Jewish Bioethics
Rabbinic Law and Theology in their Social and Historical Contexts

This book presents the discourse in Jewish law and rabbinic literature on bioethical issues, highlighting practical problems in their socio-historical contexts. Yechiel Michael Barilan discusses end-of-life care, abortion, infertility treatments, the brain death debate, and the organ market. Barilan also presents the theology and spirituality of Jewish medical law, the communal responsibility for healthcare, and the charitable sick-care societies that flourished in the Jewish communities until the beginning of the twentieth century.

1. Introduction; 2. An outline of 'Jewish bioethics'; 3. Health and healthcare; 4. Doctor-patient relationship; 5. The human body; 6. Fertility and very early prenatal life; 7. Childbirth and abortion; 8. Care for premature neonates; 9. Organ transplantation and the brain death debate; 10. Terminal care.

Yechiel Michael Barilan is a practising clinician, expert in internal medicine, and Associate Professor of Medical Education in the Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University. He received his medical degree from the Israel Institute of Technology (Technion) and his Master's degree, in bioethics, from the University of Leuven. His first book, Human Dignity, Human Rights and Responsibility, was published in 2012.