1. 1
Jewish Law and Ethics: Selected Topics
נבחרים נושאים :ואתיקה הלכה
Rabbi Ari D. Kahn הרבארידודקאהן
Adk1010@gmail.com http://Rabbiarikahn.com
02-367-81
Course description: This course will examine selected chapters of Jewish Law and
Ethics. The primary focus will be on "life and death" issues, i.e. lifeboat ethics, triage,
quality of life, euthanasia, abortion, sexual ethics, privilege and obligations. The
second semester will focus on general ethical issues. These topics will be analyzed
from both legal and ethical perspectives, and comparisons will be made with other
legal systems and other systems of ethical thought. The relationship between ethics,
society, religion, and culture will also be examined.
Biblical and Talmudic texts will be studied alongside modern rabbinic responsa and
legal decisions, in an attempt to understand the legal and philosophical
underpinnings of contemporary law. A study of the basic concepts and principles of
morals, values, and judgments that govern human actions, as well as various theories
of ethics, will be conducted.
Students will be asked to familiarize themselves with both primary and secondary
sources. This course is designed to help students develop their abilities to read,
explicate, analyze, and evaluate moral issues, and to think critically and analytically
about ethical issues. There will be an examination at the conclusion of each semester.
קדם :דרישות
Mastery of basic texts, including commentaries, understanding of ideas.
Attendance, participation, and final exam
מטלות / דרישות / :**חובות
Course requirements: attendance to frontal lecture, preparation, and mastery of basic
texts. There will be a final administered after each semester.
required material for the exam, all primary texts and commentaries, including
material discussed in class.
30% based on attendance and participation, 70% based on the final exam
1. Introduction: What is Law? What are Ethics? What is Jewish Law?
Additional readings:
Jews, Public Policy and Civil Rights: A Religious Jewish Perspective
Rabbi Michael Broyde,
Buck vs. Bell Trial
http://eugenicsarchive.org/html/eugenics/static/themes/39.html
https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/274/200/case.html#207
https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/274/200
Eugenics and the Nazis: The California Connection
2. 2
http://www.sfgate.com/opinion/article/Eugenics-and-the-Nazis-the-California-
2549771.php
Notes of a Nuremberg Documentarian
http://today.law.harvard.edu/notes-nuremberg-documentarian/
2. Limited Resources in Micro Cases
Talmud Bavli Bava Metzhia 62a
Sifra B’har 5:5
Additional readings:
The Dreadful Shipwreck of the William Brown
Two people in a desert with one cup of water: Bava Metzia 62a,
משנתחיישעה : שמחהלייזרזון153
Alexander Holmes Trial: 1842 - Holmes Tried For Manslaughter
http://law.jrank.org/pages/2482/Alexander-Holmes-Trial-1842.html
Judah Goldschmiedt, “The Division of Scarce Resources and Triage in
Halacha,” in Jonathan Wiesen (Ed.), And You Shall Surely Heal (2009:
KTAV Publishing House), pp. 187-199.
Price and Utilization: Why We Must Target Both to Curb Health Care Costs,
Govind Persad, Alan Wertheimer, Ezekiel J Emanuel
3. Limited Resources in Micro Cases – Application of Principles
Talmud Bavli Sanhedrin 74a
Tosafot Sanhedrin 74a V’ha Esther
Hiddushie Rav Chaim Halevi Hilchot Yesodie Hatorah 5:1
Additional readings:
Rabbi Yisrael Rozen “The Shabbat Elevator” The Tzomet Institute
http://www.zomet.org.il/eng/?CategoryID=198&ArticleID=286
4. Limited Resources in Macro Cases
Tamud Bavli, Nedarim 80b
Sheiltot Rav Achai 147, commentary Emek Hanetziv.
Additional readings:
Avraham Steinberg, M.D., “Allocation of Scarce Resources,” ASSIA – Jewish
Medical Ethics, Vol. II, No. 2 (May 1995), pp. 14-21.
5. Triage:
Nefesh HaHayim 1:8
Fred Rosner, "The Rationing of Medical Care” The Journal of Halacha and
Contemporary Society, Vol. 6, pg. 21.
קולצופיך235 (Ransoming captives)
Additional readings:
Barry Freundel “Health Care and Tikkun Olam,” in Shatz, Waxman, &
Diament (eds.), Tikkun Olam: Social Responsibility in Jewish Thought and
Law (1997: Jason Aronson), pp. 309-337
6. Allocating Resources – Redeeming Captives
Mishna Sanhedrin 4:5
3. 3
Mishna in Jerusalem Talmud Sanhedrin 4:9
Talmud Bavli Gittin 45a
Rambam, Laws of Gifts to the Poor, Chapter 8: 10,12
Additional readings:
Rabbi Yirmiyohu Kaganoff, “Explaining the Mitzvah of Pidyon Shevuyim.”
http://rabbikaganoff.com/tag/redeeming-captives/
Blidstein, Gerald J. “The redemption of captives in halakhic tradition:
problems and policy”, pages, 20-31
7. Transplants: (Autopsies/ Experimentation)
Responsa Rekanati, section 470.
Responsa Radvaz 3:627.
Noda Beyehuda MT YD 219.
Responsa Binyan Zion 170.
Additional readings:
J. David Bleich, Contemporary Halakhic Problems, vol. 1, chapter 16, page
372.
o Volume 4, page 316 "Of Cerebral, Respiratory, and Cardiac Death"
Reuven Fink "Halachic Aspects of Organ Transplantation," The Journal of
Halacha and Contemporary Society, Volume 5, page 45.
