Jewish Medical Ethics

Ethics is the branch of philosophy that studies right and wrong behavior in the treatment of other people.  Medical ethics uses the teaching of ethics to guide the healing practices of doctors and other health professionals.  And Jewish medical ethics uses the vast resources of Jewish tradition to guide these doctors and health professionals as they make frequent life-and-death decisions about patient care.  At the heart of these lectures is the idea that medicine is not simply about treating the body but rather the entire person, including the soul.

In this study of Jewish medical ethics, we will lay down general rules and ethical principles to guide both patients and the medical professionals who treat them.  We will begin with an overview of how Jewish tradition considers both the body and the soul, and how both require healing.  We will explore the idea of human dignity in Jewish tradition, and how Judaism views the four pillars of medical ethics - nonmaleficence, beneficence, autonomy, and justice.  We will then explore both the beginning and the end of life, including such controversial issues as abortion, the new reproductive techniques, euthanasia, and organ transplants.  Finally, we will study the threat to human life posed by microorganisms in a lecture entitled Pestilence, Plagues, and Pandemics.

Join us as we journey through one of the most important areas of Jewish tradition.