Schlesinger Institute

Template:Short description The Schlesinger Institute for Medical-Halachic Research, often shortened to the Schlesinger Institute, is a research and publication institute that addresses ethical and legal questions in medicine from a Halakha (Jewish law) perspective. Its work includes researching and providing commentary on the intersection of medical ethics and Halacha, analyzing emerging dilemmas in healthcare, and providing guidance on how Jewish medical practitioners and the observant Jewish public may approach medical developments. It was established in Israel in 1966 with support from the Shaare Zedek MedicCenter⁣⁣ terand is named in honor of the hospital's second Director-General.

Principal activities

The Schlesinger Institute offers religious and academic programs in Jewish medical ethics to a diverse range of audiences and student groups. These programs include a semester course at the Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School, summer and winter seminars for medical and nursing students from other countries, lectures and tours of the Shaare Zedek Medical Center for yeshiva and seminary students, as well as seminars for Israeli high school pupils.

Publications

The Schlesinger Institute publishes books and journals on Jewish medical ethics.

Journals

The Schlesinger Institute publishes two journals: ASSIA in Hebrew (ceased publication in 2016) and JME in English. Both journals cover problems in medical and ethical, proposed solutions, and the ethical reasoning of rabbis and doctors addressing these issues.

Articles in the journals cover topics such as the scientific, legal, ethical, and halachic aspects of cloning, the determination of time of death, heart transplantation, truth-telling to dangerously ill patients, halachic and medical aspects of the HIV - AIDS, psychiatry and Halacha, the selling of organs, the cessation of medical treatment and euthanasia, initial counselling for a juvenile with homosexual urges, smoking and life expectancy, coercive medical treatment, surrogacy, medical dilemmas faced by hospital nurses, and halachic principles related to obligation to save human life.

Encyclopedia of Jewish Medical Ethics

The Encyclopedia of Jewish Medical Ethics covers topics in medical practice from the perspective of halacha and Jewish thought, drawing on sources from scripture through ancient, medieval, and modern rabbinic literature. It includes surveys of related medical, scientific, philosophical, ethical, and legal material, with references.

Articles cover topics for both medical professionals and patients, combining halachic principles and medical knowledge with references from scripture and the Talmud through recent sources.

The articles include: Paternitying, Suicide, Autonomy and Free will, Hospitals, Genetics, Religion and Science, Consent, Abortions, IVF, Organ Transplantation, Conflict of Halacha and Science, Old Age, The Patient, Embalming, Malpractice, Pain, Kashrut and Shabbat, Birth, Medical Education, Human Sexuality, Limited Resources, Medical Experimentation on Humans, Surgery, Confidentiality, Fertility, Lifesaving, Causing Pain to Animals, Triage, Defining Death, Physicians, and General and Jewish Ethics.

The encyclopedia is written by Avraham Steinberg, M.D.

Nishmat Abraham

Published as a four-volume set, Nishmat Abraham on Medical Halacha contains new responsa and medical halachic rulings. Nishmat Abraham is a commentary on the four sections of the Shulchan Aruch with detailed references from the Talmud through Rishonim and Acharonim. It covers rulings from halachic literature, including material from contemporary authorities such as Rav M. Feinstein, Rav Sh.Z. Auerbach, Rav Waldenberg, Rav Eliashiv, Rav Ovadia Yosef, Rav Wosner, and Rav Neuwirth.

Topics covered include 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 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.

The views of leading authorities are summarized on each point, covering issues in medical halacha, and it contains indices.

It is written by A.S. Abraham, M.D., F.R.C.P.

Additional books

The institute has published other books, including:

• Halachot for the Physician and 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 Horizons in Jewish Medical Ethics (English)
• Establishing the moment of death (Hebrew)
• Practical Aspects of Medicine and Halacha (Hebrew)

International Responsa Project (IRP)

The Institute operates an International Responsa Project (IRP) through which medical-halachic questions are posed to professionals by various means. Questions regarding medical procedures, ranging from general inquiries to technical ones, are answered by rabbi-doctors at the institute or by a recognized rabbinical authority.

The Chaim Kahn Library and Information Center

The Library and Information Center serves as a resource center for Jewish medical ethics in Israel. It houses texts of Jewish literature, compendiums of halacha, medical and Jewish journals, and legal texts.

Computer facilities, a database of Jewish sources, and the library's bibliography are available to the public. The information center is named after Mr. Chaim Kahn, the first chairman of the institute.

International conferences

International conferences organized by the Schlesinger Institute bring together rabbis, doctors, and others from around the world for lectures by experts on contemporary medical halachic issues. Conference proceedings and background materials have been published in both English and Hebrew.

See also

• Medical ethics
• Jewish medical ethics
• Halakha
• Responsa
• Jewish medicine

External links

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