The Schlesinger Institute for Medical-Halachic Research was founded in 1966 under the auspices of Shaare Zedek Medical Center, imbuing its professional pursuits with the spirit of Torah

Torah

Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...

. This was the philosophy of the hospital's second director-general, after whom the Institute is named, and it remains the Institute's guiding principle.

The Schlesinger Institute is dedicated to the halachic approach of medical ethics

Medical ethics

Medical ethics is a system of moral principles that apply values and judgments to the practice of medicine. As a scholarly discipline, medical ethics encompasses its practical application in clinical settings as well as work on its history, philosophy, theology, and sociology.-History:Historically,...

. Through the scholarship and expertise of leading rabbi

Rabbi

In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...

s, doctors

Physician

A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...

 and others, the Institute aims to research and resolve the halachic issues that emerge as medicine progresses, to consider their medical

Medicine

Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....

, halachic, legal and ethical

Ethics

Ethics, also known as moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy that addresses questions about morality—that is, concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and crime, etc.Major branches of ethics include:...

 ramifications, and to present practical responses.

Principal Activities

The Schlesinger Institute offers a variety of religious and academic programs in Jewish medical ethics, enabling diverse audiences and student groups to learn from some of the most prominent Jewish medical ethicists of our time. Among these programs are a thirty-hour semester course at the Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School

Hadassah Medical Center

Hadassah Medical Center is a medical organization that operates two University hospitals at Ein Kerem and Mount Scopus in Jerusalem, Israel, as well as schools of medicine, dentistry, nursing, and pharmacology affiliated with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.The hospital was founded by Hadassah,...

, summer and winter seminars for medical and nursing students from abroad, lectures and tours of Shaare Zedek for yeshiva

Yeshiva

Yeshiva is a Jewish educational institution that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts, primarily the Talmud and Torah study. Study is usually done through daily shiurim and in study pairs called chavrutas...

 and seminary

Seminary

A seminary, theological college, or divinity school is an institution of secondary or post-secondary education for educating students in theology, generally to prepare them for ordination as clergy or for other ministry...

 students, and one-day seminars on selected topics for Israeli high school pupils.

Publications

A number of important books and journals on Jewish medical ethics

Jewish medical ethics

Jewish medical ethics is a modern scholarly and clinical approach to medical ethics that draws upon Jewish thought and teachings. Pioneered by Rabbi Immanuel Jakobovits in the 1950s, Jewish medical ethics centers mainly around an applied ethics drawing upon traditional rabbinic law...

 are available through the Schlesinger Institute.

Journals

The Schlesinger Institute publish two prestigious journals, ASSIA in Hebrew and JME in English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

. Both journals geared to provide those interested and connected to this field, medical

Medicine

Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....

 and ethical

Ethics

Ethics, also known as moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy that addresses questions about morality—that is, concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and crime, etc.Major branches of ethics include:...

 problems, solutions and ethical thought processes of those Rabbis and doctors that have dealt with these problems.
Article published in the journals deal with a variety of topics, including: scientific, legal, ethical and halachic aspects of cloning

Cloning

Cloning in biology is the process of producing similar populations of genetically identical individuals that occurs in nature when organisms such as bacteria, insects or plants reproduce asexually. Cloning in biotechnology refers to processes used to create copies of DNA fragments , cells , or...

, determining time of death

Death

Death is the permanent termination of the biological functions that sustain a living organism. Phenomena which commonly bring about death include old age, predation, malnutrition, disease, and accidents or trauma resulting in terminal injury....

, heart transplantation

Heart transplantation

A heart transplant, or a cardiac transplantation, is a surgical transplant procedure performed on patients with end-stage heart failure or severe coronary artery disease. As of 2007 the most common procedure was to take a working heart from a recently deceased organ donor and implant it into the...

s, truth-telling to the dangerously ill patient

Patient

A patient is any recipient of healthcare services. The patient is most often ill or injured and in need of treatment by a physician, advanced practice registered nurse, veterinarian, or other health care provider....

