54 posts categorized "Bio-Ethics"
June 27, 2008: When Rabbis Turn Halakha Into Superstition, Part 2Comments: 60 | Categories: Bio-Ethics , Halakha , Haredim
Last month, I wrote about the outbreak of shigella, an intestinal infection, in haredi communities in Brooklyn. The disease spread through poor hand washing and, as I pointed out last month, haredim – especially hasidim – are…
June 18, 2008: Science Proves Homosexuality Biologically Based – Can Being Gay Or Lesbian Still Be A Sin?
Comments: 130 | Categories: Bio-Ethics , Ethics , Gay Pride March , Halakha , Science
What if homosexuality really is biologically based and therefore something inborn, not something learned or adopted? Would this change the negative halakhic (Jewish legal) view of homosexuality? I ask this question because a new study just published in the prestigious...
March 27, 2008: Haredim and Organ Donation, part 3 – Rabbi Elyashiv and the Angel of Death
Comments: 15 | Categories: Bio-Ethics , Haredim , Israel
Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv already permits a situation where haredim do not donate organs but the do take them. In the mind of Rabbi Elyashiv, taking organs from a brain stem dead person is committing murder. Still, he allows his...
March 26, 2008: Haredim and Organ Donation, part 2
Comments: 30 | Categories: Bio-Ethics , Halakha , Haredim , Israel
Just when you thought the debate between the rabbis who support organ donation (including Rabbis Ovadia Yosef and Shlomo Amar) and those who oppose it (Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv) couldn't get stranger, this happens:
March 25, 2008: "What is Yours is Mine, and What is Mine is Mine"--He is a Wicked Man: Haredim and Organ Donation
Comments: 44 | Categories: Bio-Ethics , Haredim , Israel
Israel finally, after many years of trying passed an organ donation law late yesterday. This is no small achievement. Why? Haredim.
March 11, 2008: Mark Your Calendars
Comments: 1 | Categories: Bio-Ethics , Ethics
Professor Saul Lieberman's 25th yartzeit is coming up. UTJ has a memorial program scheduled featuring Dr. Elijah Schochet, "“The Prioritization of Human Life in Halakhah and Aggadah.” Details after the jump in the extended post…
December 13, 2007: What is More Important? Saving a Life or Burying a Jew Intact?
Comments: 46 | Categories: Bio-Ethics , Ethics , Haredim , Religion
The Ottawa Citizen reports: …Rabbi Reuven Bulka, who has worked for years as an advocate for organ donation and was recently named chairman of the board of the Trillium Gift of Life Network, says people oppose organ donation, even within...
June 27, 2007: Chabad Takes Major Donation From Fraudster; Rabbi Morris Esformes' Nursing Homes Have History Of Dangerous Care And Abuse
Comments: 14 | Categories: Bio-Ethics , Chabad , Crime, etc. , Ethics
The Jewish Press reports on the new Chabad museum, community center, synagogue and school planned for Alaska: Chicago philanthropist Rabbi Morris Esformes has pledged to sponsor two new historic landmarks: the Alaska Jewish Historical Museum and Community Center, and a...
June 12, 2007: Israel Finally Moves To Provide Disability Access
Comments: 0 | Categories: Bio-Ethics , Israel
Many years after most civilized countries passed laws meant to aid the disabled and to make public building and multi-family dwellings like apartment buildings accessible, Israel has finally begun to do so: …For the past six months the amendments' wording...
January 4, 2007: Herpes, Circumcision and Alzheimers – Was Rabbi Tendler Right?
Comments: 17 | Categories: Bio-Ethics , Circumcision , Haredim
A new study seems to show that the herpes virus of cold sore and metzitza b'peh (MBP) infamy may play a role in the contracting, r"l, of Alzheimers Disease. LiveScience.com reports: New research supports growing concerns that herpes plays a...
December 15, 2006: How Difficult Is It To Be Disabled In Israel? Very
Comments: 11 | Categories: Bio-Ethics , Hessed , Israel
According to Access Israel: …95 percent of the cafes don't have accessible bathrooms and only five beaches are accessible. There are problems with post offices and stores as well." He says only 26 percent of 500,000 handicapped people are employed...