Fred Rosner and Moshe Tendler, "Determining the Time of Death," The
Journal of Halacha and Contemporary Society, Volume 17, page 14.
Herschel Shachter, "Determining the Time of Death," The Journal of Halacha
and Contemporary Society, Volume 17, pg. 32.
Aharon Soloveichik, "Determining the Time of Death" The Journal of
Halacha and Contemporary Society, Volume 17, page 41.
קולצופיך374-397" ,משנתחיישעה"שמחהלייזרזון
J. David Bleich, Contemporary Halakhic Problems, vol. 1 Chapter 5 p. 93ff,
o "Delayed Burial;" page 197,
o Cannibalism page 179*,
Alfred Cohen, "Animal Experimentation," The Journal of Halacha and
Contemporary Society, Volume 11, pg.19.
8. Smoking, Drugs and Danger
Talmud Bavli Shabbat 129b
R. Moshe Feinstein, Iggerot Moshe, Yoreh Dayeh 2:49
M. Slae, Smoking and Damage to Health in the Halacha.
Fred Rosner, "Cigarette Smoking and Jewish Law," The Journal of
Halacha and Contemporary Society, Volume 4 pg.33
Additional readings:
B. Herring, Jewish Ethics and Halakha For Our Time (1984: Ktav), pp.
221-241.
9. When Law and Ethics collide: May Shabbat be Desecrated in Order to
Save a Life?
4. 4
Talmud Bavli Yoma 85b
R. Moshe Sofer, Responsa Hatam Sofer, Yoreh Deah 131, Hoshen
Mishpat 194;
R. Yisrael Lifschitz, Tiferet Yisrael, Avodah Zarah 2:6;
R. Hayim Halberstam, Responsa Divrei Hayim vol. 2 Orah Hayim 25;
R. Shalom David Ungvar, Responsa Yad Shalom 57;
R. Mordekhai Ya'akov Breisch, Responsa Helkat Ya'akov vol. 2 54;
R. Moshe Feinstein, Iggerot Moshe vol. 4, 49;
R. Yitzhak Ya'akov Weiss, Responsa Minhat Yitzhak, vol. 1 53, vol. 3 20,
vol. 10 31:14;
R. Eliezer Yehudah Waldenburg, Responsa Tzitz Eliezer, vol. 8 15:6;
R. Ovadia Yosef, Responsa Yabia Omer, vol. 8 Orah Hayim 38;
R. Shlomo Zalman Braun, She'arim Metzuyanim Bahalakhah, 92:1;
R. Zvi Hirsch Shapira, Darkhei Teshuvah, 158:3;
R. Yehoshua Yishayahu Neuwirth, Shemirat Shabbat Kehilkhatah ch. 40
n. 42;
R. Simhah Benzion Rabinowitz, Piskei Teshuvot, 390:2
Additional readings:
R. Immanuel Jakobovits, “A Modern Blood Libel – L’Affaire Shahak,”
Tradition, vol. 8 no. 2 (Summer 1996), pp. 58-65.
Noah Feldman, “Orthodox Paradox” New York Times Magazine, July 22,
2007.
Gil Student, “Shabbat and Gentile Lives,”
http://www.aishdas.org/student/shabbat.htm
10. Suicide:
Talmud Bavli Avoda Zara 18a, Gittin 57b.
Additional readings:
B. Herring, Jewish Ethics and Halakha For Our Time (1984: Ktav), pp. 67-90.
Haym Soloveitchik, Collected Essays, Volume 2 (2014:The Littman Library
of Jewish Civilization, Oxford), chapters 10 & 11, pp. 223-287: “Between
Cross and Crescent,” “Halakhah, Hermeneutics and Martyrdom in Ashkenaz.”
11. Euthanasia:
Talmud - Kethuboth 104a, Nedarim 40a, and commentary of Ran, ad loc.
Sefer Hassidim section 723
Additional readings:
Fred Friedman, "The Chronic Vegetative Patient: Torah Perspective" The
Journal of Halacha and Contemporary Society, Vol. 26 p. 88.
Zev Schostak "Ethical Guidelines for the Treatment of the Dying Elderly,"
The Journal of Halacha and Contemporary Society, Vol. 3 p. 72.
Jeff Ifrah, “The Living Will," The Journal of Halacha and Contemporary
Society, Vol. 24, p. 121.
Jeffrey L. Rubenstein, "Can a Goses Survive for More Than Three Days?
The History and Definition of the Goses," Journal of Jewish Ethics 2, no. 2
(2016): 1-37.
B. Herring, “Jewish Ethics and Halakha For Our Time” (1984: Ktav), pp.
67-90.
5. 5
קולצופיך330
12. Is Elective Surgery “Ethical”? Jewish Law and Ethics in a World of
Personal Autonomy
Talmud Bavli 90b, 91b.
Rambam, Hovel uMazik Chapter 5 Halacha 1.
R. Moshe Feinstein, Iggerot Moshe, Hoshen Mishpat 2:66
Responsa Helkot Yakov Hoshen Mishpat 31.
Responsa Mishne Halchot 4:246, 247.
Responsa Tziz Eliezer 11:41.
Additional readings:
S. Mousavi, The Ethics of Aesthetic Surgery. Journal of Cutaneous and
Aesthetic Surgery, (2010:3, 38–40. http://doi.org/10.4103/0974-2077.63396
Rabbi Chaim Jachter, “Cosmetic Surgery - A Review of Four Classic
Teshuvot” Parts 1, 2.
