Year 12 Studies of Religion

Religious Tradition Depth

Study : JUDAISM

BIOETHICS
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Ethics
Students learn about:
ONE of the following area of
ethical teaching in Judaism:
-Bioethics
-Environmental ethics
-Sexual ethics

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

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 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.

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

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

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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.

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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.
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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.
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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 is the Jewish
tradition is halachah: the body of Jewish Law
and ethics. 10
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. 11
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.
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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.
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 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.
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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.

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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.

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 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.

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 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.

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 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. 19
 Jewish law and Abortion

 All major poskim forbid abortion in

cases of abnormalities or deformities
found in a foetus.

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 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.

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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?” 22
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.

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 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. 24
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.
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 Human embryos may be
an ideal source

Embryo Research
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.
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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 says, supposed to work the
world and preserve it, it is that
balance which is our duty.

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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.

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 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’.

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 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?

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 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?
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 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.

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

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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.

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