September 26, 2006: Use It Or Lose It
Comments: 1 | Categories: Bio-Ethics
Responding to news of a new study showing moderate consumption of Cabernet Sovingion wine appears to lower the risk of getting Alzheimers Disease, Hadassah University Medical Center metabolism expert Prof. Elliot Berry: …who has long advocated moderate consumption of red...
September 10, 2006: Woman In PVS Aware Of Surroundings, Scientists Find
Comments: 2 | Categories: Bio-Ethics
The New York Times reports: A severely brain-damaged woman in an unresponsive, vegetative state showed clear signs on brain imaging tests that she was aware of herself and her surroundings, researchers are reporting today, in a finding that could have...
September 4, 2006: Stealing Bodies To Prevent Autopsy Permitted On Shabbat
Comments: 2 | Categories: Bio-Ethics , Haredim
From DailyHalakha.com: …There is a case recorded of a Jew who died in a hospital on Shabbat and the doctors prepared to perform an autopsy on the body. Rabbi Chayim Elazar Shapiro of Munkatch (Hungary, early 20th century) instructed his...
August 27, 2006: A Moral Question
Comments: 5 | Categories: Bio-Ethics
I sometimes shop in a grocery store that has a program to aid various charities and schools. You deposit your receipt in a box labeled with the name of the particular charity, and a percentage of your purchase is donated...
July 30, 2006: Doctors of Death
Comments: 12 | Categories: Bio-Ethics , Haredim , MO & Chardal
From the July 21, 2006 Wall Street Journal: A medical resident -- we called her "Dr. Death" -- at the Intensive Care Unit at Long Island's North Shore Hospital chased us down the hallway. "Your husband wants to die," she...
June 6, 2006: How Haredi Judaism Really Works
Comments: 2 | Categories: Bio-Ethics , Circumcision , Haredim , History
However, other reliable informants, including Rabbi Greineman, insist that the Ḥazon ‘Ish, in keeping with his native Lithuanian practice, did not consider [metzitza b'peh] even a hiddur miẓvah. A prominent local mohel attests that this too was the psak he...
March 19, 2006: Upton Sinclair's The Jungle
Comments: 3 | Categories: Bio-Ethics , Kosher Scandal
Upton Sinclair's The Jungle, the book that in large part created the US Meat Inspection Act of 1906 is available free online.
March 18, 2006: Is That Dog In Your Hamburger? The Answer Is "Yes" If George Bush Gets His Way
Comments: 17 | Categories: Bio-Ethics , Kosher Scandal
In a further degradation of food safety standards, the Bush Administration's USDA is now allowing rabbit, cat and dog meat to be mixed with ground beef and sold. Andrew Martin of the Chicago Tribune reports: A short notice from the...
March 17, 2006: Bird Flu In Israel
Comments: 0 | Categories: Bio-Ethics
Bird flu appears to have reached Israel – Ha'aretz reports, as does the Jerusalem Post and Ynet.
March 7, 2006: Yigal Amir To Artificially Inseminate "Wife"
Comments: 10 | Categories: Bio-Ethics , Crime, etc. , Israel
Should a prisoner, especially a prisoner in jail for a murder he admits committing, be allowed conjugal visits with his wife? If not, should he be allowed to artificially impregnate her? Israel Insider reports: The jailed assassin of Israeli Prime...
March 1, 2006: Is Non-Jewish Life Worth Saving?
Comments: 4 | Categories: Bio-Ethics , Chabad , Haredim , MO & Chardal , Religion
We now know that three non-Jewish African-Americans risked their lives to pull Ephraim Klein from his burning car to try to save his life. Many readers of FailedMessiah.com openly contend Jews should not risk their lives to save non-Jews. Some...
