AND INSTITUTE FOR CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AT TOURO COLLEGE NATIONAL JEWISH INSTITUTE FOR CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION
Jun 15, 2015
AND
INSTITUTE FOR CONTINUING
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AT
TOURO COLLEGE
NATIONAL JEWISH INSTITUTE
FOR CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL
EDUCATION
AUTONOMY
MEDICINE, CULTURE AND
ETHICS
CASE STUDY
PARAMETERS OF CHOICE
CAN WE CHOOSE TO
REFUSE?
Similarly, it is a positive
commandment to remove any
obstacle that could pose a danger
to life, and to be very careful
regarding these matters, as it
states (Deuteronomy 4:9) ‘Be
cautious and guard your life.’”
Maimonides (1135-1204), Mishneh
Torah,
Laws of the Murderer and Guarding Life
11:4
SAFEGUARDING ONE’S LIFE
RISKY BEHAVIOR VS. “ACT OF G-D”
FAITH VS. HEALING
DOES PURSUING A
CURE DEFY G-D’S WISHES?
FAITH VS. HEALING
“I am the Lord your healer.” – Exodus 15:26
“See now that it is I!
I am the One, and there is no god like Me.
I cause death and grant life.
I strike and I heal, and no one can rescue from My Hand.” – Deuteronomy 32:39
SEEKING CURE: INTERFERENCE WITH G-D’S PLAN?
FAITH VS. HEALING
And Asa suffered from a foot ailment in the 39th year of his reign until his ailment spread upward; and even in his illness, he did not seek the Lord, but the physicians.”
– Chronicles II, 16:12
SEEKING CURE: INTERFERENCE WITH G-D’S PLAN?
DOES JUDAISM REJECT MEDICAL INTERVENTION?
Should man withdraw from attempts at healing self or others?
OBLIGATION TO SEEK HEALING
“And if men quarrel, and one strikes the other with a stone or with a fist, and the victim does not die but is confined to bed, if he gets up and walks about outside on his staff, the assailant shall be cleared;
He shall only pay for the victim’s idleness and he shall provide for his cure.”
– Exodus 21:18-19
OBLIGATION TO SEEK HEALING
“The school of Rabbi Ishmael taught, ‘He shall provide for his cure’ – from this verse we learn that permission is granted to physicians to heal.”
– Talmud, Bava Kama 85a
He shall only pay for the victim’s idleness and he shall provide for his cure.”
– Exodus 21:18-19
“And we do not say, ‘God has struck, will the physician then go and heal?!’”
– Rashi (1040–1105), ibid.
OBLIGATION TO SEEK HEALING
Obligated
Obligated
Physical assault
Illness not imposed by human
OBLIGATION TO SEEK HEALING
And heal, he shall heal.
– Exodus 21:19
� א ְו ֹּפ�� �ַר� ֹּפ��אְי . ַר�
From the word “and heal,” we understand that there is permission to heal. What is the purpose of the doubling, “he shall heal?”
Without it, one might think that only wounds inflicted by humans may be healed, but that healing illness caused by God could be seen as defying His edict. Therefore the word is repeated, to teach us that it is permitted to heal all illnesses.”
– Tosafot (1200 – 1300), ibid.
SUMMARY
Seeking the care of physicians is
• Morally permissible
• Obligatory
• Even to cure illnesses that have no discernible human cause.