother, Rhea
Ettinger, became CI's first patient. His first
and second wives also are among the 103
individuals cryopreserved there.
How It Works
To be a patient of the Institute, individuals
must be pronounced legally dead.
"Their bodies are slowly cooled with ice
water and kept at a temperature that will
not freeze them and cause blood vessels to
break': said Ben Best, CI's president.
"Then body fluids are replaced with
medical grade anti-freeze in a process
called vitrification perfusion, performed
in a funeral home. After that, the patient is
placed in a cryostat, a dome-shaped struc-
ture filled with liquid nitrogen that will
preserve them!'
Cryonics is not illegal in any state or
province in North America.
Cost of cryopreservation at CI, which
includes preparation of the body and
construction of the cryostat, is $28,000 for
those with legal contracts and payment in
place. Many who sign on have life insurance
policies that pay the amount to CI upon
death. Additional funeral home expenses
and shipping costs are incurred for those
dying outside of Southeast Michigan.
The cost of the average funeral and buri-
al in Metro Detroit is $5,500-$6,500.
Funds from the $28,000 payment to
CI that are not used are invested and are
placed in interest-bearing accounts and
trusts. This pays for long-term upkeep of
the patient, ongoing research and eventu-
ally for reintegration.
Locally, none of the Jewish funeral homes
have been involved with CI.
"In all my 40-some years in the busi-
ness, I have never been asked about cryo-
preservation': said Alan Dorfman, funeral
director at the Dorfman Funeral Chapel in
Farmington Hills.
David Techner, funeral director at the Ira
Kaufman Chapel in Southfield, said, "People
have asked about it in terms of having seen
it in a movie or read an article, but nobody
has ever come in and said that this was an
option for them."
Otto Dube, managing funeral director at
Hebrew Memorial Chapel in Oak Park, also
has been asked generally about cryopreser-
vation.
"If someone asked specifically, we would
suggest a traditional burial and refer them
to their rabbi," he said. "We do not assist in
cremation, and we would not assist some-
one with cryogenics."
Who Does It?
The first human to be cryopreserved in liq-
uid nitrogen and remain cryopreserved was
Dr. James Bedford, who was suspended in
1967 and is stored at Alcor Life Extension
Foundation in Arizona, where cryopreser-
vation costs $150,000.
"He is also the first human to be cryopre-
served with the explicit intention of prac-
ticing cryonics: future revival': Best said.
Ben Best stands by his car, with a
"Never say die" bumper sticker.
The late professional baseball player Ted
Williams may be the most famous person
whose cryopreservation is public knowl-
edge although he is not stored at CI. Others
who have publicly indicated interest in cry-
onics include Larry King and Muhammad
Ali.
In addition to humans, there are 74 pets
currently frozen at the Institute.
What happens if the power goes out?
"First, there are generators': Best said.
"But the patients are in liquid nitrogen,
which is not dependent on electricity. It
stays cold even with no electricity."
There were 902 CI members (as of Feb. 1,
2011) residing in nearly three-dozen coun-
tries, with about two-thirds in the U.S. They
come from different backgrounds and reli-
gions, with Kowalsky and Ettinger among
the Jewish members. Of the total member-
ship are 439 with funding and signed legal
contracts.
The first cryostats were built by Ettinger
and volunteers; but now an external manu-
facturer makes them and they are com-
pleted by Institute employees. Someone is
always in the building and CI director Andy
Zawacki does work that includes daily
checks of nitrogen levels to assure tempera-
ture accuracy.
Patients range in age from an 8-year-old
child who died of leukemia to one who was
100 at the time of death. They are placed in
cryostats in protective apparel and can't be
viewed directly, but family members can
visit, much like they would at a cemetery.
There's even a place for flowers. A display
of patient photographs is found in the
Institute's conference room.
"Since 2004, we have been a licensed,
regulated cemetery; although in practice
we believe we are functioning as a hospital,"
Best said.
Family Input
"It is very, very common for families to
sign up together:' Best said.
But not all.
"My wife doesn't have an interest in it,"
Kowalsky said. "She is a Jehovah's Witness
and believes in a future resurrection. She
is not against cryopreservation, but thinks
it may show a lack of faith."
Kowalsky's mother, on the other hand,
is opposed. "I so much don't believe in
it: scientifically, ethically and religiously,"
said Cherna Kowalsky of Southfield. "But
still my husband and I have tremendous
respect for our son, for his intelligence, his
Frozen In Time on page 16
Jewish Authorities Weigh In
A
cross the board, most Jewish
religious authorities view cry-
onics as "contrary to Jewish
law."
"The Torah is very clear that one
must be buried if at all possible
the same day that one dies," said
Orthodox Rabbi Elimelech Silberberg
of the Sara and Morris Tugman
Bais Chabad Torah Center in West
Bloomfield. "The only time we push
off the burial is to allow relatives
to come to the funeral. In addition,
the decaying of the body is part of
a purging process that brings atone-
ment to the soul for transgressions
committed during one's lifetime."
Rabbi Daniel Nevins shared the
view of the Conservative movement.
"Jewish sources emphasize the
importance of promptly burying the
dead in the earth," said Nevins, dean
of the rabbinical school and of the
division of religious leadership at the
Jewish Theological Seminary in New
York. He also is former rabbi of Adat
Shalom Synagogue in Farmington
Hills and longtime member of the
movement's Committee on Jewish
Law and Standards.
"Delaying burial is prohibited and
considered to be a disrespect to the
body," he said. "Cryonics can also be
criticized as a poor use of funds that
would be better used to help the liv-
ing. On the other hand, Judaism is
certainly sympathetic to the desire
for people to be resurrected in the
future. For many centuries, our rab-
bis have offered different views about
the nature of resurrection; but there
is consensus that it is a reward for
Rabbi Silberberg
Rabbi Nevins
righteous living. If so, then people
who are concerned with securing a
'second life' should consider living
more righteously in their first life."
The folks at the Cryonics Institute
in Clinton Township maintain that
recovering from cryonic suspension
procedures is not the same as "rising
from the dead," but rather healing
the sick with an advanced form of
medicine. They liken cryopreserva-
tion to being in a coma and refer to
patients as cryopreserved, not dead.
"If a person is pronounced dead
by their physician and has bodily
fluids removed, they are dead,"
said Rabbi Yehuda Pink, founder of
the West Midlands Jewish Medical
Ethics Forum and the Solihull Jewish
Business Ethics Forum, both in
England.
"Pre-embryos can be frozen and
later defrosted and implanted into a
woman's uterus with the chance that
they will result in a live birth; but a
live or dead human being has never
been frozen and brought back to life."
Dr. Mark Washofsky, a professor
Authorities Weigh In on page 16
15