February 22, 2006: Future IDF Chief Rabbi: "The life of a non-Jew certainly has value ... but the value of Shabbat is more important"
Comments: 25 | Categories: Bio-Ethics , Israel , Jewish Leadership , MO & Chardal
The leading candidate to become the IDF's (Orthodox) chief rabbi, Colonel Rabbi Avi Ronsky (Res.) has this to say about violating Shabbat laws to save non-Jewish lives: "The life of a non-Jew certainly has value ... but the value of...
December 23, 2005: Haredim: Metzitza B'Peh Equal To Shabbat, Not Enough Risk To Stop
Comments: 6 | Categories: Bio-Ethics , Circumcision , Haredim , Jewish Leadership
Agudath Israel of America's Rabbi David Zwiebel explains Agudath Israel's view on MBP's risk to Steven I. Weiss: We neither accept nor reject that metzitzah b'peh is a health risk - we haven't been privy to the evidence on which...
December 22, 2005: Haredim Attack City Over Circumcision
Comments: 1 | Categories: Bio-Ethics , Circumcision , Haredim , Jewish Leadership
The Jewish Week reports that two pediatricians with practices overwhelmingly made up of haredim have attacked the city and its health commissioner for warnings he issued about the dangers of metzitza b'peh, oral-to-genital-contact during circumcision. Both doctors are medical advisors...
December 15, 2005: Arutz 7: Haredim Violated Circumcision Agreement
UPDATE: Head Of Rabbinical Court Charged With Investigation Says Metzitza B'Peh "Safe"
Comments: 5 | Categories: Bio-Ethics , Circumcision , Haredim , Jewish Leadership
[UPDATED BELOW] Arutz Sheva reports: New York City's health commissioner has issued an unprecedented warning that part of the circumcision ceremony in some ultra-orthodox communities can be dangerous to babies. "There exists no reasonable doubt that metzitzah b’peh [MBP] can...
December 15, 2005: Metzitza B'Peh – A Prediction
Comments: 43 | Categories: Bio-Ethics , Chabad , Circumcision , Haredim , Jewish Leadership , Science
When will haredim stop metzitza b'peh , the dangerous oral-to-genital contact done during circumcision based on Talmudic-era medical knowledge? When the first gadol's grandson is maimed, and not before. Today's 'gedolim' are so ignorant and distainful of science and medicine,...
December 14, 2005: New Haredi "Circumcision Board" Supports Dangerous Oral-To-Genital-Contact During Bris
Comments: 11 | Categories: Bio-Ethics , Chabad , Circumcision , Haredim , Jewish Leadership , Science
The new haredi-controlled American Board of Ritual Circumcision supports metzitza b'peh (MBP), the oral-to-genital-contact during circumcision that has killed at least one infant and maimed others. One of it's medical advisors is Daniel Berman, who has been a vocal advocate...
December 14, 2005: NYC Discloses 2 New Cases Of Herpes From Circumcision Rite – City Calls On Jews To Stop Metzitza B'Peh, Issues Letter To Jewish Community
Comments: 7 | Categories: Bio-Ethics , Chabad , Circumcision , Haredim , Jewish Leadership , Science
[UPDATED BELOW.] Two more babies have contracted herpes from metzitza b'peh, oral-to-genital-suction during circumcision. The New York Times reports: City health officials said yesterday that they had identified two new cases in which infants were infected with herpes this year...
November 3, 2005: Blood Sucking During Circumcision: A History Of Metzitza B'Peh
Comments: 3 | Categories: Bio-Ethics , Chabad , Circumcision , Haredim , Jewish Leadership
Professor David Ellenson writes in the New York Jewish Week: … As a result of these texts, the Chatam Sofer contended that Jewish tradition instituted metzitzeh b’eh solely to prevent danger to the infant and stated that metzitzah b’peh was...
October 27, 2005: Rabbi Sanctioned By State Over Nursing Home Abuse
Comments: 0 | Categories: Bio-Ethics , Crime, etc. , Jewish Leadership
Orthodox nursing home magnet Rabbi Morris Esformes has been sanctioned by the State of Illinois. His nursing homes have been under fire for years, with abuse and negligence alleged to be rampant. [Hat tip: JWB]
October 23, 2005: Circumcision And NYC's Mayorial Race
Comments: 1 | Categories: Bio-Ethics , Circumcision , Haredim , Jewish Leadership
The Australian reports on metzitza b'peh and the NYC mayorial race: … But for a real sense of just how desperately Bloomberg craves a second term, the tragic case of the baby boy who died last year after contracting the...
