Bruriah juniors and seniors and their parents participated in an science and halacha layl iyun. Rabbi Doctor Aaron Glatt delivered a very timely and relevant keynote address “Vaccinations: A Jewish Perspective.” Rabbi Doctor Blatt, a spokesperson for the Infectious Disease Society of America and executive vice president and chief administrative officer at Mercy Medical Center in Rockville Center, as well as the associate rabbi at Congregation Anshei Chesed in Hewlett, is uniquely qualified to address this topic. Junior Temima Hyman commented, “It was interesting to see Torah sources for vaccines and the Torah perspective on vaccination. As the Torah is supposed to guide us in all areas of life, seeing the Torah perspective on these real life issues was very meaningful.”

Following a Q & A session participants had the opportunity to select two workshops from the following choices. “DNA, Genetics and its Application to Halachic Issues” was delivered by Dr. Jacob Victor, a biochemist with over 35 years of experience developing DNA and immunodiagnostic blood tests. An insightful student shared that learning that Kohanim can be recognized by their Y chromosome was an extremely validating experience in linking science and Torah knowledge.

Rabbi Chaim Loike, a rabbinic coordinator for the OU and an expert in the kashrut of birds spoke about “The Mesorah of Kosher Birds and Eggs.” Accompanying Rabbi Loike were more than a dozen familiar and not so familiar birds. Many of the birds, while unfamiliar, were in fact kosher while others were only kosher look alikes.

“Synthetic, cell-based meat and kashrut” presented by Rabbi Gavriel Price was a well attended, information rich session—unfortunately there were no samples! Rabbi Price, rabbinic coordinator, and a group leader in the Kashrus division of the OU, conducts research on food ingredients production.

Junior Devorah Burg shared, “I enjoyed the evening a lot. It was incredible to see how science and Torah link together. I was amazed at that companies on the cutting edge of developing lab grown meat are working with and consulting kashrut agencies in developing this product with the kosher consumer in mind.”