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The Canadian Jewish News, Thursday, September 23,1982>-Page 11
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I I'M "5
THE ASSOCIATION for WELFARE of SOIDIEW in ISRAEL
26 22 91 p3'?u ,8 nymKnmn-i
Phone: 26 22 91 Tel-Aviv 64 739
_16th August, 1982
Lsrael,
..where many thousands of tve in safeguarding.our we wish to.: extend to. you rtfelt thanks; for your.■■
3w,' tha t'ap ar t f rom the , sre are continuously sending portable T.V. sets (which. 1 jeeps) radio transistors, It etc., etc. . We have - Beth Feldman, into a soldiers back on to the
Our Rest Home in Acco,is... .ers~from the front liiies, . :heir fighting-units . . This 1 of great value to_o:ur 'can invite their families
mtiment displayed by" v ' efforts, have lifted -th the people of Israel : safe and healthy
\ Sincerfe^y yours ,
n.(Res) Nathan (Natke) Nir ; Chairman.
Jewish values applied to medical moral issues
TORONTO-
Rabbi Seymour Siegel, the Ralph Siirtoii professor of ethics and theology at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, said at Beth Tzedec Synagogue last week that, in his interpretation of Jewish law, the "in vitro fertih-zation" process to secure pregnancy is consonant
with the ethical norms of Judaism.
(This is the Latin term for what is popularly known as a "test tube baby." It signifies that the unfertilized egg from a womajL is removed frorii her ovary and fertilized ' with male sperm in a lest tube. It is then re-implanted in the woman's womb.)
Siegel, who has served as a visiting scholar at the Kennedy Institute of Bio-ethics in Washington and who has made a specialty of moral issues involving the frontiers of medicine, said that from the Jewish perspective the world is still "incomplete and un-~ completed" and that man may seek to act as a partner with God in per-
as
fecting the world.
The rabbi, who was speaking at a weekend series in. connection with Beth Tzedec's Selichot programming, asserted that since having children in Judaism is a blessing, one has ah obligation to correct—the tricks which nature plays on some of us by denying the ability to have children. In: vitro fertilization, at least in its present stage is, according to Siegel, a permissible Jewish option,
On the question of gfbor-tion and the status of the fetiis Rabbi Siegel avoids extrerrie positions. He does not subscribe to the thesis that the fetus is identical to a full human being ("it cannot exist outside the; womb environ-
ment"'), nor does he endorse sorne radical feminist positions which assert that the fetus is just another organ in the femiale body which may be removed in an arbitrary fashion. ("It cannot be just jnqther ordinary organ for when it grows, out comes a human being.")
Siegel takes a-centrist position in his arguihent, for which he cited tal-mudic sources, which sees abortion as permissible only in the case where the mother's life is in jeopardy. In this instance the fetus is looked apon as a "rodeph" — a technical term describing its life-sapping properties.
The rabbi takes a similarly flexible view of the
whole area ot modern bio-ethics, in which questions such as gene manipulation and organ transplants come-in to play. : —Citing the Jewish teachings on the sanctity of life and the need to preserve it, Siegelindicated, however, that there are 'many instances in Jewish history in which martyrdom has. been elevated to a religious symbol,
Organ transplants, according to Siegel, come under the category of pikuah nefesh — a life saying. situation — and, accordingly,'he sees them -as permissible. In fact they are an expression of the mitzvah.
The possibility of performing a mitzvah after death through the bequest
of body organs is also applauded by Rabbi -Siegel. Inthe same vein be endorses the idea of autopsies through which, he said, the knowledge acquired will help find the cure-for diseases afflicUng mankind.
Rabbi Siegel pointed to the state of Maryland where driving licence forms have a statement attached to them asking the applicant to donate body organs in case of death. (The Ontario driver's license has a similar form.) For Rabbi Siegel this is desirable from two ethical view-. points: it may help someone who is desperately ill and at the very least, will encourage safer driving habits, he said.
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By DAVID BIRKAN
TORONTO —
Controller Esther Shiner of North York, was the talk of the town here last week, as a good many of the town's leaders gathered to speak her praise.
Mrs, Shiner was honored by the local Stale of Israel Bonds as its woman of the year for her civic accomplishments aiid-her efforts on behalf of Israel.
The event, at which. close to 400 people, attended, including leading community figures and politicians, was held at the Adalh Israel synagoge. The Shiners are long-time members of the congregation.
Among civic associates paying tribute, (tongue-iur cheek in many cases) were: Metro Chairman Paul Godfrey; Borough of York Mayor Gayle Ciiristie; Tony Fusco, a North York businessman and prominent leader of the area's Italian community; and Ontario Premier William Davis (via telegram]., ■ ■-
Praise from the Jewish community was" voiced.by. among others: Eric Exton, a fellow member of the Adath Jsrael and his wife Esther, chairman of the. tribute committee; Rabbi Erwin Schild, the shul's spiritual leader, and Ben Orvitz, its president; Larry Marshal and Jennie Wasser, leaders of the ■' shul's Bond group; and
Alex Grossman, general campaign co-chairman of Toronto State of Israel Bonds, and Louise Cornblum, chairman of Bonds' Women's Division.
Repi^esenting the province of Ontario was John Aird, Lieutenant-Governor.
Hosting the roast of Mrs. Shiner-'CaHed "bake" in recognition of her devotion to baking-was Lynne Gordon, a Toronto-area broadcaster and consumerism figure.
Gideon Saguy, the new Toronto consul-general of Israel, presented a plaque to Shiner for her
participation in the Israel Bonds program. He also emphasized the need to niaintain Israel's strength in every way possible, and gave what he described as his first talk on behalf of Boilds in the Toronto area. Mrs. Shiner's son Mark, one of four children to her and husband Sol, also paid a good-natured, tribute to her.
Shiner, who acknowledged the presence of her mother in the audience with great emotion, responded with much good humor, a few tears, and a confession of nervousness at the occasion.
Citation
TORONTO —
Ralph Shiff, president of the Toronto Jewish Teachers Seminary was the recipient of a special eital- .. ion at a recent meeting of the Canadian Jewish Congress Oiitarip Region executive for his "commitment to the furthering of Jewish education and culture."
Bea Wolfe, who has worked-with Shiff for the past 10 years as a member of the CJC adult education committee and the Jewish Cultural Council of Toronto Jewish Congress,
made the presentation on behalf of "a grateful and appreciative community.'*
Shiff, who is a CJC officer and former chairman of its education and cultural committee, was lauded by Wolfe' as "onie among us who stands out by virtue of his particular attributes."
The surprise presentation left Shiff taken aback, but he did thank everyone present for the s honor. "It's very appreciated," he told the meeting.
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