Last year, in the pages of this journal, we explored the unique halachic issues related to Ebola, a highly contagious and fatal disease.1 The article was accompanied by a photo of me wearing HAZMAT protective gear. The procedure of putting on the gear is called to “don,” and to remove it (ironically a much more […]
One routine day while on call in the Emergency Department, an Ebola patient presents with nausea and vomiting. Consistent with the disease, there is extensive hemorrhaging from his eyes and mouth. Suddenly his heart stops. A code red is called. I hesitate to tell you what I do next. I hesitate because I honestly do […]
The genesis of this essay began with an inquiry by the Jewish Action editors as to whether there is enough novel or substantive material about the halachic issues of living kidney donation to merit an article. “It seems clear that kidney donation is permitted, though not obligatory. Is there anything else to discuss?” it was […]
Perhaps it is because we live in twenty-first century America, a country largely immune from true epidemics, that we take vaccination for granted and some parents even consider not vaccinating their children. A Jew living in the eighteenth century would have longed for respite from the relentless onslaught […]