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Foreword, Background, and Use-Case for this Content

The practice of medicine is a sacred calling and a field that is almost uniquely intertwined with Halacha. Halacha provides an ethical foundation from which innovations in medicine and moral tensions can be understood and addressed even as the field as a whole rapidly develops. As new questions arise, more answers become available, adding to an already substantial body of medical Halacha. The clinician, then, is met with a significant amount of information to sort through on top of the rigors of clinical training. In light of the above, this text provides a convenient guide, curriculum, and reference for applied medical halacha with interns and residents in mind.

Throughout their medical training, trainees are often on their own in navigating matters such as shabbos, end-of-life care, and apparent conflicts between the practice of medicine and Torah observance. Many trainees need extensive Halachic knowledge, and practicing medicine often demands, with little support. Proper self-study and rabbinic guidance in these areas are time intensive, and these issues often arise when incoming residents are most pressed for this most scarce commodity.

Ideally—with the summary of important texts and resources that are provided here—the reader will use this text as a springboard for further study. Furthermore, just as the field of medicine requires lifelong study as new medications and treatment methods arise, the field of medical Halacha requires a lifelong dedication to learning to enable one’s practice of medicine to become both excellent and spiritually fulfilling.

Each chapter of this guide is paired with a podcast episode titled The 39+ project: A Clinician's Guide to Halachik Best Practice. Each audio episode, as in each chapter in this guide, recognizes a common halachic problem that routinely arises, gives the requisite background, and proposes solutions with practical guidance.

Sir Isaac Newton once said, “If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.”

We would be remiss not to highlight the shoulders upon which we have stood and the incredible works and resources that have preceded this project.

We would like to highlight a few incredible people and works in particular. Sacred training by Dr. Karp and Dr. Schaikewitz has been a tremendous stepping stone. Their extensive list of sources and organizations has provided the tools necessary to construct a workbook such as this. Without them, this project likely would have never come to fruition. With that in mind, we recommend trainees read sacred training, and we sincerely thank Dr. Karp and Dr. Schaikewitz for their innovation.

  In addition to sacred training, we based this project on discussions we have had with Rabbi Sprung, Rabbi Willig, and Rabbi Dr. Apfel and written works such as The Jewish Guide to Practical Medical Decision and Nishmat Avraham. These discussions and works have been a source of inspiration, and we recommend listening to these conversations (that have taken place on the JPN podcast) and reading the materials.

Special thank you to rabbi Y sprung for being a mentor, guide, and supporter in this endeavor; no words can properly express the amount of gratitude we have for the hours spent discussing, reviewing, and editing this booklet and the segments not yet in print, from beginning to end.

As mentioned above, we highlight the importance of lifelong dedication to learning medical halacha, which is something Rabbi Sprung has provided an opportunity to do with his BeisMedrash Gavoah for Medical Malacha. We encourage physicians and trainees to visit Medicalhalacha.org and stay up to date with the newest and most updated medical halacha content there.

We are honored to have worked so closely with Rabbi Sprung and the members of the Beis Medrash. We thank you for your continued dedication to our projects and hope to work on many more together.

Lastly, we would like to thank Chemed Health Center for providing support for this project and for Jewish Physicians to excel both professionally and in their Torah study.

The halachik rulings and opinions discussed herein were written and adapted from the writings and lectures of some of the most widely accepted modern poskim under the guidance of Rabbi Y sprung of the Beis Medresh Gavoah for Medical Halacha. These articles should be considered a primer and a reference on this important topic and should not be used in place of personal rabbinic advice or correspondence.