In Matters of Life and Death Elliot Dorff thoroughly addresses this unavoidable confluence of medical technology and Jewish law and ethics.

This article first describes some of the chief contrasts between Judaism and American secularism in their underlying convictions about the business environment and the expectations which all involved in business can have of each other—namely, duties vs. rights,communitarianism vs. individualism, and ties to God and to the environment based on our inherent status as God’s creatures rather than on our pragmatic choice. Conservative Judaism’s methodology for plumbing the Jewish tradition for guidance is described and contrasted to those of Orthodox and (...) Reform Judaism.One example of how Conservative Judaism can inform us on a current matter is developed at some length—namely, privacy in the workplace. That section discusses (1) the reasons for protecting privacy; (2) protection from intrusion, including employer spying; (3) protection from disclosure of that intended to remain private; (4) individualistic vs. communitarian approaches to grounding the concern for privacy; and (5) contemporary implications for insuring privacy in business. (shrink)

In this, his third book on modern ethics for JPS, Elliot Dorff focuses on personal ethics, Judaism's distinctive way of understanding human nature, our role in ...

The Oxford Handbook of Jewish Ethics and Morality offers a collection of original essays--historical and contemporary, as well as philosophical and practical--by leading scholars from around the world. The first section of the volume describes the history of the Jewish tradition's moral thought, from the Bible to contemporary Jewish approaches. The second part includes chapters on specific fields in ethics, including the ethics of medicine, business, sex, speech, politics, war, and the environment.

Over the past decade much significant new work has appeared in the field of Jewish ethics. While much of this work has been devoted to issues in applied ethics, a number of important essays have explored central themes within the tradition and clarified the theoretical foundations of Jewish ethics. This important text grew out of the need for a single work which accurately and conveniently reflects these developments within the field. The first text of its kind in almost two decades, (...) Contemporary Jewish Ethics and Morality presents wide-ranging and carefully organized recent essays on Jewish ethical theory and practice. Serving as an introduction to Jewish ethics, it acquaints the student with the distinctive methodological issues involved and offers a sampling of Jewish positions on contemporary moral problems. The book features work from both traditionalist and liberal contributors, making this the only volume which encompasses the full range of contemporary Jewish ethical perspectives. Writers such as Harold Schulweis, Judith Plaskow, David Novak, David Hartman, and Blu Greenberg discuss law and ethics, natural law, humility, justice, sex and the family, euthanasia, and other vital issues relating to modern Judaism. Many of the readings appear here for the first time, making this important text the most timely sourcebook in its field. Uniquely qualified to reflect the high level and depth of contemporary work in this area of study, Contemporary Jewish Ethics and Morality is an essential contribution to any course dealing with Jewish ethics. (shrink)

Ethics at the Center culls the best of Rabbi Elliot Dorff's pioneering thinking in Jewish ethics over the course of nearly five decades.

Bringing the topic down to earth -- The body of Jewish law : how Jewish law resembles other legal systems -- The covenantal soul of Jewish law : how Jewish law is unique -- Motivations to live by Jewish law -- Continuity and change in Jewish law -- The relationship of Jewish law to morality and theology -- Jewish law and custom -- Comparisons to the right and the left -- Applications of my theory of Jewish law to specific cases.

This article first examines six fundamental Jewish convictions that affect end-of-life care. It then discusses Advance Directives. This is followed by an extensive section on the details of end-of-life care as from the perspective of Jewish law, tradition, and theology. This includes defining death, foregoing life-sustaining treatment, artificial nutrition and hydration, curing the patient and not the disease, pain control and palliative care, medical experimentation and research, and social support of the sick. The last section discusses care of the deceased, (...) including Jewish norms about burial, cremation, autopsies, organ and tissue donation, and donating one’s body to science. (shrink)

: According to Jewish law, there is a clear obligation to try to heal, and this duty devolves upon both the physician and the society. Jewish sources make it clear that health care is not only an individual and familial responsibility, but also a communal one. This social aspect of health care manifests itself in Jewish law in two ways: first, no community is complete until it has the personnel (and, one assumes, the facilities) to provide health care; second, the (...) community must pay for the health care of those who cannot afford it as part of its provision for the poor. The community, in turn, must use its resources wisely, which is the moral basis within the Jewish tradition for some system of managed care. The community must balance its commitment to provide health care with the provision of other services. (shrink)

Previous title: "The unfolding tradition: Jewish law after Sinai.".