health & wellness »

What’s A Jewish
Doctor To Do?

A conference examined questions
of Halachah in medicine.

HaRav Weiner giving
a shiur at the Detroit
Medical Halachah and
Ethics Yarchei Kallah

D

etroit’s sixth biennial Medical
Halachah (Jewish law) and
Ethics Yarchei Kallah (learning
program) took place from Aug. 3-7 and
was hosted by Congregation Dovid ben
Nuchim-Aish Kodesh in Oak Park.
The Yarchei Kallah’s rov (rabbi) and
educational director is HaRav Yaakov
Weiner, dean and rosh kollel of the
Jerusalem Center for Research: Medicine
and Halachah.
The Yarchei Kallah is a comprehen-
sive, in-depth Jewish learning experience
during which physicians, health care
professionals and others learn medical
Halachah and ethics in a yeshivah/kollel
environment. The program’s goal is to
learn medical Halachah and study how
chazal (Jewish sages) and poskim (deci-
sors of Jewish law) apply Torah prin-
ciples and approaches to contemporary
halachic and ethical issues in the practice
of medicine.
The Yarchei Kallah consisted of daily
yeshivah-style learning of relevant source
materials with Weiner, followed by
in-depth shiurim (lectures) on several
medical halachahic topics. Weiner gave
all but one of the many shiurim. Rabbi
Aharon Sorscher, a community posek
(decisor) and lecturer, delivered a shiur
on the topic of false labor on Shabbat.
This year’s topics included end-of-life
and palliative care, halachic responses
to the Zika virus outbreak (travel to
epidemic countries, pregnancy issues),
dilemmas in childbirth on Shabbos (false
labor, coaches and doulas, natural vs.
Caesarian delivery) and the terrorism
crisis in Israel: medical halachic and eth-
ical issues (triage of civilian and terrorist

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2104810

62 August 25 • 2016

casualties, human shields, friendly fire).
The highlight of the event occurred on
Sunday, when HaGaon HaRav Yitzchak
Zilberstein, shlita, of Bnai Brak, Israel
— considered by many to be the world’s
foremost contemporary decisor of medi-
cal Halachah — spoke live via video-
conference from Israel addressing several
complex shailos (questions) regarding
terrorism events, medical triage and pri-
orities in treatment.
About 60 local physicians and health-
care providers attended the event,
including rabbis, chaplains as well as
laypersons. The event was provided
by Wayne State University School of
Medicine and organized and produced
by Dr. Steven Tennenberg, associate
professor of surgery and anesthesiology.
Continuing medical (CME) and nursing
(CE) education credits were provided for
physicians and nurses.
During his visit to Detroit, Weiner also
made presentations to and lectured at
Aish HaTorah Detroit, Jewish Hospice
and Chaplaincy Network, Partners-
in-Torah of Yeshiva Beth Yehudah,
the Yeshiva Beth Yehudah Kollel,
Congregations Agudas Yisrael-Mogen
Avraham and Young Israel of Oak Park
and local hospitals.
The Yarchei Kallah is made possible
through the generous sponsorship and
donation of local organizations and
participants; all proceeds go to Weiner’s
kollel and medical Halachah institute in
Jerusalem. For more information about
this year’s Yarchei Kallah or to be placed
on an email list for future events, contact
Tennenberg at stennenb@dmc.org.

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