, halachic and medical aspects of the AIDS

AIDS

Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...

 virus

Virus

A virus is a small infectious agent that can replicate only inside the living cells of organisms. Viruses infect all types of organisms, from animals and plants to bacteria and archaea...

, psychiatry

Psychiatry

Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the study and treatment of mental disorders. These mental disorders include various affective, behavioural, cognitive and perceptual abnormalities...

 and halacha, the selling of organs, the cessation of medical treatment and euthanasia

Euthanasia

Euthanasia refers to the practice of intentionally ending a life in order to relieve pain and suffering....

, initial counseling for a juvenile with homosexual urges, smoking

Smoking

Smoking is a practice in which a substance, most commonly tobacco or cannabis, is burned and the smoke is tasted or inhaled. This is primarily practised as a route of administration for recreational drug use, as combustion releases the active substances in drugs such as nicotine and makes them...

 and life expectancy, coercive medical treatment, the surrogate mother, medical dilemmas of hospital

Hospital

A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment by specialized staff and equipment. Hospitals often, but not always, provide for inpatient care or longer-term patient stays....

 nurses and naturally, practical halachic principles connected to the obligation to save human life.

Encyclopedia of Jewish Medical Ethics

By Avraham Steinberg, M.D.

Medical practice from the point of view of halacha and Jewish thought, thoroughly covering sources from Scripture through the whole of ancient, medieval, and modern rabbinic literature. Systematic surveys of related medical, scientific, philosophical, ethical, and legal material.

Articles in the Encyclopedia are in alphabetical order and cover a wide range of topics both for the medical professional and the patient. Combines halachic and medical knowledge, with full references for both. Covers the whole field, including medical, scientific, philosophical, ethical, and legal material, from Scripture and Talmud through the most recent sources.

An invaluable reference tool, including thousands of references.

Among the articles: Paternity, Suicide

Suicide

Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...

, Autonomy

Autonomy

Autonomy is a concept found in moral, political and bioethical philosophy. Within these contexts, it is the capacity of a rational individual to make an informed, un-coerced decision...

 and Free Will

Free will

"To make my own decisions whether I am successful or not due to uncontrollable forces" -Troy MorrisonA pragmatic definition of free willFree will is the ability of agents to make choices free from certain kinds of constraints. The existence of free will and its exact nature and definition have long...

, Hospitals, Genetics

Genetics

Genetics , a discipline of biology, is the science of genes, heredity, and variation in living organisms....

, Religion and Science, Consent

Consent

Consent refers to the provision of approval or agreement, particularly and especially after thoughtful consideration.- Types of consent :*Implied consent is a controversial form of consent which is not expressly granted by a person, but rather inferred from a person's actions and the facts and...

, Abortions, IVF, Organ Transplantation, Conflict of Halacha and Science, Old Age

Old age

Old age consists of ages nearing or surpassing the average life span of human beings, and thus the end of the human life cycle...

, The Patient, Embalming

Embalming

Embalming, in most modern cultures, is the art and science of temporarily preserving human remains to forestall decomposition and to make them suitable for public display at a funeral. The three goals of embalming are thus sanitization, presentation and preservation of a corpse to achieve this...

, Malpractice

Malpractice

In law, malpractice is a type of negligence in, which the professional under a duty to act, fails to follow generally accepted professional standards, and that breach of duty is the proximate cause of injury to a plaintiff who suffers harm...

, Pain

Pain

Pain is an unpleasant sensation often caused by intense or damaging stimuli such as stubbing a toe, burning a finger, putting iodine on a cut, and bumping the "funny bone."...

, Kashrut

Kashrut

Kashrut is the set of Jewish dietary laws. Food in accord with halakha is termed kosher in English, from the Ashkenazi pronunciation of the Hebrew term kashér , meaning "fit" Kashrut (also kashruth or kashrus) is the set of Jewish dietary laws. Food in accord with halakha (Jewish law) is termed...

 and Shabbat

Shabbat

Shabbat is the seventh day of the Jewish week and a day of rest in Judaism. Shabbat is observed from a few minutes before sunset on Friday evening until a few minutes after when one would expect to be able to see three stars in the sky on Saturday night. The exact times, therefore, differ from...

