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The Sixth Miami International Conference on Torah & Science ABSOLUTE STANDARDS IN AN AGE OF RELATIVITY
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December 2005 For information contact Ilana Attia, info@borhatorh.org Biographical Sketches and Abstracts of the Keynote and Contributing Lecturers
Professor Nathan Aviezer Nathan Aviezer was born in Switzerland, grew up in Detroit, and received his doctorate in physics from the University of Chicago. He then held a research position at the IBM Watson Research Center near New York. In 1967, the Aviezers made aliyah to Israel, where he joined Bar-Ilan University as Professor of Physics and Chairman of the Physics Department. The author of more than 100 scientific articles on solid state physics, Professor Aviezer (whose surname was then Wiser) was elected in 1984 as a Fellow of the American Physical Society, in recognition of his important research contributions to the theory of the electrical properties of metals and alloys. In 1992, the Royal Society of London elected Professor Aviezer as a Royal Society Research Professor of Physics. Professor Aviezer has an active interest in the relationship between Torah and science. He teaches a popular course on Torah and science at Bar Ilan University and has written two books on this subject. In the Beginning: Biblical Creation and Science (Ktav Publishing House, 1990) is in its eighth printing, and has been translated into nine languages. Its Hebrew title is Beresheet Bara. Fossils and Faith: Understanding Torah and Science, was published by Ktav. aviezen@mail.biu.ac.il “On Contradictions between Torah and Science: The Creation of the Universe” Keynote lecture by Professor Nathan Aviezer Physics, Bar-Ilan University, Israel It is generally believed that the first chapter of Genesis—the Torah account of Creation—has great moral value, but that these verses cannot be taken literally. We shall show that, in complete contrast to this widespread misconception, current scientific evidence is in remarkable agreement with the literal words of the Torah account of the origin and development of the universe. Recent discoveries show that the first chapter of Genesis records the events that actually occurred in the past. To establish our thesis, we shall draw on the latest scientific findings from diverse fields. It will be seen that faith in G-d and accepting the truth of the Torah do not require the abandonment of rational thinking. On the contrary, scientific findings have become important tools for understanding many biblical passages and for deepening one’s faith. Modern science imparts new insights and deeper meaning into the eternal words of the Torah. A few of the "latest scientific findings from diverse fields" (other than cosmology) that relate to Torah and Science that will be discussed are: Linguistics: The Genesis account of the spread of languages (Tower of Babel) corresponds closely to the Colin Renfrew theory of the spread of the Indo-European languages; Aging: The extreme longevity ascribed to the early generations in Genesis, can be explained in terms of the genetic theory of aging; String theory: The Kabbalah account of the creation of the universe can be explained in terms of the multi-dimensional universe posited by string theory; Chaos: The Torah assertion that the rain in Israel will always remain unpredictable can be explained in terms of chaos theory - "butterfly effect"; Zoology: The Genesis command "let the waters swarm with living creatures...of many different types” precisely corresponds to the "explosion of life forms" scientists tell us inaugurated the animal kingdom. Conference Organizer Professor Herman Branover Professor Herman Branover was born in Riga, Latvia, earned his PhD from the Moscow Institute of Aviation in magnetohydrodynamics (MHD), and completed a DSc degree in physics and mathematics at the Leningrad Polytechnic Institute. While a leading scientist at the Latvian Academy of Science, Professor Branover discovered G-d and the Torah, became a Lubavitcher Hasid, and then struggled for the right for Jews to immigrate to Israel. During this difficult period and up until the present, he has led the cultural and spiritual revival of Russian Jewry. After settling in Beersheba with his wife and son, in 1977 Professor Branover created the Center for Magnetohydrodynamics Studies at Ben-Gurion University. The Center engages in teaching, research, and the development of a novel MHD electricity generator. He has authored over twenty scientific books and textbooks, thirty technological patents, hundreds of professional articles, and an autobiography, Return (published by Jason Aronson). As honorary president of SHAMIR, the Israel Association of Religious Professionals from the Former USSR, Professor Branover continues encouraging Russian Jews to observe the Torah and live in Israel. He is the initiator and editor-in-chief of the B’Or Ha’Torah Journal of Science, Art, and Modern Life in the Light of the Torah, published by SHAMIR. A recipient of the S.D. Bergman Prize for the development of new technology in Israel, he