Jewish Law and Ethics: Selected Topics
נבחרים נושאים :ואתיקה הלכה
Rabbi Ari D. Kahn הרבארידודקאהן
Adk1010@gmail.com http://Rabbiarikahn.com
02-368-81
Course description: This course will examine selected chapters of Jewish Law and
Ethics. The primary focus will be on "life and death" issues, i.e. lifeboat ethics, triage,
quality of life, euthanasia, and abortion. The second semester will focus on general
ethical issues. These topics will be analyzed from both legal and ethical perspectives,
and comparisons will be made with other legal systems and other systems of ethical
thought. The relationship between ethics, society, religion, and culture will also be
examined.
Biblical and Talmudic texts will be studied alongside modern rabbinic responsa and
legal decisions, in an attempt to understand the legal and philosophical
underpinnings of contemporary law. A study of the basic concepts and principles of
morals, values, and judgments that govern human actions, as well as various theories
of ethics, will be conducted.
Students will be asked to familiarize themselves with both primary and secondary
sources. This course is designed to help students develop their abilities to read,
explicate, analyze, and evaluate moral issues, and to think critically and analytically
about ethical issues. There will be an examination at the conclusion of each semester.
קדם :דרישות
Mastery of basic texts, including commentaries, understanding of ideas.
Attendance, participation, and final exam
מטלות / דרישות / :**חובות
6. 6
Course requirements: attendance to frontal lecture, preparation, and mastery of basic
texts. There will be a final administered after each semester.
required material for the exam, all primary texts and commentaries, including
material discussed in class.
30% based on attendance and participation, 70% based on the final exam
13. Abortion: Is the Jewish Approach Monolithic? -Reasons for stringency
Mishna Ohalot 7:6 .
Talmud Bavli Sanhedrin 72b, Rashi ad loc.
Rambam, Laws of Murder 1:9
R. Moshe Feinstein, Iggerot Moshe, Hoshen Mishpat 2:69,71
Additional readings:
J. David Bleich, Contemporary Halakhic Problems, vol. 1 chapter 15, page
325
14. Abortion: Is the Jewish Approach Monolithic? Reasons for leniency
Talmud Bavli (Mishna) Arakhin 7a
Maharit (Rabbi Joseph ben Moses Trani), 1:99
Havat Yair (Rabbi Yair Chaim Bachrach) section 31
Rabbi Joseph Chaim of Baghdad, Rav Pe’elim, Even HaEzer section 4
Tzitz Eliezer 9:51
Additional readings:
David M. Feldman, Marital Relations, Birth Control, and Abortion in Jewish
Law (1974: Schocken Books).
Avraham Steinberg, "Induced Abortion in Jewish Law,” The Journal of
Halacha and Contemporary Society, Vol. 1 page 29.
B. Herring, “Jewish Ethics and Halakha For Our Time” (1984: Ktav) 25-
46.
15. Separating Conjoined Twins
“So One May Live: Siamese Twins,” Unpublished Responsum by Rav
Moshe Feinstein zt"l, Translated and annotated by Rabbi Moshe Dovid
Tendler, Care of the Critically Ill, Vol. 1.
Rambam, Laws of Murder 1:9.
Additional readings:
Colleen Davis, “The spectre of court-sanctioned sacrificial separation of
teenage conjoined twins against their will,” Journal of Law and Medicine,
21(4) (June 2014), pp. 973-83.
C. Davis, “Separating conjoined twins: a medical and criminal law dilemma.”
Journal of Law and Medicine, 17(4) Feb. 2010, pp. 594-607.
C. Murphy-O'Connor, “The conjoined twins Mary and Jodie: ethical analysis
of their case.” Origins. [Washington, National Catholic News Service] Oct
52000; 30(17):269-72.
16. Truth and Falsehood
Exodus 23:7
7. 7
Talmud Bavli Shavuot 31a
J. David Bleich, Contemporary Halakhic Problems, vol. 2; page 108:
"Cheating."
Additional readings:
Alfred Cohen, "On Maintaining a Professional Confidence," The Journal of
Halacha and Contemporary Society, Vol. 7, pg. 73.
B. Herring, “Jewish Ethics and Halakha For Our Time” (1984: Ktav), 47-66.
17. Love your Neighbor
Leviticus 19:18
N. Lamm, “Loving and Hating Jews as Halachik Categories,” in Jacob J.
Schachter (Ed.), “Jewish Tradition and the Non-Traditional Jew” (1992:
Aronson), pp. 138-176.
Additional readings:
J. Newman, The Dimension of Jewish Ethics (1987: Council of Young
Israel Rabbis)
Y. Amital, “Rebuking a Fellow Jew: Theory and Practice,” in Jacob J.
Schachter (Ed.), “Jewish Tradition and the Non-Traditional Jew” (1992:
Aronson), pp. 119-138
N. Rabinovitch, “All Jews are Responsible for One Another,” in Jacob J.
Schachter (Ed.), “Jewish Tradition and the Non-Traditional Jew” (1992:
Aronson), pp. 176-204.
18. Obligations and Privileges: Can One Lose the Status of “Jew”?
Rambam, Laws of Teshuva Chapter 4, Mamrim Chapter 3.
Chazon Ish Yoreh Dayeh 2:16.
Additional readings:
A.S. Ferziger, ‘Ashes to Outcasts: Cremation, Jewish Law, and Identity in
Early Twentieth-Century Germany’, AJS Review (2012), 36(1), pp. 71–102.
A.S. Ferziger, “From Demonic Deviant to Drowning Brother: Reform Judaism
in the Eyes of Orthodoxy, 1983-2007," Jewish Social Studies 15, 3
(Spring/Summer 2009), pp. 56-88.
J. David Bleich, "Extending Sabbath Invitations to the Non-Observant,”
Contemporary Halakhic Problems, vol. 4, page 92.
