Spiritual Resistance and Medical Care During the Holocaust: The Role of Rabbinic Responsa
Erin Miller, BA, Boston University
Michael Grodin, MD, Boston University School of Public Health
Before the Holocaust, an estimated fifty percent of Eastern European Jewry strictly observed Halacha (Jewish law). Halacha covers all aspects of Jewish life from conception until death as well as civil, criminal, and ritual matters. During the Holocaust, Jews strived to maintain their religious observance during periods of torture and genocide.
Historically, rabbis have been asked sheilot (Jewish law questions) in the form of responsum (legal opinions) about any challenges faced by Jewish individuals, and the Jewish community. To compose teshuvot (answers), rabbis consult Jewish legal sources (Torah, Talmud, Codes) and other colleagues in making decisions.
During the Holocaust, rabbis were faced with sheilot regarding the unimaginable circumstances Jews faced. In most cases, there were neither Jewish legal sources available nor colleagues to consult when making legal decisions. As part of the project on Medical Halacha and Rabbinic Responsa in the Holocaust, we are translating, categorizing, and analyzing the medical related responsum asked of the rabbis during the Holocaust. Some of these diverse questions include sterilization, contraception, abortion, smothering a crying baby while in hiding, ransom, death, burial, suicide, and post mortem cesarean section. Rabbis had to consider more than solely Jewish law. They had to predict the severity of the situation and the psychological impact that each decision would have. This chapter of Holocaust history represents spiritual resistance from Nazi persecution that has received inadequate documentation and exploration in Holocaust literature.
The topic of Medical Halacha and Rabbinic Responsa in the Holocaust serves as an engaging topic with which to conduct a workshop. Rabbis played an important role in medical care during the Holocaust and looking at the impact of their decisions can teach us about the impact of religious roles in medicine. Our workshop will focus on spiritual resistance and the importance of traditional religious beliefs during the Holocaust. Even in a time of unimaginable suffering, we will explore the role of the rabbis in medical decision-making and their provision of psychological support. We will provide an introduction as background material to Jewish sources and the halachic process followed by analysis of specific cases.
The workshop format will lend itself to facilitating group interaction, text study, rabbinic analysis, and medical halachic dilemmas during the Holocaust. We will also draw contemporary parallels challenging the form and structure of rabbinic inquiry.
The faculty co-leading this workshop will consist of Erin Miller, senior research associate for the Project on Medicine in the Holocaust at the Boston University School of Public Health and the Elie Wiesel Center for Judaic Studies. Miss. Miller is the lead researcher on this project and has extensive experience studying and analyzing rabbinic responsa during the Holocaust. She will co-lead this workshop with Dr. Michael A. Grodin, M.D., Director on the Project on Medicine in the Holocaust, a descendant of four generations of Rabbis and Jewish Educators, and a Professor of Judaic Studies, Bioethics, and Health Law. Dr. Grodin is Co-Director of the joint project in Jewish Legal Bioethics of the Institute of Jewish Law at the Boston University School of Law.
Michael Grodin, MD, Boston University School of Public Health
Before the Holocaust, an estimated fifty percent of Eastern European Jewry strictly observed Halacha (Jewish law). Halacha covers all aspects of Jewish life from conception until death as well as civil, criminal, and ritual matters. During the Holocaust, Jews strived to maintain their religious observance during periods of torture and genocide.
Historically, rabbis have been asked sheilot (Jewish law questions) in the form of responsum (legal opinions) about any challenges faced by Jewish individuals, and the Jewish community. To compose teshuvot (answers), rabbis consult Jewish legal sources (Torah, Talmud, Codes) and other colleagues in making decisions.
During the Holocaust, rabbis were faced with sheilot regarding the unimaginable circumstances Jews faced. In most cases, there were neither Jewish legal sources available nor colleagues to consult when making legal decisions. As part of the project on Medical Halacha and Rabbinic Responsa in the Holocaust, we are translating, categorizing, and analyzing the medical related responsum asked of the rabbis during the Holocaust. Some of these diverse questions include sterilization, contraception, abortion, smothering a crying baby while in hiding, ransom, death, burial, suicide, and post mortem cesarean section. Rabbis had to consider more than solely Jewish law. They had to predict the severity of the situation and the psychological impact that each decision would have. This chapter of Holocaust history represents spiritual resistance from Nazi persecution that has received inadequate documentation and exploration in Holocaust literature.
The topic of Medical Halacha and Rabbinic Responsa in the Holocaust serves as an engaging topic with which to conduct a workshop. Rabbis played an important role in medical care during the Holocaust and looking at the impact of their decisions can teach us about the impact of religious roles in medicine. Our workshop will focus on spiritual resistance and the importance of traditional religious beliefs during the Holocaust. Even in a time of unimaginable suffering, we will explore the role of the rabbis in medical decision-making and their provision of psychological support. We will provide an introduction as background material to Jewish sources and the halachic process followed by analysis of specific cases.
The workshop format will lend itself to facilitating group interaction, text study, rabbinic analysis, and medical halachic dilemmas during the Holocaust. We will also draw contemporary parallels challenging the form and structure of rabbinic inquiry.
The faculty co-leading this workshop will consist of Erin Miller, senior research associate for the Project on Medicine in the Holocaust at the Boston University School of Public Health and the Elie Wiesel Center for Judaic Studies. Miss. Miller is the lead researcher on this project and has extensive experience studying and analyzing rabbinic responsa during the Holocaust. She will co-lead this workshop with Dr. Michael A. Grodin, M.D., Director on the Project on Medicine in the Holocaust, a descendant of four generations of Rabbis and Jewish Educators, and a Professor of Judaic Studies, Bioethics, and Health Law. Dr. Grodin is Co-Director of the joint project in Jewish Legal Bioethics of the Institute of Jewish Law at the Boston University School of Law.