also received the Knesset Speaker’s Award in 1991 for his work with Russian immigrant absorption. He chairs the prime minister’s committee for solving immigrants’ professional employment problems. He is a foreign member of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences in Moscow and the Latvian Academy of Sciences, a member of the Moscow International Energy Club, and has received honorary doctorates from the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Technical University of St. Petersburg, and Yeshiva University. In 2001 he won the Award of Honor of the Menachem Begin Prize for his outstanding contribution to the State of Israel and the Jewish People. hbranover@oksatec.com Introductory Remarks by Professor Herman Branover The Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menahem Mendel Schneerson, used his science education in the 1930’s at the Sorbonne, the Polytechnic Institute of Paris, and the University of Berlin to critique the Darwinian theory of evolution. The Rebbe’s argument is that although called a theory (which is not a law), evolution can hardly even be considered an hypothesis because it lacks the rigid empirical proof required by the harder sciences. The conclusions of Darwinian evolution are made by backward extrapolation, a method which in serious science nobody claims is a precise method that can be confidently relied upon. Moreover, usually it is permissible to extend the empirical curve only slightly beyond the interval of actual measurements, since the extension becomes less and less reliable the further it continues from the actually researched interval. Jacob Brudoley, MD Born in Haifa, Israel, Jacob Brudoley received his BS in biology from the State University of New York at Binghamton in 1987 and his MD from the State University of New York Health Science Center at Brooklyn in 1991. He has done postgraduate training in the areas of internal medicine, anesthesiology, and psychiatry. In 1997 he received first place award from the Illinois Psychiatric Society for his paper “Monotheism and the Future of Psychiatry”and was subsequently invited to the Zygon Center for Religion and Science in Chicago as visiting scholar. From 1996 to 1998 Dr. Brudoley was a resident in psychiatry at Loyola University Medical Center of Chicago. He is currently working at the Institute for Spirituality and Health in Shawnee Mission Medical Center in Kansas City. He is also partnering with the Torah Learning Center (a Kansas City Habad organization) in a monthly Torah and science series of presentations. sjbrudoley@msn.com “Multiplicity:Future of the Illusion” Contributing lecture by Jacob Brudoley, MD Medicine, Institute for Spirituality and Health in Shawnee Mission Medical Center, Kansas City, USA Hasidism teaches that the existence of distinct independent entities is ultimately an illusion perceived by humans due to tsimtsum (divine contraction).1 Humans have the mental capacity to analyze anything into a conceptual system of parts (ad infinitum) and to attribute an illusory independent identity to a part. The part, an arbitrary mental demarcation, cannot be fully and truly defined without reference to its environment, and therefore, has no independent identity. Biological and other physical systems, as well as psychological systems, will be used as models to illustrate this. The mental capacity for synthesis will be discussed with a focus on Absolute Unitary Being as described in the neuropsychology of religious experience.2 Neural correlates of religious experience do not support reductionistic materialism. The Lubavitcher Rebbe states that such a correlation “is the logical result of the absolute truth of G-d’s unity, that G-d is One and there is nothing besides Him.”3 In modern scientific thought and mystical teachings of world religions there are the notion of synthesis and quasi-monotheistic concepts of ultimate oneness. These concepts are to be found, but may need to be emphasized in practice. 1 Shneur Zalman of Liadi, Likutey Torah, Shir Ha’Shirim, 41a 2E.G. D’Aquili and A.B. Newberg, The Mystical Mind: Probing the Biology of Religious Experience (Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Fortress, 1999); A.B. Newberg, E.G. D’Aquili, and V. Rause, Why G-d Won’t Go Away: Brain Science and the Biology of Belief (New York: Ballantine, 2001). 3Menahem M. Schneerson, Igros Kodesh, vol. XIII, p.233, as translated by R. Sholom B. Wineberg, Healthy in Body, Mind and Spirit (Brooklyn, NY: Sichos in English, (2005). Professor William A. Dembski A mathematician and a philosopher, Professor William A. Dembski is the Carl F.H. Henry Professor of Science and Theology at Southern Seminary in Louisville, where he heads its Center for Theology and Science. He is also a senior fellow with Discovery Institute’s Center for Science and Culture in Seattle and the executive director of the International Society for Complexity, Information, and Design (www.iscid.org). Previously, he was on the faculty of Baylor University as associate research professor in the conceptual foundations of science, where he also headed the first Intelligent Design think-tank