Year 12 Studies of Religion Religious Tradition Depth Study : JUDAISM BIOETHICS

1. Year 12 Studies of Religion Religious Tradition Depth Study : JUDAISM BIOETHICS

2. Ethics Students learn about: ONE of the following area of ethical teaching in Judaism: Bioethics Environmental ethics Sexual ethics

3. Ethics Students learn to: Describe and explain Jewish ethical teachings on bioethics OR environmental ethics OR sexual ethics

4. How do we define Bioethics? • Concerns itself with the ethical questions that come about in the relationship between biology and medicine, the research and practice in these areas and the connections with politics and law. • Anything which deals with biology or life.

5. Topics in bioethics include: Genetic engineering Cloning Euthanasia Transplantations Organ donations Life Support Stem cell research

6. Six commonly held principles of Jewish Ethics… • Human life has intrinsic value – it is important • The preservation of life is most important – it has the highest moral imperative • All human lives are equal – each life has the same value.

7. Six commonly held principles of Jewish Ethics… 4. Our lives are not ours – all life belongs to God 5. The sacredness of human life – God in us 6. My actions towards others are the manifestation of my imitation of God.

8. Jewish Law • In Jewish Law the individual is of paramount importance. • Judaism was the first religion to insist upon dignity of the individual and the sanctity of human life. • The individual cannot be sacrificed for the group , otherwise this would be murder and not only a crime against humans but against God.

9. Jewish Law • The Torah states that God created mankind in his own image so every person is Godly – as the spark of God is within all people – so we should treat all people with dignity and respect. • From a traditional Jewish approach Jewish law, Halachah, defines ethics. Jewish medical ethics is merely the application of Jewish law to medicine.

10. Jewish Law • Jewish Law insists that new technologies especially new reproductive technologies are neither prohibited or permissible in the eyes of Jewish law, but rather subject to a case by case analysis. • Every legal, religious or ethical system has to insist that advances in technology be evaluated against the touchstones of its moral systems. That touchstone in the Jewish tradition is halachah: the body of Jewish Law and ethics.

11. Jewish Law • It is very difficult to assess the effect of Jewish ethical teachings in an overall sense. Different groups in Judaism sometimes have significantly different opinions on contemporary ethical issues. • Rabbis undertake great study in order to consider how the requirements of the Torah are to be applied. • A POSEK or rabbi is extensively trained in Jewish law.

12. The Jewish Legal System • Relies heavily upon an evaluation of pertinent information from a rich heritage of over 3000 years of Jewish existence. • The posek or rabbi gathers technical and situational information about the case at hand. • He then surveys Jewish legal sources from identifying precedents from previous cases that might be applicable to the current case.

13. The Jewish Legal System • The posek then carefully traces the relevant issues through the Torah, Mishnah, Talmud, Rishonium (early Talmudic commentaries) using prior halachic literature to guide the application of Jewish law to modern problems. • He then renders an opinion. • The most useful halachic literature for evaluating medical ethics issues from the many thousands of responsa written over the last thousand years that deal with every conceivable aspect of life. • Responsa = one of the rabbis answers to a query on Jewish law. They are meant to be studied, debated and perhaps refuted.

14. The Jewishness of Jewish ethics • The Jewishness of Jewish ethics is maintained by the fact that decisions are made with high regard for the texts of the tradition. • Judaism encourages, through its rabbinical teachers, interpretations of new life situations in the light of the halachah. • Jewish Law is a crucial factor in decision making.

15. Mitzvah… • The mitzvah to procreate is strong in Judaism, and this would encourage support for the new technologies that allow married Jews who previously may not have been able to conceive children to have them. • “Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it…” Genesis 1:28 • There is a biblical obligation to procreate – peru-u-revu – it is a positive religious activity. • “He did not create the world to be desolate, but rather inhabited.” Isaiah 45:18 • There is a rabbinical obligation to inhabit the earth – la-shevet . • Men are required to fulfill the commandment – to be fruitful and multiply – and are required to have one boy and one girl. Procreation beyond this is commendable but not obligatory.

16. Mitzvah… • In the Hebrew scriptures, Rachael said to her husband Jacob, “Give me children otherwise I am dead.” which has been explained by rabbis as signifying that a childless person is accounted as dead.

17. Abortion Abortion is neither completely banned nor is it allowed on demand. Halachah, governing the status of the feotus, gives understanding of when abortion is sanctioned, required or forbidden.

