More than 100 Medical doctors from many different cities throughout the northeast gathered at the Hilton JFK hotel for a conference with Rav Asher Weiss, posek of Shaare Tzedek Medical Center in Jerusalem.

Rabbi Weiss talked about clinical dangers that health care professionals faced. Given the recent Ebola crisis and health care professionals who found themselves at risk of infection as a result of performing their clinical duties, the discussion centered around the extent and limits of the concept of pikuach nefesh. The response would also apply to the risks inherent in being a policeman, a firefighter or a soldier.

The rabbi told the attendees that the issue had come to the attention of poskim in the past, in the early days of the AIDS virus, when clinicians feared exposure. During the shiur, the Rav touched on many interesting issues of the expansive sugya of pikuach nefesh, including live organ donations, which the Rav classified as, in some appropriate cases, being a midas chassidus, or a worthy pursuit.

During the Q&A period, questions ranged from the difficult decisions involved in prophylactic treatment of otherwise healthy individuals who have dangerous genetic markers, such as BRCA; end of life issues; organ donations, robotic surgery, and even issues relating how best to distribute limited health care resources. Rabbi Weiss was adamant in his belief that all patients be treated equally regardless of other circumstances and affirmed the fact that at Shaare Tzedek, even terrorists who are brought in from the field receive treatment.

By Dan Geisler