at a major research university: The Michael Polanyi Center. Dr. Dembski has taught at Northwestern University, the University of Notre Dame, and the University of Dallas. He has done postdoctoral work in mathematics at MIT, in physics at the University of Chicago, and in computer science at Princeton University. A graduate of the University of Illinois at Chicago where he earned a BA in psychology, an MS in statistics, and a PhD in philosophy, he also received a doctorate in mathematics from the University of Chicago in 1988 and a master of divinity degree from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1996. He has held National Science Foundation graduate and postdoctoral fellowships. Dr. Dembski has published articles in mathematics, philosophy, and theology journals and is the author/editor of more than ten books. In The Design Inference: Eliminating Chance Through Small Probabilities (Cambridge University Press, 1998), he examines the design argument in a post-Darwinian context and analyzes the connections linking chance, probability, and intelligent causation. The sequel to The Design Inference appeared with Rowman & Littlefield in 2002 and critiques Darwinian and other naturalistic accounts of evolution. It is titled No Free Lunch: Why Specified Complexity Cannot Be Purchased without Intelligence. Dr. Dembski's most recent books are two edited collections: Uncommon Dissent: Intellectuals Who Find Darwinism Unconvincing (ISI, 2004) and Debating Design: From Darwin to DNA (Cambridge University Press, 2004, co-edited with Michael Ruse). His next book is a festschrift volume, co-edited with Jed Macosko, in honor of Phillip Johnson. It is titled Darwin’s Nemesis: Phillip Johnson and the Intelligent Design Movement. “The Place of Intelligent Design in the Natural Sciences” Keynote lecture by Special Guest Professor William A. Dembski Science and Theology, Southern Seminary, Louisville, KY, USA The relation of Intelligent Design to the natural sciences is very much under dispute these days. According to evolutionist Francisco Ayala, Darwin's greatest achievement was to show that the organized complexity of living things could be brought about without recourse to a designing intelligence. Teleology is now widely regarded as having no fundamental place in the natural sciences. Intelligence and teleology might emerge at the end of a blind, purposeless evolutionary process, but are not regarded as properly prior to it. Intelligent design attempts to bring teleology back into the natural sciences. This talk will examine intelligent design's prospects for success in doing so. Professor Isaac Elishakoff Dr. Isaac Elishakoff is the J.M. Rubin Distinguished Professor of Structural Reliability, Safety and Security of the department of mechanical engineering at the Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton. He also teaches in the mathematics department there. From 1972 to 1989 he was a faculty member of the Technion, Israel Institute of Technology, where he became a professor of aeronautical engineering in 1984. He also served as Visiting Freimann Chair Professor at the University of Notre Dame, as well as a Visiting Koiter Chair Professor at the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, the Naval Postgraduate School in the USA, and the University of Tokyo in Japan, and Distinguished Castigliano Professor at the University of Palermo, Italy. A distinguished lecturer of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, he is an associate editor of four international journals and general advisory editor of Elsevier Science Publishers in Oxford, England. His numerous scientific papers and twenty-one books and edited volumes deal with various aspects of theoretical and applied mechanics, especially in the context of uncertainty modeling. His book on politics and mathematics, The Courage to Challenge: The Israel that Can Say No to Self-Annihilation (obtainable from www.amazon.com), utilizes mathematical game theory to elucidate the peculiar nature of what is optimistically called the peace process. “Hybrid of Two Sciences: Personal and National Psychologies and the Need for National Memory” Keynote lecture by Professor Isaac Elishakoff Mechanical Engineering, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, USA This paper analyzes the current situation in Israel by combining two sciences: personal psychology and political psychology. It concludes by discussing the need of collective, national memory for the survival and growth. There are numerous studies in personal psychology on the concept of optimism bias as defined by Neil D. Weinstein and William M, Klein1, Myriam Welkenhuysen et al.2, Jasper H. Arnold III3, Daniel Kahneman (Nobel Prize laureate) and Amos Tversky4and Hamish A. Deery,5 to name a few. The aim of these studies to detect the degree of bias in optimistic behavior. Naturally, a healthy dose of optimism is needed in order for a person to function satisfactorily. The studies show, however, that people in certain age groups have a greater optimism bias. When asked what is probability of causing an accident, if you reply, “slim,” this does not