David Friedman "The Status of Non-Halachic Marriages," The Journal of
Halacha and Contemporary Society,Vol. 8 page 118
Moshe Weinberger, "Attitudes and Methods in Jewish Outreach" The
Journal of Halacha and Contemporary Society, Vol. 20, page 77.
Moshe Weinberger, "The Baal Teshuva and the Jewish Community: Re-
entry Problems,” The Journal of Halacha and Contemporary Society, Vol.
12, page 69.
Jacob J. Schachter (ed.), Jewish Tradition and the Non- Traditional Jew,
pp. 3-115.
19. Judaism and Racism; The Challenge of Amalek
Deuteronomy Chapter 25:17-19
8. 8
Commentary R’ Chaim Paltiel Deuteronomy Chapter 25:19
Commentary Ha’amek Davar Deuteronomy Chapter 25:19
Rambam Laws of Kings 6:1,3,4
Additional readings:
Rabbi Ari Kahn Emanations “Amalek a question of Race” 301-307
20. The Ethical Dilemma of Esther; Use of Sexuality to Save a life
Talmud Bavli Sanhedrin74b
Talmud Bavli Pesachim 25a
Rabbi Joseph ben Solomon Colon, Responsa Maharik 167
Rabbi Jacob ben Joseph Reischer, Responsa Shvut Yaakov Vol. 2, 117.
Rabbi Ezekiel ben Judah Landau, Responsa Noda b’Yehuda (First
Edition), 161.
Additional readings:
Aryeh Kaplan, “Judaism and Martyrdom,” in The Handbook of Jewish
Thought, Vol. 2.
http://www.aish.com/jl/m/pm/48936542.html
המדינה בטחון למען עריות גילוי שבט יצחק ,ארי 'ל תחומין68-81
21. The Ethical Dilemma of Esther; Rape by Fraud, Coercion and Consent
Rabbi Jacob Ettlinger, Responsa Binyan Zion 154.
Talmud Bavli Sanhedrin74b
Rabbi Eliezer Horowitz, Responsa Yad Eliyahu 109
Rabbi Joseph Saul Nathanson, Responsa Sheol Umeshiv Mehdura
Kamma 3:48
Additional readings:
BEN A. MCJUNKIN, “DECONSTRUCTING RAPE BY FRAUD”
Columbia Journal of Gender and Law, Issue: Volume 28, Number 1
(2014) 1-47
Kim Shayo Buchanan, “RAPE BY FRAUD” University of Chicago Law
School, Workshop on Regulating Sex and Gender: 1-30
http://www.law.uchicago.edu/files/files/kim_shayo_buchanan_1.14.15.pdf
22. Honoring and Caring for Parents with Dementia
Talmud Bavli Kedushin 31b
Rambam Mishna Torah Mamrim 6:10
Additional readings:
Jotkowitz, Alan B., Clarfield, A. Mark & Glick, Shimon. (2005). The Care of Patients
with Dementia: A Modern Jewish Ethical Perspective - DEMENTIA AND JEWISH
ETHICS Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 53(5), 881-884.
doi:10.1111/j.1532-5415.2005.53271.x
Zorowitz,RA. (2004). Ethical issues in end-of-life geriatric care: the approach of
three monotheistic religions-Judaism, Catholicism, and Islam. Journal of the
American Geriatrics Society, 52(7), 1224-5; author reply 1225.
9. 9
Clarfield, A. M., Gordon, M., Markwell, H. and Alibhai, S. M. H. (2003), Ethical
Issues in End-of-Life Geriatric Care: The Approach of Three Monotheistic
Religions—Judaism, Catholicism, and Islam. Journal of the American Geriatrics
Society, 51: 1149–1154. doi:10.1046/j.1532-5415.2003.51364.x
Barber, Clifton E. & Lyness, Kevin P.. (2001). Ethical Issues in Family Care of Older
Persons with Dementia: Implications for Family Therapists Home Health Care
Services Quarterly, 20(3), 1-26. doi:10.1300/J027v20n03_01
23. Honoring and Caring for Wicked Parents
Talmud Bavli Yevamot 22a
Talmud Bavli Bava Kamma 24b
Massekhet Semakhot (2:10),
Maimonides (M.T., Hilkhot Avel, 1:10)
R. Joseph Caro (Shulhan Arukh, YD, 345:5) (YD, sec. 340:5)
Dratch, Mark, “Honoring Abusive Parents,” Hakira 12 (Fall 2011), pp.
105-119.
Sorotzkin, Benzion, “Honoring Parents Who Are Abusive,” Parts 1-3, The
International Network of Orthodox Mental Health Professionals -
NEFESH News (2004), note 10 therein; available online at:
http://www.drsorotzkin.com/ honoring_abusive_parents.html.
Additional readings:
Bleich J. David “Aliya against Parental Objections," in Contemporary
Halakhic Problems vol. 1.
Shmuel Singer, "The Challenge of Honoring Parents in Contemporary
Social Conditions,” The Journal of Halacha and Contemporary
Society, Vol. 14, page 85.
B. Herring, Jewish Ethics and Halakha For Our Time (1984: Ktav),
pp. 197-220.
Warhaftig Alon Shvut
Frimer, Aryeh A. "Review Essay: Insights into Mourning. A Review of
Dr. Joel B. Wolowelsky's The Mind of the Mourner: Individual and
Community in Jewish Mourning,", Tradition, 44:4 (Winter 2011), pp.
41-46.
