JLI offers ‘Medicine and Morals’ course

Swampscott Reporter
Posted Oct 07, 2010 @ 07:47 PM

Swampscott — Chabad of the North Shore’s Jewish Learning Institute will present “Medicine and Morals: Your Jewish Guide through Life’s Tough Decision,” a six-session course that will begin Wednesday, Oct. 27.

Layah Lipsker will teach the six course sessions, offered twice on Wednesdays, at 10 a.m. and again at 7:30 p.m. at Chabad of the North Shore, 44 Burrill St., Swampscott. Tuition for the six weeks is $119 and scholarships are available. As is the Chabad policy, no one will ever be turned away for inability to pay.

The six lessons will include: “Choosing Life: The Obligation to Seek Healing”; “Flesh of My Flesh: Organ Transplants in Jewish Law”; “Rolling the Dice: Risky and Experimental Treatments”; “New Beginnings: The Ethics of Reproductive Technologies”; “With You In Mind: Ethical Treatment of the Mentally Disabled”; and “Secret Code: Genetics and the Ethics of Patient Confidentiality.”

“As medicine advances and life expectancy increases, almost all of us will encounter an ethical dilemma in dealing with our own health or that of a loved one,” says Rabbi Yossi Lipsker. “But Jewish law creatively draws analogies with ancient paradigms to provide guidance through the maze of medical decision-making.”

The course will examine contemporary case studies and compare secular and Jewish approaches as a means of developing understanding, he added.

Like all JLI programs, “Medicine and Morals” is designed to appeal to people at all levels of Jewish knowledge, including those without any prior experience or background in Jewish learning. All JLI courses are open to the public, and attendees need not be affiliated with a particular synagogue, temple or other house of worship.

Interested students may call 781-581-3833 or visit myJLI.com for registration and other course-related information.