necessarily suggest you have an optimism bias. You may be a very safe driver. The psychologists, therefore, pose a different question: “What is the probability of your getting into an accident in comparison with average drivers?” It turns out that an overwhelming majority of young adults5 between the ages of seventeen to twenty-five reply “slim.” The same question posed to young people who have been involved in an accident likewise draws a high percentage that the probability is slim. This suggests an optimism bias—that a person’s assessed probability is much smaller than that of an average driver. This is also referred to as a “Lake Woebegone effect,” Lake Woebegone being a place where everyone is, you guessed it, above average. When young people were asked whether they were more responsible than other average young people, the response showed that about 100 percent of them considered themselves above average!5 It appears that the politicians leading Israel are in the stage of optimism bias. My lecture documents this phenomenon based on the science of political psychology. In 1973 this was summarized by then President E. Kazir when he reflected that his compatriots had been living in a fool’s paradise. Professor Paul Eidelberg6, 7 utilizes harsher terminology, and journalist Caroline Glick8 suggests abandoning “irrelevant visions.” The question arises: How can an ancient nation exhibit the behavior of a young adult? Here a surprising reply comes in: When you forget the past or try to disengage from the national memory and heritage, you are prone to a common national delusion and optimism bias endangering the nation living in Israel as well as in the Diaspora. Cures for how to decease optimism bias are suggested, based on teachings of ancient sages and modern businessmen.9 Note, for example, that George Soros9 calls himself as “insecurity analyst.” He writes, “I recognize that I may be wrong. This makes me insecure. My sense of insecurity keeps me alert, always ready to correct my errors.” The lecture suggests some mechanisms on how Israel could correct errors based mostly on optimism bias. 1N.D Weinstein and W.M. Klein, “Unrealistic Optimism: Present and Future,”Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 1986, vol. 15(1), pp. 1-8. 2M. Welkenhuysen, G. Evers-Kiebeoms, M. Decruyenaere and H. Van den Berge, “Unrealistic Optimism and Genetic Risk,” Psychology and Risk, 1996, vol. 11, pp. 479-492. 3J.H. Arnold III, “Assessing Capital Risk. You Can’t Be Too Realistic; Worst Case Forecasts are Almost Always too Optimistic,” in New Projects: Beware of False Economics, 1985, pp. 113-121. 4D. Kalneman and Tversky, “On the Reality of Cognitive Illusions”, Psychological Reviews, 1996, vol. 103930, pp. 582-591. 5H.A. Deery, “Hazard and Risk Perception among Young Novice Drivers,” Journal of Safety Research, 1999, vol. 30(4), pp. 225-236. 6P. Eidelberg, “A Matter of Stupidity,” (29 January 2004) obtainable via eideberg@ foundation.net. 7P. Eidelberg, “Madness in Israel,” (22 March 2004) available via eidelberg@foundation.net. 8C. Glick, “Base Policy on Reality-Not Irrelevant Visions,” The Jerusalem Post, 25 June, 2005. 9G. Soros, Soros on Soros: Staying Ahead of the Curve, (New York: Wiley, 1995) p. 11, 1995. Rabbi Chaim Feuerman, EdD Rabbi Chaim Feuerman, EdD, is a student of Rabbi Yitzchak Hutner. He received his rabbinical ordination from Yeshiva Mesivta Chaim Berlin and Kollel Gur Aryeh. He earned his doctorate in educational administration and supervision at St. John’s University in Queens, New York. In the course of four decades Rabi Feuerman headed major yeshiva academies from coast to coast, served as an educational consultant and seminar leader, and published extensively. Today he holds the Golda Koschitzky Chair of Education, chairs the Mendheim Student Teaching and Administrative Internship Mentoring Program of the Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration of Yeshiva University in New York. The founder of Consulting Plus, Rabbi Feuerstein is a consultant for the Board of Jewish Education of Greater New York, the Jewish Children’s Museum in Brooklyn, and for Jewish day schools in many cities, and the Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik Teacher Training Institute in Boston. An active member of the Young Israel of Kew Gardens, he prays frequently at Yeshivas Ohr Hachaim and Beth Medrash Chasam Sofer, where he teaches Mishnah every Shabbat. CFeuerman@aol.com “Intuition, Hokhmat Ha’Partsuf, and Ruah Ha’Kodesh Analyzed in the Light of the Teachings of the Talmud Sages and Recent Psychological Research” Contributing lecture by Rabbi Chaim Feuerman, EdD Education, Yeshiva University, New York, USA Much literature in psychological research can be cited to indicate that people have significant intuitive powers. Torah sources as well abound with references to the human ability to intuit information, knowledge and understanding. Yet these intuitive powers often go unrecognized and consequently underutilized. In this presentation we shall: · Review some of the Torah sources; e.g.,the Zohar on hokhmat ha’partsuf, biblical and talmudic references to