, Birth

Birth

Birth is the act or process of bearing or bringing forth offspring. The offspring is brought forth from the mother. The time of human birth is defined as the time at which the fetus comes out of the mother's womb into the world...

, Medical Education, Human Sexuality

Human sexuality

Human sexuality is the awareness of gender differences, and the capacity to have erotic experiences and responses. Human sexuality can also be described as the way someone is sexually attracted to another person whether it is to opposite sexes , to the same sex , to either sexes , or not being...

, Limited Resources, Medical Experimentation on Humans, Surgery

Surgery

Surgery is an ancient medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a patient to investigate and/or treat a pathological condition such as disease or injury, or to help improve bodily function or appearance.An act of performing surgery may be called a surgical...

, Confidentiality

Confidentiality

Confidentiality is an ethical principle associated with several professions . In ethics, and in law and alternative forms of legal resolution such as mediation, some types of communication between a person and one of these professionals are "privileged" and may not be discussed or divulged to...

, Fertility

Fertility

Fertility is the natural capability of producing offsprings. As a measure, "fertility rate" is the number of children born per couple, person or population. Fertility differs from fecundity, which is defined as the potential for reproduction...

, Lifesaving

Lifesaving

Lifesaving is the act involving rescue, resuscitation and first aid. It often refers to water safety and aquatic rescue however it could include ice rescue, flood and river rescue, swimming pool rescue and other emergency medical services. Lifesaving also refers to sport where lifesavers compete...

, Causing Pain to Animals, Triage

Triage

Triage or ) is the process of determining the priority of patients' treatments based on the severity of their condition. This rations patient treatment efficiently when resources are insufficient for all to be treated immediately. The term comes from the French verb trier, meaning to separate,...

, Defining Death, Physicians, General and Jewish Ethics, and much more.

Nishmat Abraham

By A.S. Abraham, M.D., F.R.C.P

Published as four volume set, the Nishmat Avraham on Medical Halacha consists of new responsa and new medical halachic rulings. The Nishmat Abraham is a commentary on the four sections of the Shulchan Aruch with detailed references from the Talmud through Rishonim

Rishonim

"Rishon" redirects here. For the preon model in particle physics, see Harari Rishon Model. For the Israeli town, see Rishon LeZion.Rishonim were the leading Rabbis and Poskim who lived approximately during the 11th to 15th centuries, in the era before the writing of the Shulkhan Arukh and...

 and Acharonim

Acharonim

Acharonim is a term used in Jewish law and history, to signify the leading rabbis and poskim living from roughly the 16th century to the present....

. In it one can find thousands of rulings gleaned from the vast sea of halachic literature, including the most up-to-date material from great contemporary authorities all over the world such as Rav M. Feinstein

Moshe Feinstein

Moshe Feinstein was a Lithuanian Orthodox rabbi, scholar and posek , who was world-renowned for his expertise in Halakha and was regarded by many as the de facto supreme halakhic authority for Orthodox Jewry of North America during his lifetime...

 zt"l, Rav Sh.Z. Auerbach

Shlomo Zalman Auerbach

Shlomo Zalman Auerbach , was a renowned Orthodox Jewish rabbi, posek, and rosh yeshiva of the Kol Torah yeshiva in Jerusalem, Israel...

 zt"l, Rav Waldenberg

Eliezer Waldenberg

Eliezer Yehuda Waldenberg was known as the Tzitz Eliezer after his monumental halachic treatise Tzitz Eliezer that covers a wide breadth of halacha, including Jewish medical ethics, as well as ritual halachic issues from Shabbat to kashrut...

 zt"l, Rav Eliashiv

Yosef Sholom Eliashiv

Yosef Shalom Elyashiv is a Haredi rabbi and posek who lives in Jerusalem, Israel.At the age of , Elyashiv is active and remains the paramount leader of both Israel and the Diaspora Lithuanian-Haredi community, and many Ashkenazi Jews regard him as the posek ha-dor, the contemporary leading...

, Rav Ovadia Yosef

Ovadia Yosef

Ovadia Yosef is the former Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel, a recognised Talmudic scholar and foremost halakhic authority.He currently serves as the spiritual leader of the Shas political party in the Israeli parliament...

