32 | JUNE 20 • 2024 
J
N

I

t has been 17 years since 
Rabbi Daniel Nevins 
served the congregation 
at Adat Shalom Synagogue 
in Farmington Hills, and 
he plans his next area visit 
to express contemporary 
subjects holding many of his 
thoughts, discussions and, 
most recently, writings in 
light of Jewish traditions.
His new book, Torah and 
Technology: Circuits, Cells 
and the Sacred Path (Izzun 
Books), will be at the heart 
of his presentation Tuesday 
evening, June 25, at The J 
(Jewish Community Center) 
in West Bloomfield. 
The rabbi, head of the 
Golda Och Academy in New 
Jersey for pre-K through 
high school students, delves 
into the use of artificial 
intelligence, service 
enhancements for those 
with special needs, kashrut 
considerations involved with 
developed meat products 
and other very contemporary 
topics. 
The idea for the book, 
which took three years 
to write, came from 25 
years of participation on 
the Rabbinical Assembly’s 
Committee on Jewish Law 

and Standards. 
“I want readers to realize 
there is a lot of relevance to 
Judaism for modern society,” 
said Rabbi Nevins, a graduate 
of Harvard University and the 
Jewish Theological Seminary, 
where he has been the Pearl 
Resnick dean. 
“Many people mistakenly 
think religion is only about 
ritual, prayer and the 
holidays, but it’s also very 
much about ethics. In fact, 
many people don’t realize 
how central ethics is to Jewish 
thought. Whatever situation 
we’re in, whether it has to 
do with the autonomous 
car or the transplantation 
of organs, Judaism has 
something to teach.”
The book, which 
references the comments 
of Jewish scholars across 
the ages, has to do with 
modern examples, such 
as the permitted use 
of equipment to allow 
participation in services 
when people are advised 
to confine themselves 
during a pandemic such 
as the one that recently 
developed worldwide. 
The rabbi, who 
defines one of his uses 

of technology for research 
into databases, said he 
is generally low-tech for 
Shabbat practices and prayer 
life. 
 
DEALING WITH 
RAPID CHANGE 
“We are increasingly dom-
inated by rapid change,” 
explained the rabbi, who has 
written chapters for other 
books and has been quoted 
by other writers. “I’m read-
ing a book now called The 
Coming Wave, which is about 
the need to curtail certain 
technologies before they get 
completely out of control.”
 

The two that the author refer-
ences are artificial intelligence 
and synthetic biology (gene 
editing techniques).
“Here we are with the 
ability to disconnect 
intelligence from humans and 
also disconnect biological 
life forms from their natural 
origins,” he said. “Those 
are pretty major shifts, and 
in a way we are replacing 
life as we found it, and we’re 
not spending a lot of time 
thinking about whether this is 
a good thing.” 
In leading Sabbath 
observances, Rabbi Nevins 
points out the ways he finds 
electricity beneficial. For 
instance, he recognizes the 
need for microphones to 
accommodate congregation 

Former Adat Shalom rabbi will discuss 
his new book, Torah and Technology: 
Circuits, Cells and the Sacred Path.

The J Welcomes 
Rabbi Daniel 
Nevins June 25

SUZANNE CHESSLER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

OUR COMMUNITY

Details

Rabbi Daniel Nevins will 
speak at 7 p.m. Tuesday, 
June 25, at The J (Jewish 
Community Center) in West 
Bloomfield. For tickets to 
this free program, go to jlive.
app/events/7224. For more 
information, go to thejdetroit.
org/culture-education/saje.

The responsa of Rabbi Daniel Nevins reflect the wisdom, knowledge, and insight of a 

deeply caring rabbi who is willing to wrestle with the cutting edge issues of our time. 

Readers, Jewish and non-Jewish, will be grateful for the paths that Rabbi Nevins forges 

for the ethical use of technology and medicine.
– Rabbi Dr. Pamela Barmash

Chair, Committee on Jewish Law and Standards

Torah &
technol
ogy

circuits, cells & the sacred path

 Torah and Technology / Rabbi Daniel nevins לאינד הנע ת״וש | 

rabbi daniel nevins

לאינד הנע ת״וש רפס

D

aniel Nevins is Head of School at Golda Och Academy in West 

Orange, New Jersey. He previously served as Senior Rabbi of Adat 

Shalom Synagogue in Farmington Hills, Michigan, and as the 

Pearl Resnick Dean of the Rabbinical School of the 

Jewish Theological Seminary. A graduate of Harvard 

and of JTS, Rabbi Nevins is a scholar of Jewish law, 

and has served for twenty-five years on the Rabbinical 

Assembly’s Committee on Jewish Law and Standards. He 

finds guidance in ancient Jewish wisdom for our rapidly 

changing social and technological environment. 

What does Judaism teach about killer robots? Cultured meat? Genetically 

engineered people? What does it mean to rest on Shabbat when electronics 

are embedded all around? In a pandemic, whose life should be saved first? 

Can a person be declared dead after the brain ceases to function, even if the 

heart keeps beating on life support? 

In this volume, Torah and Technology: Circuits, Cells, and the Sacred Path, 

Rabbi Daniel Nevins draws on 3,000 years of biblical and rabbinic texts 

to respond to pressing questions of contemporary life. These essays are 

presented in the form of responsa, or rabbinic guidance for Jewish religious 

practice, but they are also of interest to any person who confronts ethical 

quandaries in our technocentric times. An online supplement provides 

free lesson plans and source sheets for educators to use in class.

Rabbi 
Daniel 
Nevins