prophecy and intuition, as well as classical commentators on these references; · Review some of the psychological research literature relevant to intuition; e.g., Paul Ekman, Emotions Revealed: Recognizing Faces and Feelings to Improve Communication and Emotional Life (New York: Times Books, 2003); · Propose a theoretical construct, The Intuition Processing Model, to describe how intuition may work; · Chronicle several striking personal intuitive episodes and experiences; · Spell out some of the implications of the information presented for educators, rabbis, therapists, parents and significant others. Rabbi Tzvi Freeman Tzvi Freeman studied music at the University of British Columbia and received rabbinical ordination at the Lubavitch Central Yeshiva in New York. He completed post-graduate studies at the Rabbinical College of Canada, where his thesis “Absolute Time in Classic Jewish Thought” was published. Every day, Chabad.org mails out a “Daily Dose of Wisdom” written by Rabbi Freeman, as well as a semi-weekly, in-depth analysis of a topic in Jewish mysticism. He has published five books: Bringing Heaven Down to Earth; Be Within, Stay Above; The Book of Purpose; Men, Women and Kabbala; and Heaven Exposed. Rabbi Freeman is also an expert, consultant, and lecturer in the field of educational technology, having held posts at the University of British Columbia and Digipen School of Computer Gaming. He has written several feature articles for Game Developer Magazine. He authored the award-winning CD-ROM “A to Zap!,” which was featured as Hot Pick of the Year on Good Morning America. In the year 2000, he was appointed to the educational advisory council of Vivendi Interactive in recognition of his work in early childhood user interface. Rabbi Freeman currently resides in Thornhill, Canada with his wife Nomi and their children. TzviFreeman@sympatico.ca “Modeling Reality” Contributing lecture by Rabbi Tzvi Freeman Author and thinker, Toronto, Canada A useful model of reality must begin by describing irreducible elements that comprise the core fabric of the universe. Two kinds of models have competed over the centuries: the materialist model and the platonian model. The materialist model is insufficient in explaining the obviously deliberate design of the universe. Furthermore, it fails to provide a working definition of its core hypothesis—matter. On the other hand, the Idealist model, whereby a cosmic intelligence is responsible for design while matter is simply assumed, is inherently dualistic. This paper will outline how classic Jewish thinkers gradually articulated a monistic model that is at once both consistent with the text and language of the Torah as well as eminently helpful as a scientist's paradigm. Each in his own language describes a super-rational core singularity which is gradually stepped-down and filtered to crystallize as consciousness and eventually as the discrete events of our world. What human perception interprets as matter is no more than consistent articulation of this dynamic in quantitative forms. The contributions of Maimonides, Nahmanides, the Zohar and its commentators, the Maharal, Ramak, The Ari, Shelah and Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi towards this model will be examined. Rabbi Aaron Glatt, MD, FACP, FCCP, FIDSA, FSHEA Rabbi Aaron Glatt, MD is the Assistant Rabbi at Congregation Anshei Chesed (South Shore) in Hewlett, NYand was recently appointed as Assistant to the Rabbi at the Young Israel of Woodmere, NY. He has given a daily Talmud lesson for over two cycles, first at the Young Israel of Kew Gardens Hills, and currently at the Young Israel of Woodmere. He also gives a weekly Talmud in depth class, daily halakhah classes, as well as other classes. An international lecturer on medical halakhic issues, Rabbi Dr. Glatt has authored a popular book, Women in the Talmud, published by the Orthodox Union (OU) and distributed by Mesorah Publications, (www.artscroll.com). Rabbi Dr. Glatt has served as Associate Dean and full Professor of Clinical Medicine at New York Medical College for several years, and is currently Medical Director of the Mercy Ambulatory Care Center. Formerly he was chairman of the Department of Medicine at Our Lady of Mercy Medical Center in Bronx, NY. Before that, he was chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases and Chairman of Infection Control at St. Vincent Catholic Medical Centers for over a decade. He has extensive administrative, academic, clinical and grant experience. Dr. Glatt received his medical degree from the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. After completing his internship, residency, and chief residency in internal medicine at the Brookdale Hospital Medical Center in Brooklyn NY, he completed a fellowship in infectious diseases at the State University of New York Health Sciences Center in Brooklyn. Dr. Glatt is board certified in internal medicine and infectious diseases, and received rabbinic ordination from Rabbi Avraham Tzvi Wosner at Machon LeTorah Vehora’ah. The author of 200 scientific journal articles and presentations at national meetings, and an internationally