October 13, 2005: Leading Experts Decry Metzitza B'Peh – Practice "Major Public Health Hazard"
Comments: 9 | Categories: Bio-Ethics , Chabad , Circumcision , Haredim , Jewish Leadership
Ultra-Orthodox rabbis meet with NYC mayor Michael Bloomberg regarding ritual circumcision, August 11, 2005. (Photo credit: Edward Reed) Two renowned authorities on STDs, one at Bloomberg-named medical school, blast mayor’s administration over metzitza b'peh (oral-genital suction during circumcision) decision that...
September 21, 2005: NYC Mayor Gives In To Satmar, Agudah In Apparent Election Deal – Circumcision Deal Clearly Not Kosher
Comments: 5 | Categories: Bio-Ethics , Circumcision , Crime, etc. , Haredim , Jewish Leadership
Ultra-Orthodox rabbis meet with NYC mayor Michael Bloomberg regarding ritual circumcision, August 11, 2005. (Photo credit: Edward Reed) The deal between NYC and Satmar is expained by Debra Nussbaum Cohen in tomorrow's NY Jewish Week: The city of New York...
September 17, 2005: Mohel Agrees To Stop Oral-To-Genital-Suction During Circumcision
Comments: 1 | Categories: Bio-Ethics , Circumcision , Haredim , Jewish Leadership
As you read this keep in mind that the beit din is under the control of Satmar's Central Rabbinical Congress, and no investigation they perform is likely to be fair. Their community has already come out strongly against any ban...
September 16, 2005: Is President Bush Fit to Lead?
Comments: 3 | Categories: Bio-Ethics
ABC News investigated US preparedness for an Avian Flu pandemic, God forbid. It found that US stockpiles of Tamaflu, the only drug known to work against Avian Flu, are very low and that the US is far down on the...
September 4, 2005: Mohel Seeks To Have Oral Suction Ban Lifted
Comments: 3 | Categories: Bio-Ethics , Haredim
Rabbi Yitzchok Fischer, the mohel (ritual circumciser) involved in the New York controversy over metzitza b'peh (oral to genital suction during circumcision) wants to be free to practice MBP in Rockland county. As you read this, remember that all governments...
August 29, 2005: Christopher Hitchens On Metzitza B'Peh
Comments: 8 | Categories: Bio-Ethics , Circumcision , Crime, etc. , Haredim , Jewish Leadership
Christopher Hitchens has written a provacative rant in Slate magazine against metzitza b'peh: …Where to start with this? I could wish that Bloomberg were always so careful about keeping out of other peoples' business: He has made it legally impossible...
August 26, 2005: Rabbi Moshe Tendler: Metzitza B'Peh Violates Jewish Law
Comments: 5 | Categories: Bio-Ethics , Circumcision , Haredim , MO & Chardal
Ultra-Orthodox rabbis meet with NYC mayor Michael Bloomberg regarding ritual circumcision, August 11, 2005. (Photo credit: Edward Reed) Today's New York Times reports on the controversy over oral suction (metzitza b'peh) done during some ritual circumcisions. The money quote: …...
August 25, 2005: Satmar Threatens NYC Mayor Over Circumcision Controversy – Mohel Still Refusing To Cooperate With NYC Health Officials
Comments: 0 | Categories: Bio-Ethics , Circumcision , Dirty Tricks , Haredim
The Forward's Steven I. Weiss reports: The controversy over a disputed circumcision ritual could affect the mayor's race in New York City, as some members of the Hasidic community are promising to protest any restrictions placed on the mohel in...