18. Abortion The foetus is not to be deliberately harmed, however when its life comes into direct conflict with an already born person, the existing life takes precedence.

19. Jewish law and Abortion • Jewish law permits abortion when the life of the mother is at stake or if continuing the pregnancy would cause great physical or psychological harm to the mother. • HOWEVER, Jewish law does not sanction abortion for convenience, and does recognise the foetus as potential life, and while not independent, is worthy of respect and procreation.

20. Jewish law and Abortion • All major poskim forbid abortion in cases of abnormalities or deformities found in a foetus.

21. In Vitro Fertilisation The scriptures have directed Jews to procreate and this directive is so critical that Torah scholars agree it can be accomplished by natural or artificial means.

22. In Vitro Fertilisation It is generally agreed by rabbinic authorities that IVF and related techniques are acceptable for Jewish couples when the wife’s egg and the husbands sperm are used. However, the idea of using donor sperm has not been accepted by many rabbis. Most rabbis do not agree with the issue of egg donation and surrogacy, as it establishes 2 categories of motherhood – the genetic and the birth mother. If one is Jewish and the other is not, it raises the question ‘Is the baby Jewish?”

23. In Vitro Fertilisation Jewish law does not object to the destruction of extra embryos left over from the IVF process. If they are left out of the womb they are incapable of sustaining individual life and as such there is no problem.

24. Stem Cell research • Stem Cells do have the potential to be of great life-saving or life-enhancing benefit to those with certain diseases eg. Alzheimers, Parkinsons disease, diabetes • In Judaism there are 2 moral issues: 1. Is it morally /ethically permissible to use the cells from human embryos for research and eventually harvest such cells and then 2. If it is permissible, are there negative ramifications from such research that would affect other bioethical issues.

25. Ethics of Stem Cell Research • Rabbi J. David Bleich says vitro embryos are viable and must not be destroyed. • BUT, the position of the conservative movement is that embryos can be disposed of if they are no longer needed. Rabbis Dorff and Mackler state that you can use embryos for research and healing. • The Mishneh states that in the first 40 days of gestation the foetus is not fully human, so stem cell research would seem to be permissible.

26. Embryo Research Human embryos may be an ideal source of ‘stem cells’ which can be grown into replacement tissues for transplantation into people. Rabbi Elliot N. DORFF suggests that while the Jewish tradition accepts both natural and artificial means to overcome illness, and physicians are partners of God in the act of healing, we have a duty to develop and use any therapies that can aid us in taking care of our bodies, which ultimately belong to God.

27. Human embryos … As we are not God, we must take whatever precautions we can to ensure that our actions do not harm ourselves or our world. We are, as Genesis states, supposed to work the world and preserve it, it is that balance which is our duty.

28. Human embryos … • Rabbi Elliot N. Dorff also claims that during the first 40 days of gestation, the status of the embryo is “…as if they were simply water…”. As a result, frozen embryos may be discarded or used for reasonable purposes, and so stem cells procured from them.

29. Cloning • Cloning is a medical reality. • Some authorities state that cloning involves no sexual relationship so it would not fulfill the mitzvah to procreate according to Jewish Law. • According to Jewish law there could be 2 mothers – the donor + gestational mother • Jewish law focuses on parturition (the act of giving birth) and birth. So the birth mother would be seen as the ‘real’ mother’.

30. Cloning • There is no clear consensus yet in Jewish law regarding cloning. • Two chief rabbis of Israel are reported to disagree. • At least one prominent American halachic authority has ruled that cloning is permitted in certain instances. • In traditional Judaism, religious status is passed down through the mother and tribal designation is passed down through the father. Therefore if the clone has no parents, how would the religion be passed down?

31. Cloning Who is the mother ? – the genetic mother (egg donor) or the birth mother (gestational mother) When the Torah commands : “Honour your father and mother,” Who is the mother? Is there a father? The Torah tells us about the origins of creation when God created all things, including man and woman. Does coning interfere with the deeply held belief that God created the world?

32. Cloning • Halachah views cloning as not being the ideal way to reproduce. • Clones however would be seen as fully human and so would be treated with respect and dignity.

33. Analyse how the teachings of Judaism might determine a response in the area of bioethics.

34. Analyse how the teachings of Judaism might determine a response in the area of bioethics. • Define bioethics – relate specifically to Judaism. • Refer to Jewish law and procedures and the 6 commonly held principles. • Provide some responses to some bioethical issues.