known medical lecturer, Dr. Glatt was a guest editor of the Infectious Diseases Clinic of North America and infectious diseases editor of Dorland’s Illustrated Medical Dictionary. In addition, he has served on the editorial boards of major publications, is a reviewer for many prestigious journals, and has served on many government, hospital, medical school and local public health committees. His medical interests include general infectious diseases, infection control, Clostridium difficile, tuberculosis, fungal infection, occupational-related HIV seroconversion, HIV infection, and antibiotic utilization. An international lecturer on Jewish medical ethics, Rabbi Dr. Glatt innovated a course at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine entitled “Faith and Medicine: An Oxymoron?” “Circumcision and the Metsitsah Be’peh Controversey: Viewed through the Eyes of Halakhah and theMicroscope” Keynote lecture by Rabbi Aaron Glatt, MD Medicine/Infectious Diseases; Professor of Medicine and former Associate Dean New York Medical College; and former Chairman of Medicine, Our Lady of Mercy Medical Center, Bronx; and Assistant Rabbi, Young Israel of Woodmere and Congregation Anshei Chesed in Hewlett, NY, USA Brit milah (ritual circumcision) is a fundamental commandment of Judaism. First performed by our forefather Abraham nearly four thousand years ago, most of the laws and rituals regarding this precept are based upon the Oral Law and tradition. Recent scientific articles and case reports postulate that there may be an increased risk of certain infectious diseases (particularly herpes simples genital infection and/or encephalitis) in Jewish babies who undergo metsitsah bepeh (oral suction) as part of brit milah. This presentation will provide an historical and halakhic overview to metsitsah bepeh, discuss the different halakhic opinions regarding its performance, provide an overview of the infectious diseases potentially involved, and the risk and evidence for mohel transmission of contagion during metsitsah bepeh, and conclude with practical rulings from great sages and adjudicators. In the final analysis, each family must consult its own rabbi for advice. References include but are not limited to Dr. Avraham Steinberg's Encyclopedia, Nishmat Avraham, vol. 2., Yoreh De'ah 263:8 (p. 176) and 264:5 (pp. 182-183), and elsewhere; Tiferet Yisrael (Commentary to Mishnah Shabbat 19:2), Maharam Shick; Binyan Tzion; Responsa Avnei Nezer 1:338; Harav Kook, Hatam Sofer, and other response. Yaacov (Jack) Hanoka, PhD Dr. Yaacov Hanoka has a PhD in Solid State Physics and has worked on solar cells for the past twenty-five years. He has more than fifty publications and twenty-four patents in this field. He is a founder and vice-president of Evergreen Solar in Marlboro, Massachusetts.. Dr. Hanoka was one of the co-founders of the Encounter with Chabad programs held in Crown Heights, Brooklyn and geared towards Jewish college students and faculty members. He chaired this program for thirty years. More recently he has written and lectured on the interaction between Torah and science. He is a member of the editorial board of B’Or HaTorah. We join Dr. Hanoka and his five children in mourning his beloved noble wife Bina, who passed away this year. hanoka@evergreensolar.com “The Dating Scene—Evolution and the Dating Methods” Keynote Lecture by Yaacov (Jack) Hanoka, PhD Physics, Vice President of Evergreen Solar, Marlboro, MA, USA Radioactive rock dating is used to derive that the world is some 4.5 billion years old. This is in contrast to what the Torah says—that the world is less than 6000 years old. An old earth is needed for the theory of evolution. Attempts are made to date fossils and such dates are then critical in establishing sequences in time and developing the scaffolding that underlines much of the theory of evolution. The study of human origins, also based on the fundamental beliefs stemming from the theory of evolution, rely heavily on the ability to date fossils. This talk will discuss some of the most widely used various dating methods. They can be listed in the following order of decreasing accuracy: · Tree ring dating · Radioactive carbon – Carbon 14 dating · Radioactive rock dating The assumptions behind the methods and their limitations will be discussed at length. It will be shown that there are serious questions regarding the application of all of them. A background to this discussion will also focus on the revival of catastrophism in modern science. Conference organizer Professor Nathan Katz Nathan Katz is Professor of Religious Studies and Director of the Center for the Study of Spirituality at Florida International University in Miami. He is also Consulting Academic Dean of the Chaim Yakov Shlomo College of Jewish Studies in Surfside, Florida. The author of fifteen books and more than one hundred scholarly and popular articles, Professor Katz has won four Fulbright awards for research and teaching in South Asia, where he has lived for more than seven years. He has been named a “Master Teacher” by the Florida Humanities Council an unprecedented twelve times, and in 1994 his