On Sunday, October 20th, over one-hundred students, professors, doctors and curious guests gathered in Furst Hall to learn about Israel’s healthcare system at the eighth annual Fuld Family Medical Ethics conference titled “Prescribing for a Nation: Examining the Interplay of Israel Health Care and Jewish Law.”
The event was co-sponsored by the YU Student Medical Ethics Society and featured speakers from both America and Israel. The objective of the conference, according to Kalman Laufer, YC ‘17, co-President of the Medical Ethics Society, was “to better understand Israel’s incorporation of Jewish values into real life medical decisions, and its position as a country in responding to both domestic and international crises.”
The morning opened with a keynote address delivered by Professor Jonathan Halevy, the director of Shaare Zedek Medical Center. Dr. Halevy initiated a dynamic discussion about how Israel’s legal system encodes Jewish values into its healthcare laws. He emphasized Israel’s patient rights act and right to die with dignity clause, two laws that respect both religious and secular interests, an accomplishment he called “the victory of multiculturalism” in a diverse country. Dr. Halevy stressed that while “no country can give its citizens all [modern medicine] has to offer,” he is “proud of the Israeli basket of services.”
Following a brief break, Dr. Halevy, along with Rabbi Willig of RIETS and Rabbi Brander of the CJF, presented a thorough and technical discussion about unique halachik challenges that doctors in Israel face. After the halachik analyses of the medical issues, Dr. Halevy illustrated how Israel’s engagement with the medical challenges aligns with halachik criteria.
Chief among the issues discussed was the use of PGD (pre-implantation genetic diagnosis) for sex selection, which Israel permits on a case-by-case basis and only when paired with psychological evaluation. Other topics included in vitro fertilization, oocyte cyro-preservation, abortion, organ donation and end of life issues.
The last of the morning’s three presentations centered on Israel’s medical response to crisis. Dr. Frogel, President-elect of American Physicians and Friends for Medicine in Israel, outlined the extensive preparations Israeli response teams undertake to protect against bombs, chemical weapons, and earthquakes, such as installing shrapnel proof windows and building underground hospitals.
Yitzchak Shalita, a member of Zaka, an Israeli emergency response team, proceeded to describe how Zaka goes about ensuring that “every drop of blood, every body part [is] buried,” as a way of showing utmost respect to the victims of an attack.
Finally, Dr. Schwaber recounted his experiences directing a field hospital in Haiti in the wake of the 2010 earthquake. Dr. Schwaber related that upon meeting a Haitian in Boston the following year and informing him that he had been in Haiti after the earthquake, the Haitian responded, “Are you from Israel? Everyone knows that Israel was the first to respond after the earthquake!”
After a quick lunch in Belfer Hall, the attendees had the choice of attending five different breakout sessions given by some of the morning’s speakers. Additional speakers at the conference included Rabbi Blau of RIETS, Rabbi Zvi Gluck, chief executive officer of Zaka, Mark Kurzmann, Former Justice Department national security litigator, Rabbi Dovid Fuld, a conference sponsor, and Benjamin Courchia, an alumnus of Yeshiva University who attended Medical School in Be’er Sheva. The breakout session topics ranged from solutions to infertility in Israel to the challenges faced by American-educated physicians in navigating Israeli medicine.
Throughout the day, the conference illustrated how medicine, often mistaken for a dry science, can actually give rise to a very colorful and complex array of philosophical, legal and religious questions. Talia Atlas, SCW ’15 especially appreciated the conference’s religious angle. For Atlas, hearing Dr. Schwaber discuss his involvement in Haiti was very different that just hearing stories in the news of Jewish heroes who sanctify G-d’s name. “I felt proud listening to Dr. Schwaber talk,” she remarked.
Other students appreciated the conference’s holistic look at Israel’s health care system, especially its focus on how Israel contributes to the welfare of countries beyond its borders. For Elianne Neumann, SCW ’15 and secretary of the Medical Ethics Society, the conference “not only explained the complexities of Israel’s domestic healthcare system, but also illuminated the incredible efforts of both the Israeli government and Non-For-Profit organizations in promoting disaster relief and rescue work all over the world.”
After the event, Chani Herzig, SCW ’14, co-President of the Medical Ethics Society, poignantly summed up the conference as a reminder of “our devotion to the land of Israel, our responsibility to excellence as Jewish medical practitioners, and our commitment to the Jewish people as a whole.”