Brave New Judaism: When Science and Scripture Collide

Abstract

They say there are no atheists in foxholes. I say there are no atheists in ICUs. Not even the doctors. .. especially not the doctors. "Your mother's getting better." Those four words meant the world to me after my mother had gone through her fifth serious operation in a span of two weeks. When my mother was seriously ill, I learned for the first time how strong the will to live can be. Mom went through operation after operation, and kept fighting back. And watching my mother struggle to breathe, to eat, to communicate, made me want to fight as hard as I could to get the medical care needed to keep her alive-and to help her get better. Her will to live was so strong that she was able to overcome many challenges: an endartectomy (clearing out the artery to the brain), a quintuple bypass, a pacemaker, two major surgeries on her intestines, plastic surgery on her chest muscles. Unable to speak because of a tracheostomy, she would hold up her fingers counting the surgeries-four, five, six. .. "They perform miracles here every day," asserted my brother, after my mother pulled through another operation. And, indeed, it seemed as if medical miracles would lead to her recovery. For month after month in the intensive care unit doctors and nurses shook their heads in wonderment as she recovered time after time. Sophisticated medical science and technology kept her alive for month after month. And when my mother died, succumbing to an infection after her almost six-month struggle, it was difficult to ascertain for sure when life had ended, because of all the technology keeping her alive. As I watched the heart monitor, the peaks and valleys on the screen were replaced by a flat line, broken by an occasional blip. Even in death, the pacemaker continued its work, futilely attempting to regulate a no longer functioning heart. Her lungs continued to inflate and deflate, due to the ventilator attached to her throat (that machine had kept Preface xi Bioethical Issues Addressed by This Book Brave New Judaism addresses how Judaism, an ancient religion, interprets and responds to recent advances in biotechnology and biomedical science. Compelling and unprecedented advances in biotechnology and biomedical sciences have presented society with baffling choices. What genetic diseases should we screen for in our unborn children? How far should an infertile couple go in their quest for a child? Should we be cloning humans? What is the status of a baby who was gestated outside of the womb? Should a woman have her breasts removed if she carries the breast cancer genes? Should we produce and eat bioengineered food? Should we use gene studies to define who is a Kohen (priest)? Jewish analysis of and reactions to these issues will help guide Jewish life in the future. The chapters that follow address some of the major issues in biotechnology and biomedical science. Chapter 1 sets the stage for the discussion of cutting-edge issues by comparing and contrasting Jewish and secular bioethics. This chapter also introduces the theological and histori...

‘Science for survival’: biotechnology regulation in Israel

“…All Israeli parties, public figures and bioethicists are pro embryonic stem cell research (see also Wahrman, 2002). 23 Groups that typically oppose stem cell research and human cloning elsewhere, namely religiously observant people, belong to the most fervent supporters of these technologies in Israel.…”

“…Human dignity is seen to manifest itself in the willingness to alleviate suffering (both through disease and infertility), and to improve God's creation in a responsible manner (see also Wahrman, 2002). Human dignity is seen to manifest itself in the willingness to alleviate suffering (both through disease and infertility), and to improve God's creation in a responsible manner (see also Wahrman, 2002).…”

“…29 This, to a large extent, explains the absence of controversy about the permissibility of embryo research outside the uterus (see also Wahrman, 2002). For example, ex utero embryos are not regarded as comparable in any way to an implanted embryo, and even less to a fully fledged human being, in Jewish Law.…”

“…Also the creation of 'monsters' and 'hybrids' must be avoided (Rosenfeld, 1979;Dorff, 1998;Wahrman, 2002). What is forbidden according to Judaism is straight manipulation of nature with no substantial benefit for human beings, such as what is labelled as 'witchcraft'.…”

“…Israel has the largest number of IVF clinics per capita in the world. Furthermore (Wahrman, 2002: 217, emphasis added), even if rabbis rule that it is not permissible for Jews to produce new and unusual plants by moving DNA from one species to another, Jews will most likely be permitted to use those genetically engineered species. Religious law stipulates prohibitions on mixing species, listing many plants that must not be commingled or crossbred (Wahrman, 2002: 212).…”