classroom excellence was recognized with a Florida State University System Teaching Incentive Program award. In 1999 he won the President’s Award for Achievement and Excellence, the most prestigious distinction awarded by FIU. His most recent book, Who Are the Jews of India?, was a finalist for the 2000 National Jewish Book Award in Sephardic Studies. The book also earned the 2004 Vak Devi Saraswati Saman Award from India. When Professor Katz came to FIU in 1994, he developed and chaired a Program in Jewish Studies. In 1995 he became the founding chair of the Department of Religious Studies. At FIU, he has also been very active in developing both the Jewish Studies and Asian Studies Programs. Professor Katz’s research spans the religious traditions of South Asia and focuses on Indo-Judaic Studies. He has written more than a dozen books about Buddhism, Hinduism, and Judaism. His most recent work, Kashruth, Caste and Kabbalah, was published in 2005. His other books include The Last Jews of Cochin: Jewish Identity in Hindu India (co-author, 1993), Ethnic Conflict in Buddhist Societies: Sri Lanka, Thailand and Burma (co-author, 1988), and Buddhist Images of Human Perfection (1982). The editor of Indo-Judaic Studies, an academic journal devoted to exploring the interactions and affinities between Indian and Jewish civilizations, he has been a pioneer in establishing dialogues between Jews and Hindus and Buddhists, on international and local levels. In 1990 he was invited to participate in the historic Tibetan-Jewish dialogue, hosted by the Dalai Lama at his palace in Dharamsala, India. He was a featured character in Rodger Kamenetz’s best-seller, The Jew in the Lotus, and he made an appearance in the film of the same title. katzn@fiu.edu Yakir Kaufman, MD Yakir Kaufman was born in Haifa and received his MD from the Hebrew University Hadassah Faculty of Medicine in 1994. In 1995 he become a resident doctor at the department of neurology of the Hadassah University Hospital in Jerusalem. Dr. Kaufman is a member of the Israeli Neurological Society and a junior member of the American Academy of Neurology. He spent two years in Toronto, Canada, as a Fellow in the Behavioural Neurology Program at the Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care and the Rotman Institute. Since his return to Jerusalem in 2004 he has joined the medical staff of the Herzog Memorial Hospital and teaches Judaism and Medicine at the Hebrew University Hadassah medical school. At Herzog Hospital Dr. Kaufman has founded The Center for Brain Health, which integrates conventional and alternative medicine, using also a spiritual approach, placing the patient at the center of the healing process. His areas of research include psychoneuroimmunology and the link between spirituality and health. ykaufman@herzoghospital.org “Meaning, Meaninglessness and Health Outcomes: Alzheimer's Disease as a Model” Keynote lecture by Yakir Kaufman, MD Neurology, Herzog Memorial Hospital, Jerusalem, Israel Stress has been shown to be a risk factor for many disease processes. Levels of stress are high when one feels a sense of uncontrollability. Uncontrollability in turn, is rife with meaninglessness. Therefore meaninglessness which causes stress is in itself a risk factor for disease states in general, and neurodegenerative processes in particular, such as Alzheimer's disease (AD). AD is one of the most devastating diseases of our times. We have recently presented the results of a study showing that higher levels of meaning, expressed by higher levels of spirituality, brought about slower progression of AD.1 Depression and stress have been linked to poor health outcome and higher morbidity of neurodegenerative disease and specifically AD. We hypothesize that AD is a model of how meaninglessness may eventually impair health and cause AD. Our society highly values material possessions, status and professional career. People in their sixties, however, are kindly dismissed from their professional obligations. At that point, their sense of coherence and meaning are severed. This gradually causes depression and stress, which in turn cause hippocampal atrophy and memory impairment, eventually causing Alzheimer disease. Numerous studies have shown that higher levels of spirituality and religiosity enhance well-being and provide higher levels of meaning. Higher levels of meaning increase controllability which , in turn, reduces stress, thus reducing risk for hippocampal dysfunction and Alzheimer's disease. This model warrants early intervention aimed at enhancement of spiritual well-being to prevent AD and other neurodegenerative pathologies. 