24. Legal Fictions, Pruzbol, Eruv, Shabbat Clocks,
Mishna Shevi’it chapter 10
Talmud Bavli Gitten 36a
Halachic "Deceit"
http://www.zomet.org.il/eng/?CategoryID=199&ArticleID=56
Rabbi Tzvi Price, “The 'Magical Power' of the Rabbis -How Does The Pruzbul
Really Work?”
http://www.thehalachacenter.org/journal-links/5775/devarim/ki-savo/the-
magical-power-of-the-rabbis.php
Additional readings:
John Dewey, “The Historic Background of Corporate Legal Personality,” Yale
Law Journal, Vol. XXXV, April 1926, pp. 655-673.
10. 10
25. Legal Fictions, Sale of Chametz on Passover, Sale of the Land of Israel
Sabbatical Year
Tosefta Pesachim 2:12
Talmud Bavli Pesachim 6b
R. Moshe Feinstein, Iggerot Moshe, Aruch Haim 1:149, 2:91
Additional readings:
Alan Dundes The Shabbat Elevator and other Sabbath Subterfuges:
26. The International Date Line – Real or Fiction?
D. Pahmer, “The International Date line and Related Issues” RJJ Journal of
Halacha and Contemporary Society (1991) XXI: 60–83
Additional readings:
Willie Roth, “The International Date Line and Halacha,”
http://www.koltorah.org/ravj/The%20International%20Date%20Line%20and
%20Halacha.htm
Edgar Allan Poe, Three Sundays in a Week
(1850) http://www.online-literature.com/poe/2131/
Select Bibliography
Amsel, Norman, The Jewish Encyclopedia of Moral and Ethical Issues (1994:
Aronson).
Bleich, J. David, Contemporary Halakhic Problems, Volumes 1-5 (1983:
Ktav).
Blidstein, Gerald J. “The redemption of captives in halakhic tradition:
problems and policy” Organizing Rescue; National Jewish Solidarity in the
Modern Period. Ed. by Selwyn Ilan Troen and Benjamin Pinkus. London:
Frank Cass, 1992 pages, 20-31
Broyde, Michael, Jews, Public Policy and Civil Rights: A Religious Jewish
Perspective
Dewey, J. “The Historic Background of Corporate Legal Personality,” Yale
Law Journal, Vol. XXXV, April 1926, pages 655-673.
Dratch, M, “Honoring Abusive Parents,” Hakira 12 (Fall 2011), pp. 105-119.
Feldman, David M., Marital Relations, Birth Control, and Abortion in Jewish
Law (1974: Schocken Books).
Dundes, Alan, The Shabbat Elevator and other Sabbath Subterfuges (2002
Rowman & Littlefield)
Ferziger, A.S. “From Demonic Deviant to Drowning Brother: Reform Judaism
in the Eyes of Orthodoxy (1983-2007)," Jewish Social Studies 15, 3
(Spring/Summer 2009), 56-88.
Ferziger, A.S. (2012) “Ashes to Outcasts: Cremation, Jewish Law, and
Identity in Early Twentieth-Century Germany,” AJS Review, 36(1), pp. 71–
102.
11. 11
Frimer A. A., "Review Essay: Insights into Mourning. A Review of Dr. Joel
B. Wolowelsky's The Mind of the Mourner: Individual and Community in
Jewish Mourning," Tradition, 44:4 (Winter 2011), pp. 41-46.
Govind Persad, Alan Wertheimer, Ezekiel J Emanuel, “Principles for
Allocation of Scarce Medical Interventions,” The Lancet, Department of
Ethics, www.thelancet.com Vol 373 January 31, 2009.
Herring, B., Jewish Ethics and Halakha For Our Time (1984: Ktav).
http://www.jlaw.com/Articles/jewspublic.html
Jachter, Chaim “Cosmetic Surgery - A Review of Four Classic Teshuvot- Part
2” http://www.koltorah.org/ravj/14-18%20Cosmetic%20Surgery%20-
%20A%20Review%20of%20Four%20Classic%20Teshuvot%202.htm
Jachter, Chaim, “Cosmetic Surgery - A Review of Four Classic Teshuvot -
Part 1” http://www.koltorah.org/ravj/14-17%20Cosmetic%20Surgery%20-
%20A%20Review%20of%20Four%20Classic%20Teshuvot%201.htm
Kahn, Ari, Emanations (2002 Targum Press)
Katz, Jacob, “Exclusiveness and Tolerance,” Studies in Jewish Gentile
Relations in Medieval and Modern Times (1961: Oxford University Press).
Mousavi, S. (2010), “The Ethics of Aesthetic Surgery.” Journal of Cutaneous
and Aesthetic Surgery, 3(1), 38–40. http://doi.org/10.4103/0974-2077.63396
Newman, J., The Dimension of Jewish Ethics (1987: Council of Young Israel
Rabbis).
Rozen, Yisrael “The Shabbat Elevator” The Tzomet Institute (found on
website no other bibliographic information)
http://www.zomet.org.il/eng/?CategoryID=198&ArticleID=286
Schachter, Jacob J. (Ed.), Jewish Tradition and the Non-Traditional Jew
(1992: Aronson)
Shatz, Waxman, & Diament (eds.), Tikkun Olam: Social Responsibility in
Jewish Thought and Law (1997: Jason Aronson).
Soloveitchik, Haym, Collected Essays, Volume 2 (2014: The Littman Library
of Jewish Civilization, Oxford).
Sorotzkin, B, “Honoring Parents Who Are Abusive,” Parts 1-3, The
International Network of Orthodox Mental Health Professionals - NEFESH
News (2004), note 10 therein; available online at:
http://www.drsorotzkin.com/ honoring_abusive_parents.html.
