Schlesinger Institute

The Schlesinger Institute for Medical-Halachic Research, or the Schlesinger Institute, is a research and publication centre in Israel dedicated to examining ethical and legal questions in medicine through the lens of Halakha (Jewish law)^[1]. According to the Jerusalem Post, the Institute focuses on medical ethics and Jewish legal tradition, providing commentary, analysis, and guidance for healthcare professionals and Jewish communities.^[2] It was founded in 1966 with the support of Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem and named in honour of the hospital’s second Director-General. It is named after Dr. Falk Schlesinger.

The Institute conducts religious and academic programmes in Jewish medical ethics, targeting a broad range of audiences including medical students, religious scholars, and healthcare professionals. Activities include a semester course at Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School, seasonal seminars for international students, educational visits for yeshiva and seminary groups, and workshops for Israeli high school students.

Publications

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

Journals

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

Articles in the journals cover the scientific, legal, ethical, and halachic aspects of topics such as, cloning, the determination of time of death, heart transplantation, truth-telling to dangerously ill patients, HIV - AIDS, psychiatry, 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 as an International Responsa Project (IRP) through which medical-halachic questions are posed to professionals by various means.^[3] 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 are viewed by rabbis, doctors, and others from around the world for lectures on contemporary medical halachic issues. Conference proceedings and background materials have been published in both English and Hebrew.^{[citation needed]}

See also

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