, Rav Wosner and Rav Neuwirth

Yehoshua Neuwirth

Yehoshua Yeshaya Neuwirth is an eminent Orthodox Jewish rabbi and posek in Jerusalem, Israel. He is one of the primary and most renowned students of Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach and the author of a two-volume Hebrew language treatise, Shemirat Shabbat Kehilchatah — translated into English...

.

Problems as far ranging as the doctor and patient on weekdays and Shabbat, Yom Kippur and Pesach, in the hospital or at home, hospice, end of life and brain death, pregnancy and assisted reproduction, contraception and abortion, brit milah and the medical problems of niddah, medical malpractice

Medical malpractice

Medical malpractice is professional negligence by act or omission by a health care provider in which the treatment provided falls below the accepted standard of practice in the medical community and causes injury or death to the patient, with most cases involving medical error. Standards and...

 and claims, genetic engineering and cloning, DNA and stem cells, AIDS and herpes, the threatened doctor and the psychiatric patient, Hatzalah and preventive medicine and their attendant problems in halacha are but some of the issues discussed by the author.

The opinions of all these leading authorities are of particular importance in this survey which covers virtually every issue in medical halacha. Their views are comprehensively summarized on each point, elucidating the underlying principles of contemporary issues. Thus it is ideal for structuring a systematic syllabus. In addition, its extensive and detailed indices make it a perfect reference and research tool.

Additional books

The institute published a few more books including:

• Halachot for the Physician and for the patient on the Sabbath and Festivals (English and Hebrew)
• Collections of essays and proceedings from the International Colloquiums on Medicine, Ethics and Jewish Law (English and Hebrew)
• The Comprehensive Guide to Medical Halacha (English)
• New Horizens in Jewish Medical Ethics (English)
• Establishing the moment of death (Hebrew)
• Medicine and Halacha - practical aspects (Hebrew)

International Responsa

Responsa

Responsa comprise a body of written decisions and rulings given by legal scholars in response to questions addressed to them.-In the Roman Empire:Roman law recognised responsa prudentium, i.e...

 Project (IRP)

When a medical procedure raises ethical or moral questions that seem to contradict halacha, advice from a reliable source is needed. The International Responsa Project provides this service to people all over the world who send the Schlesinger Institute questions - some of a general, theoretical nature and some of a very specific, technical nature - via telephone, e-mail, fax and post. The questions are answered as quickly as possible by one of the rabbi-doctors at the Institute, or, in special cases, by a recognized rabbinical authority.

The Chaim Kahn Library and Information Center

The Library and Information Center is one of the premier resource centers for Jewish medical ethics in Israel. All the standard texts of the Jewish library can be found there, as well as compendiums of halacha, medical and Jewish journals, and legal texts. Computer facilities, a database of Jewish sources, and a bibliography of the library are available to the public. The information center is named after Chaim Kahn, the first chairman of the institute.

International Conferences

Significant contributions to the halachic approach to medical or ethical questions are made at the international conferences organized by the Schlesinger Institute. These conferences bring together rabbis, doctors and others from around the world for lectures on contemporary medical halachic issues given by world-renowned experts. Conference proceedings and background materials have been published in both English and Hebrew and are available for purchase through the Institute.

See also

• Medical Ethics
  Medical ethics
  Medical ethics is a system of moral principles that apply values and judgments to the practice of medicine. As a scholarly discipline, medical ethics encompasses its practical application in clinical settings as well as work on its history, philosophy, theology, and sociology.-History:Historically,...
  
  
• Jewish medical ethics
  Jewish medical ethics
  Jewish medical ethics is a modern scholarly and clinical approach to medical ethics that draws upon Jewish thought and teachings. Pioneered by Rabbi Immanuel Jakobovits in the 1950s, Jewish medical ethics centers mainly around an applied ethics drawing upon traditional rabbinic law...
  
  
• ASSIA Magazine
• JME Magazine

External links

• The Schlesinger Institute's homepage
• The Chaim Kahn Library and Information Center
• Responsa Project for Jewish Medical Ethics