Spiro T, Lee E.O., Emanuel, E.J., “Price and Utilization: Why We Must
Target Both to Curb Health Care Costs,” Annals of Internal Medicine
2012;157:586-590.
Steinberg, Avraham, “Allocation of Scarce Resources,” ASSIA – Jewish
Medical Ethics, Vol. II, No. 2, May 1995, pp. 14-
21.http://98.131.138.124/articles/JME/JMEB2/JMEB2.24.asp#
Tendler, M.D., “So One May Live: Siamese Twins," Unpublished Responsum
by Rav Moshe Feinstein zt”l, Translated and annotated, in Care of the
Critically Ill, Vol. 1 (1996: Ktav).
13. 13
Unexpected voices
Most of the 3,090-plus (so far) authors of the affidavits,
letters, reports, orders, books, and other documents are
ones you would expect: the leaders who issued orders,
and the people who carried the orders out, or suffered the
consequences, or bore witness. But there are also
unexpected authors turning up—among them, Oliver
Wendell Holmes Jr., Vladimir Lenin, Col. George
Ruggles from the American Civil War, Dr. Jonas Salk,
Tom Paine, Plato, and the Brothers Grimm.
Notes of a Nuremberg Documentarian
http://today.law.harvard.edu/notes-nuremberg-documentarian/
Buck vs. Bell Trial
U.S. Supreme Court
Buck v. Bell, 274 U.S. 200 (1927)
Buck v. Bell
No. 292
Argued April 22, 1927
Decided May 2, 1927
274 U.S. 200
ERROR TO THE SUPREME COURT OF APPEALS
OF THE STATE OF VIRGINIA
Syllabus
1. The Virginia statute providing for the sexual sterilization of
inmates of institutions supported by the State who shall be found
to be afflicted with an hereditary form of insanity or imbecility,
is within the power of the State under the Fourteenth
Amendment.
2. Failure to extend the provision to persons outside the
institutions named does not render it obnoxious to the Equal
Protection Clause.
143 Va. 310, affirmed.
14. 14
ERROR to a judgment of the Supreme Court of Appeals of the
State of Virginia which affirmed a judgment ordering the
Superintendent of the State Colony of Epileptics and Feeble
Minded to perform the operation of salpingectomy on Carrie
Buck, the plaintiff in error.
Mr. JUSTICE HOLMES delivered the opinion of the Court.
This is a writ of error to review a judgment of the Supreme
Court of Appeals of the State of Virginia affirming a judgment
of the Circuit Court of Amherst County by which the defendant
in error, the superintendent of the State Colony for Epileptics
and Feeble Minded, was ordered to perform the operation of
salpingectomy upon Carrie Buck, the plaintiff in error, for the
purpose of making her sterile. 143 Va. 310. The case comes here
upon the contention that the statute authorizing the judgment is
void under the Fourteenth Amendment as denying to the
plaintiff in error due process of law and the equal protection of
the laws.
Carrie Buck is a feeble minded white woman who was
committed to the State Colony above mentioned in due form.
She is the daughter of a feeble minded mother in the same
institution, and the mother of an illegitimate feeble minded
child. She was eighteen years old at the time of the trial of her
case in the Circuit Court, in the latter part of 1924. An Act of
Virginia, approved March 20, 1924, recites that the health of the
patient and the welfare of society may be promoted in certain
cases by the sterilization of mental defectives, under careful
safeguard, &c.; that the sterilization may be effected in males by
vasectomy and in females by salpingectomy, without serious
pain or substantial danger to life; that the Commonwealth is
supporting in various institutions many defective persons who,
if now discharged, would become
a menace, but, if incapable of procreating, might be discharged
with safety and become self-supporting with benefit to
themselves and to society, and that experience has shown that
heredity plays an important part in the transmission of insanity,
imbecility, &c. The statute then enacts that, whenever the
15. 15
superintendent of certain institutions, including the above-
named State Colony, shall be of opinion that it is for the best
interests of the patients and of society that an inmate under his
care should be sexually sterilized, he may have the operation
performed upon any patient afflicted with hereditary forms of
insanity, imbecility, &c., on complying with the very careful
provisions by which the act protects the patients from possible
abuse.
“"is the probable potential parent of socially inadequate
offspring, likewise afflicted, that she may be sexually sterilized
without detriment to her general health, and that her welfare and
that of society will be promoted by her sterilization,"
and thereupon makes the order. In view of the general
declarations of the legislature and the specific findings of the
Court, obviously we cannot say as matter of law that the
grounds do not exist, and, if they exist, they justify the result.
We have seen more than once that the public welfare may call
upon the best citizens for their lives. It would be strange if it
could not call upon those who already sap the strength of the
State for these lesser sacrifices, often not felt to be such by those
concerned, in order to prevent our being swamped with
incompetence. It is better for all the world if, instead of waiting
to execute degenerate offspring for crime or to let them starve
for their imbecility, society can prevent those who are
manifestly unfit from continuing their kind. The principle that
sustains compulsory vaccination is broad enough to cover
cutting the Fallopian tubes. Jacobson v. Massachusetts, 197 U.
S. 11. Three generations of imbeciles are enough.”
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr
In the Buck vs. Bell decision of May 2, 1927, the United States
Supreme Court upheld a Virginia statute that provided for the
eugenic sterilization for people considered genetically unfit. The
Court's decision, delivered by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.,
included the infamous phrase "Three generations of imbeciles
are enough." Upholding Virginia's sterilization statute provided
16. 16
the green light for similar laws in 30 states, under which an
estimated 65,000 Americans were sterilized without their own
consent or that of a family member.
