Care and Covenant: A Jewish Bioethic of Responsibility

by Jason Tabadoa

Overview

A bioethic of obligations and responsibilities, based on the Jewish tradition

The Jewish tradition has important perspectives, history, and wisdom that can contribute significantly to crucial contemporary healthcare deliberations. Care and Covenant: A Jewish Bioethic of Responsibility demonstrates how numerous classic Jewish texts can add new ideas to the world of medicine today. Rabbi Jason Weiner draws on fifteen years of experience working in a hospital as a practitioner to develop an “ethic of responsibility.”

This book seeks to develop an approach to bioethical dilemmas that is primarily informed by personal and communal obligations as well as social responsibilities. Weiner applies unique and inspiring values found in Judaism to encourage healthcare providers to remain dedicated to preventing harm and providing care to all. Each chapter investigates relevant philosophical questions such as what the expectations of a society or government are and what we should do when our obligations to others violate our own moral principles, safety, or ability to assist.

Care and Covenant provides analytical, philosophical, and evidence-based scholarship to guide discussions on ethics in healthcare.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781647123185
Publisher:	Georgetown University Press
Publication date:	03/01/2023
Pages:	130
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Jason Weiner is the senior rabbi and director of the Spiritual Care Department at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. He is a board-certified chaplain and has earned two rabbinic ordinations and a doctorate in clinical bioethics from the Neiswanger Institute for Bioethics at Loyola University Chicago.

Table of Contents

PrefaceIntroduction 1. Self-Endagerment in Medical Experimentation and Modern History 2. Allocation and Distribution of Scarce Resources 3. Uuniversal Health Care4. Jewish Hospitals in America Today5. Brain Death and Conflict Mitigation 6. Unrepresented Patients7. Conscientious Objection8. Self-Care in Challenging Times 9. Conclusion

What People are Saying About This

Edward Reichman

Care and Covenant is unlike any other offering in Jewish bioethics. A masterful legal discourse of complex particular ethical issues that also sheds light on the oft-ignored social dimensions at the very foundations of healthcare in the Jewish tradition. Weiner’s thoughtful and creative exploration of these issues will enlighten and delight patient, doctor, ethicist, and rabbi alike.

Professor Avraham Steinberg

Modern medicine has significantly intensified ethical dilemmas. Bioethicists, theologians, policymakers, jurists, and others are constantly struggling to solve these problems. Rabbi Weiner eloquently presents a unique approach—a combination of duty and responsibility, combined with compassion, based on Jewish sources and practical clinical experience. I strongly recommend this book to all interested in medical ethics.

Jonathan K. Crane

Jason Weiner adeptly addresses complex issues like risk-taking, proxy decision-making, conflicting convictions, allocating scarce resources, and much more—in tightly argued, well-researched, accessible, brief, and balanced chapters. A wonderful resource for thinking about Jewish responsibility and bioethics beyond the bedside.

Nathan Carlin

An original contribution to religion and bioethics, written by a rabbi and scholar. Steeped in the wisdom of his tradition, Weiner brings a faith perspective that is informed by chaplaincy and spiritual care. It is rare to have such writing informed by so much academic knowledge and clinical experience.

Editorial Reviews

Weiner has written a fascinating book dealing with some of the most vexing and complex medical issues we face. Its only shortcoming is that at just over 100 pages, this book needs to be significantly longer given the breadth of topics and Weiner’s writing talents.

Jewish Link