August 12, 2005: NYC Moves To Ban Infected Mohel From Metzitza B'Peh – Haredim Object
Comments: 3 | Categories: Bio-Ethics , Circumcision , Haredim , Jewish Leadership , Science
After months of wrangling, New York's verdict is in. The New York Daily News reports: City officials have moved to ban a rabbi suspected of infecting infants with herpes from performing an ancient circumcision rite, prompting religious Jewish leaders to...
July 28, 2005: The Forward On Baruch Tegegne
Comments: 0 | Categories: Bio-Ethics , Ethiopian Jews
Sheldon Gordon writes in today's Forward: When Baruch Tegegne, a Montreal resident who played a heroic role in Israel's rescue of his fellow Ethiopian Jews, found a kidney donor, he was hoping to have a transplant at the nearby Royal...
June 22, 2005: Most US Doctors Believe In God – Disproportionate Number Jews, Hindus and Moslems
Comments: 0 | Categories: Bio-Ethics
A survey examining religion in medicine found that most U.S. doctors believe in God and an afterlife — a surprising degree of spirituality in a science-based field, researchers say. In the survey of 1,044 doctors nationwide, 76 percent said they...
May 31, 2005: Flap Over Israel Organ Donations – How Haredim Prevent Lifesaving Transplants
Comments: 23 | Categories: Bio-Ethics , Haredim , Israel
The Jerusalem Post reports: …Ninety of the Knessets 120 members were persuaded over several months by Knesset Labor, Social Affairs and Health Committee chairman MK Shaul Yahalom to sign a potential organ donor card distributed by the ADI organization. The...
May 18, 2005: Chabad & SUNY Downstate Sponsor Medical Ethics Conference
Comments: 2 | Categories: Bio-Ethics
Chabad and SUNY Downstate Medical Center have sponsored a conference on Jewish bioethics. Participanting were many luminaries in the field including Rabbi Dr. Moshe Dovid Tendler. Chabad of Rochester, Minnesota has sponsored several smaller events like this. Perhaps mini-versions of...
May 4, 2005: More On Nursing Home Baron Rabbi Morris Esformes
Comments: 5 | Categories: Bio-Ethics , Crime, etc. , Jewish Leadership
May 2, 2005: Nursing Home Baron Rabbi Morris Esformes: "Beside the fact that they're anti-mental health and anti-black, they're probably anti-Jew because I'm an ordained rabbi" – Rabbi's Nursing Home Has One Of the Worst Records In The State
Comments: 6 | Categories: Bio-Ethics , Crime, etc. , Jewish Leadership
April 29, 2005: 'Orthodox' Rabbi Morris Esformes Accused Of Elder Abuse, Neglect – Nursing Home Baron's Facilities Have History Of Neglect
Comments: 10 | Categories: Bio-Ethics , Crime, etc. , Jewish Leadership
April 29, 2005: What Many Doctors No Longer Know: Always Err On The Side Of Life
Comments: 8 | Categories: Bio-Ethics
April 4, 2005: BREAKING! Canada Lies About Transplant – First Altruistic Kidney Transplant Done At Toronto General In 2004 – Donor Found On Internet – Precedent Set – Is Racism Driving Montreal Refusal? Where Is Justice Minister Irwin "Mr. Human Rights" Cotler?
Comments: 21 | Categories: Bio-Ethics , Ethiopian Jews , Hessed
March 30, 2005: Montreal Jew Battles For Life
Comments: 0 | Categories: Bio-Ethics , Ethiopian Jews , Hessed
March 30, 2005: Jewish Vegetarians Of North America Learn A Lesson From Terri Schiavo – Go Veg! [Sadly, I Kid You Not]
Comments: 8 | Categories: Bio-Ethics , Jewish Leadership , Kosher Scandal
March 29, 2005: Rev. Jesse Jackson Does The Right Thing – Can The Same Be Said Of Rabbis Shafran, Wienreb, Krinsky and Schachter? No.
Comments: 18 | Categories: Bio-Ethics , Hessed , Jewish Leadership
March 29, 2005: The Dirty Secret Behind Canada's Refusal
Comments: 4 | Categories: Bio-Ethics , Ethiopian Jews , Hessed
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