Although Indiana passed the first eugenic sterilization statute in
1907, this and other early laws were legally flawed and did not
meet the challenge of state court tests. To remedy this situation,
Harry Laughlin of the Eugenics Record Office (ERO) at Cold
Spring Harbor designed a model eugenic law that was reviewed
by legal experts. The Virginia statute of 1924 was closely based
on this model.
The plaintiff of the case, Carrie Buck, and her mother Emma,
had been committed to the Virginia Colony for Epileptics and
Feeble Minded in Lynchburg, Virginia. Carrie and Emma were
both judged to be "feebleminded" and promiscuous, primarily
because they had both had borne children out of wedlock.
Carrie's child, Vivian, was judged to be "feebleminded" at seven
months of age. Hence, three generations of "imbeciles" became
the "perfect" family for Virginia officials to use as a test case in
favor of the eugenic sterilization law enacted in 1924.
On the eve of the Virginia legal contest, the ERO dispatched its
field worker, Dr. Arthur Estabrook, to provide expert testimony.
After some cursory examination, Estabrook testified that the
seven month old Vivian "showed backwardness." The
Superintendent of the Virginia Colony, Dr. Albert Priddy,
testified that members of the Buck family "belong to the
shiftless, ignorant, and worthless class of anti-social whites of
the South." Upon reviewing the case, the Supreme Court
concurred "that Carrie Buck is the probable potential parent of
socially inadequate offspring, likewise afflicted, that she may be
sexually sterilized without detriment to her general health and
that her welfare and that of society will be promoted by her
sterilization"
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Buck vs. Bell was flawed in many ways. "Feeblemindeness" is
no longer used in medical terminology; it was clearly a catch-all
term that had virtually no clinical meaning. It is impossible to
judge whether or not Carrie was "feebleminded" by the
standards of her time, but she was not patently promiscuous.
According to Carrie, Vivian's conception was the result of
Carrie's rape by the nephew of her foster parents. She, probably
like many unwed mothers of that time, was institutionalized to
prevent further shame to the family. Just as clearly, Vivian was
no imbecile. Vivian's first grade report card from the Venable
School in Charlottesville showed that this daughter of a
supposed social degenerate got straight "As" in deportment
(conduct) and even made the honor role in April, 1931. She died
a year later of complications following a bout of the measles.
Although in 1942 the Supreme Court struck down a law
allowing the involuntary sterilization of criminals, it never
reversed the general concept of eugenic sterilization. In 2001,
the Virginia General Assembly acknowledged that the
sterilization law was based on faulty science and expressed its
"profound regret over the Commonwealth's role in the eugenics
movement in this country and over the damage done in the name
of eugenics." On May 2, 2002 a marker was erected to honor
Carrie Buck in her hometown of Charlottesville.
18. 18
Two People One Cup -
Triage
1.א עמוד סב דף מציעא בבא מסכת בבלי תלמוד
ּו ,ְך ֶׁרֶַּׁדב ִיןכְלַּהְמ ָיּוהֶׁש ִםיַּנְש ,ָאיְנַּתֶׁםהֵינְש יםִשֹות ִםא ,ִםיַּמ ֶׁלש ִיתֹוןק ֶׁםהֵמ ָדחֶׁא ַּדיְב-,יםִֵתמ
ֶׁםהֵמ ָדחֶׁא הֶׁשֹות ִםאְו-ֶׁםהֵינְש ְתּושִיֶׁש ָבטמּו ,א ְָטֹורפ ֶׁןב ש ַּרָד ,ִּׁשּוביַּל ַּעִיגַּמ-ְַאלו ,ָמּותּויְו
ֲע ִיב ַּר ָאבֶׁש ַּדע .ֵרֹובֲח תִַּיתמְב ֶׁםהֵמ ָדחֶׁא ֶׁהא ְִרי"ְָךמִע ִיָךחָא ֵיחְו" )כה (ויקרא ,ֵדמִלְו ָאבִיק-
:ָך ְֵרבֲח ֵייַּחְל ִיןמְקֹוד ֶׁיָךיַּח
Now how does R. Johanan interpret, ‘that thy brother may live with
thee?’ — He utilizes it for that which was taught: If two are traveling on a
journey -far from civilization- ,and one has a pitcher of water, if both
drink, they will -both- die, but if one only drinks ,he can reach
civilization, — The Son of Patura taught: It is better that both should
drink and die, rather than that one should behold his companion's death.
Until R. Akiba came and taught: ‘that thy brother may live with thee:’ thy
life takes precedence over his life.
