CJLS: 2006 Responsa on Homosexuality

Rabbinical Assembly: Index to Papers
Information about the Law Committee and the Current Papers
A Brief History of the CJLS
'The CJLS and Multiple Opinions' by Rabbi David Fine
'Thoughts on the CJLS Teshuvot on Homosexuality' by Rabbi Perry Rank

Summaries of Teshuvot on Homosexuality
Summary of 'Homosexuality Revisited' by Rabbi Joel Roth
Summary of 'Homosexuality, Human Dignity and Halakhah' by Rabbis Elliot Dorff, Daniel Nevins and Avram Reisner
Summary of 'A New Context: The Halakhah of Same-Sex Relations' by Rabbis Myron Geller, Robert Fine and David Fine
Summary of 'Halakhic and Metahalakhic Arguments Concerning Judaism and Homosexuality' by Rabbi Gordon Tucker

Teshuvot on Homosexuality
'Homosexuality Revisited' by Rabbi Joel Roth
'Homosexuality, Human Dignity and Halakhah' by Rabbis Elliot Dorff, Daniel Nevins and Avram Reisner
'A New Context: The Halakhah of Same-Sex Relations' by Rabbis Myron Geller, Robert Fine and David Fine
'Same-Sex Attraction and Halakhah' by Rabbi Leonard Levy
'A Concurring Opinion to Rabbi Leonard Levy's Teshuvah, 'Same-Sex Attraction and Halakhah'' by Rabbi Loel Weiss
'Halakhic and Metahalakhic Arguments Concerning Judaism and Homosexuality' by Rabbi Gordon Tucker"

CJLS: 1992-93 Papers on Homosexuality

Rabbinical Assembly: Index to Papers, 1992-93
* Consensus Statement on Homosexuality EH 24.1992a
* Joel Roth, 'Homosexuality' EH 24.1992b
* Reuven Kimmelman, 'Homosexuality and the Policy Decisions of the CJLS' EH 24.1992c
* Mayer E. Rabinowitz, 'On Homosexuality' EH 24.1992d
* Elliot Dorff, 'Jewish Norms for Sexual Behavior: A Responsum Embodying a Proposal' EH 24.1992e
* Kassel Abelson, 'The Status of Homosexuals in the Synagogue: A Concurring Opinion' EH 24.1992f
* Avram Israel Reisner, 'On Homosexuality and Biblical Imperatives: A Concurrence' EH 24.1992g
* Howard Handler, 'In the Image of God: A Dissent in Favor of the Full Equality of Gay and Lesbian Jews Into the Community of Conservative Judaism' EH 24.1992h
* Kassel Abelson, 'Placing Homosexual Rabbis in Congregations' EH 24.1993a
* Arnold Goodman, 'Placing Homosexual Rabbis in Congregations' EH 24.1993b
* Aaron Mackler, 'A Concurring Opinion to Arnold M. Goodman's 'Placing Homosexual Rabbis in Congregations'' EH 24.1993c
* Ben Zion Bergman, 'The Gay Placement Question: A Dissenting Opinion' EH 24.1993d

Woman denies disconnecting comatose son, 7, from respirator

Haaretz : By Roni Singer-Heruti

A mother was arrested yesterday on suspicion of attempting to disconnect a respirator from her comatose 7 -year-old son. She denied the accusation and was later released without being charged, but a judge ordered that she be accompanied by hospital security when she visits her son in the future.

'We have been going through agony for three and a half years, ever since our son was hospitalized at Sheba,' the mother told Haaretz, referring to Sheba Medical Center in Tel Hashomer. 'The doctors have told us, 'let the boy die,' and since I don't do what the doctors tell me, they are fighting me.' ...

The mother, who is a doctor, told the police that she did not disconnect the respirator, and had merely been giving her son a massage. Police do not suspect her of trying to kill her son, but believe that she might have been attempting to treat him by methods different than those used by the hospital. ...

The mother's attorney, Amikam Hadar, who is representing her together with attorney Hedva Shapira, said that the boy's parents and the hospital staff have a very poor relationship.

He said that Sheba has asked the court to order the boy removed from the hospital, but the parents insist on first finding an alternative place that will treat him.

So this happens in Israel too, even with universal health coverage. This account cries out for fuller factual development.

Obama Carefully Courts Jewish Vote

Presidential Candidate Has Recalibrated His Words On Israel And Middle East Peace Process - CBS News: By Ariel Sabar, Christian Science Monitor

...For many American Jews, a candidate's record on traditionally liberal social and economic issues carries more weight than slight nuances in their positions on Israel, says Ira Forman, executive director of the nonprofit NJDC and coeditor of the book 'Jews in American Politics.'

Obama has played as much to those mainstays of Jewish-American politics as he has to the issue of Israel's security, using speeches before Jewish audiences to talk about the civil rights struggle, global warming, and the genocide in Darfur. His early opposition to the Iraq war has also reverberated with Jewish Americans, who, according to Gallup polls, are more likely to view the war as a mistake than are Americans of any other faith....

The media have tended to focus almost exclusively on fine--and probably largely meaningless--variations in pandering comments on Israel. At last someone recognizes that most American Jews care about, and vote on, a larger variety of issues, both domestic and international. Note especially the poll results on Jewish American views of the Iraq War.

Bioethics and Armed Conflict

AEI:From Middle East Quarterly (Summer 2007)
Michael Rubin reviews Michael L. Gross's Bioethics and Armed Conflict.

In 2004, the World Medical Association declared that 'medical ethics in times of armed conflict is identical to medical ethics in times of peace.' Gross, an ethicist at the University of Haifa, takes issue with this conclusion. 'Military personnel do not enjoy a right to life, personal autonomy, or a right to self-determination to any degree approaching that of ordinary patients,' he observes. While bioethics focuses on the rights of an individual, military necessity places paramount authority in the state.

Many bioethicists, insulated by peace, wallow in theory and philosophy. Living in Israel--in Haifa, at that--and facing war, Gross infuses his study with reality. As commentators and human rights activists criticize U.S. participation in Iraq and Israeli actions, Gross examines a number of bioethical quandaries that have consequences for contemporary militaries and physicians. He offers rich historical background.

Rabbi takes communitarian perspective on bioethics, medical access

:From Washington Jewish Week by Eric Fingerhut

Hear the phrase Jewish medical ethics, and issues such as the religion's view on organ transplants or euthanasia usually come to mind. But Rabbi Elliott Dorff wants to broaden that discussion.

He believes that such matters as most efficiently distributing limited health care resources and ensuring access to health care for all Americans also should be considered through the Jewish ethical framework.

'Secular medical ethics is based on Western liberalism' and has an 'individual rights perspective' based on 'what does the patient want,' said Dorff, rector, professor of philosophy and co-chair of the bioethics department at American Jewish University (formerly the University of Judaism) in Los Angeles.

'The Jewish tradition ... is not as individualistic' and is 'much more communitarian,' which is important in a world in which 'medical care is no longer just [between] the doctor and patient' and resources are limited.

Too much of traditional Jewish bioethics has confined its attention to the here and now, at the bedside. Dorff argues for a more systematic approach to the larger structures of contemporary health care financing and delivery. That's long past due in the field. Rabbi Dorff is not unique in this, but has been one of the leaders.