2.ה פרשה ד"ה ה פרשה בהר ספרא
ג-קיתון אלא אחד ביד ואין במדבר הולכים שהיו שנים פטורי בן דרש זו ,:ְָךמִע ִיָךחָא ֵיחְו
פטירי בן דרש ,מתים שניהם שנים אותו שותים ואם ליישוב מגיע אחד שותהו אם מים של
לחיי קודמים חייך עמך אחיך וחי ר"ע לו אמר ,עמך אחיך וחי שנאמר וימותו שתיהם ישתו
,חבירך
3.רמיט פרק ויקרא ב"ן
כמוך לרעך ואהבת וטעם-את כאהבתו חבירו את שיאהוב האדם לב יקבל לא כי ,הפלגה
:)א סב (ב"מ חבירך לחיי קודמין חייך ולמד עקיבא רבי בא שכבר ועוד ,נפשו
בעבור ויתכן .הטוב בכל נפשו את יאהב כאשר ענין בכל חבירו שיאהב התורה מצות אלא
את "ואהבת אמר שלאכמוך לו ואהבת וכן ,""לרעך במלת אותם והשוה ,"כמוך רעך
את אדם שיאהב פעמים כי ,בדעתו שניהם אהבת להשוות פירושו שיהיה ,דגר )לד (פסוק
יחפוץ בכל אוהבו יהיה ואם ,בזה וכיוצא בחכמה ולא בעושר להטיבו ידועים בדברים רעהו
ובח ובדעת וכבוד ובנכסים בעושר לו האהוב רעהו שיזכהיהיה אבל אליו שישוה ולא ,כמה
פחיתות תהיה שלא הכתוב ויצוה ,טובה בכל ממנו יותר הוא שיהיה לעולם בלבו חפץ
יתן ולא לנפשו עושה אדם כאשר לחבירו הטובה ברבות יאהב אבל ,בלבו הזאת הקנאה
שהסיר בעבור ,אהבו נפשו אהבת כי )יז כ (ש"א ביהונתן אמר כן ועל .באהבה שיעורין
ה מדת:'וגו ישראל על תמלוך ואתה )יז כג (שם ואמר מלבו קנאה
4.א עמוד עד דף סנהדרין מסכת בבלי תלמוד
לא ואי ,לפלניא קטליה זיל דוראי מרי לי אמר :ליה ואמר ,דרבה לקמיה דאתא דההוא-
.לך קטלינא-דמא דילמא טפי סומק דידך דדמא יימר מי .תיקטול ולא לקטלוך :ליה אמר
גברא דהוא.טפי סומק
It is common sense. Even as one who came before Raba and said to him,
‘The governor of my town has ordered me, “Go and kill so and so; if not,
I will slay thee” He answered him, ‘Let him rather slay you than that you
24. 24
Whose life takes precedence –from the Micro to the
Macro
1.ב עמוד פ דף נדרים מסכת בבלי תלמוד
אחרים וחיי חייהן ,העיר בני של מעיין :יוסי 'אדר יוסי דרבי ורמי-לחיי קודמין חייהן
אחרים ובהמת בהמתם ,אחרים-וכביסת כביסתן ,אחרים לבהמת קודמת % בהמתם
אחרים-וכביסתן אחרים חיי ,אחרים לכביסת קודמת כביסתן-קודמין אחרים חיי
ק כביסתן :אומר יוסי רבי ,לכביסתןיש יוסי רבי אמר ,כביסה השתא ;אחרים לחיי ודמת
,יוסי 'לר אלימא כביסה ,אין :אמרי !שכן כל לא כולו גוף ]א עמוד פא דף [נדרים ,צער בה
לידי מתיא דמאני ערבוביתא ,עוירא לידי מתיא דרישא ערבוביתא האי :שמואל דאמר
.וכיבי שיחני לידי מתיא דגופא ערבוביתא ,שעמומיתא
One ruling of R. Jose contradicts another of his: With respect to a well
belonging to townspeople, when it is a question of their own lives or the
lives of strangers, their own lives take precedence; their cattle or the
cattle of strangers, their cattle take precedence over those of strangers;
their laundering or that of strangers, their laundering takes precedence
over that of strangers. But if the choice lies between the lives of strangers
and their own laundering, the lives of the strangers take precedence over
their own laundering. R. Jose ruled: Their laundering takes precedence
over the lives of strangers. Now, if to -refrain merely from- washing one's
garment is a hardship in R. Jose's view [81a] how much more so with
respect to the body? — I will tell you: In R. Jose's opinion laundering is
indeed of greater importance than bathing. For Samuel said: Scabs of the
head -caused by not washing- lead to blindness; scabs -arising through
the wearing- of -unclean- garments cause madness; scabs -due to neglect-
of the body cause boils and ulcers.
2.ב עמוד פ דף נדרים מסכת ר"ן
אחרת עיר בני של לשתייתן קודמת העיר אותה של כביסתן אומר יוסי רבי-ליה דסבירא
'ר אמר כביסה הוא.השתא נפש חיי טובא צערא איכא כביסה דבמניעת דכיון יוסי לרבי
צער בה יש יוסי-.כיבס ולא ליה ממנע כי
3.שאיקמז שאילתא ראה פרשת אחאי דרב לתות
וליכא למישתי בעו אחריתי מתא ובני מניהון לחוורי בעו נהרא דכרו הרי 'למימ צריך ברם
חיי או אחריתי לחיי קודם שלהן כביסה מאי מניהון וחוורי אינון למישתי אלא מיא להלין
די או קודם 'אחרי חיי כביסה במקום אמרינן מי לכביסתן קודם 'אחרימחוורי דלא כיון למא
צערא לידי אתו מניהוןאחרים לחיי קודם שלהן כביסה והילכתאהעיר שבני מעיין ת"ש
בהמתן 'אחרי ובהמות בהמתן 'אחרי לחיי קודם חייהן 'אחרי וחיי חייהן הימנו מסתפקין
וחיי כביסתן 'אחרי לכביסת קודם כביסתן אחרים וכביסת כביסתן אחרים לבהמות קודם
ח אחריםלכביסתן קודם אחרים ייאחרים לחיי קודם כביסתן אומר יוסי רבייהודה בן איסי
אתית לא טעמא מאי א"ל יוסי ברבי ישמעאל רבי אשכחיה יוסי דרבי לפרקיה על לא
קושיא ומאי ליה אמר עיילנא ולפירקיה ידענא לא דאבוך טעמא ליה אמר דאבא לפירקיה
אח לחיי קודם כביסתן דאמר ליה אמר לך'הערי והיו דכתיב היא מדאורייתא הא א"ל רים