1Kaufman Y, Anaki D, Binns M, Freedman M. “Rate of Cognitive Decline in Alzheimer’s Disease and Spirituality/Religiosity,” Neurology 2005, vol 64. (supp 1), no 6, A225. Barry M. Kinzbrunner, MD Barry M. Kinzbrunner, MD and FACP, is Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer for Vitas Healthcare Corporation of Miami, Florida. He received his medical degree at Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, N.Y., and completed an internal medicine residency at Staten Island Hospital. Fellowship training in Medical Oncology was received at Downstate Medical Center. He is board certified in Internal Medicine and Medical Oncology, and Hospice and Palliative Medicine. Dr. Kinzbrunner returned to school and in 1992 earned a Masters degree in Jewish Studies from Barry University in Miami. In May, 2001, he began studies with the Pirchei Shoshanim organization, leading to Orthodox rabbinic ordination in Jerusalem, Israel in July, 2002. He continues rabbinic studies with Pirchei Shoshanim. Dr. Kinzbrunner spent nine years in the private practice of Medical Oncology/Hematology in Tamarac, Florida. During that time, he also served part time as the Medical Director of Hospice, Incorporated, an operational unit of what is now known as Vitas Healthcare Corporation. The growth of the Hospice, Incorporated program coupled with his professional growth led directly to his full time position as Vice President and National Medical Director of Vitas Healthcare Corporation, where he has assumed full time administrative duties. He continued in that position for over 12 years, and in October, 2004, was promoted to Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Kinzbrunner has acquired extensive experience in the development of professional performance standards, pain and symptom management guidelines, quality assurance, marketing, and serving as a liaison between the hospice program and community physicians. He developed a research program and a medical education program in hospice and palliative care for third year medical students at the University of Miami. He has published several articles in major peer-reviewed journals, authored a chapter on the care of the terminally ill cancer patient for a new major medical oncology textbook published in March, 1995 (second edition, January, 2000). He has also written chapters on the treatment of cancer pain and the team approach to pain management in a pain management handbook, published in February, 1996. In September 2001, Dr. Kinzbrunner completed a book project. Entitled “20 Common Problems in End of Life Care” and published by the McGraw Hill Publishing Company, Dr. Kinzbrunner was the lead editor and contributed several chapters. During the summer of 2005, Dr. Kinzbrunner and several other Vitas Medical Directors proctored a six week summer elective on end of life care organized by the American Medical Student’s Association (AMSA) and co-sponsored by Vitas and several other organizations. He also provides on-going lectures on end of life care to geriatric fellows and residents at the Miami VA Medical Center. In coordination with other physicians and pharmacists, Dr. Kinzbrunner developed and published Pain Management Guidelines in order to ensure that effective pain management is provided to terminally ill patients in the outpatient setting. A similar handbook, addressing the management of symptoms other than pain has also been completed. He is working closely with operational managers in the development of clinical pathways that can be integrated into electronic charting system, and a medication formulary that will be included in a pharmacy adjudication system. He served on the AHCPR review panel for the development of guidelines for the management of cancer pain. He has also served on a sub-committee of the Standards Committee of the National Hospice Organization to develop guidelines for identification of patients with diagnoses other than cancer who are eligible for the hospice benefit. He was elected to the Board of Directors of the Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine in 2000 (having served since 1999) and as chair of the Medical Director Standards Task Force has submitted Medical Director Guidelines that have been presented at several national meetings, and that the AAHPM published in January, 2004. In 2004, Dr. Kinzbrunner was elected Treasurer of the AAHPM, effective January, 2005 As part of Vitas’s efforts to develop culturally sensitive end-of-life care, Dr. Kinzbrunner has become expert in end of life care issues pertaining to patients of the Jewish faith. This has led to multiple speaking engagements on this topic, as well as the opportunity to author and publish a chapter on “Jewish Medical Ethics for Patients Near the End-of-Life” in the Jewish Hospice Manual. This manual, authored by Rabbi Maurice Lamm of the National Institute of Jewish Hospice with Dr. Kinzbrunner’s assistance, was published in the fall of 2003. An expanded version of Dr. Kinzbrunner’s chapter “Jewish Medical Ethics for Patients Near the End of Life” was published in the Journal of Palliative Medicine in the summer of 2004. Barry.Kinzbrunner@vitas.com “The Terry Schiavo Case: A Halachic Perspective” Contributing lecture by Barry M. Kinzbrunner, MD Oncology, National Medical Director of Vitas Healthcare Corporation, Miami, FL, USA The recent case of Terry Schiavo sparked tremendous controversy in the United States and abroad regarding how to best for care of patients near the end of life. For Jewish patients in similar situations, halakhah, Jewish law, as expressed by the principles of Jewish Medical Ethics, provides the guidance necessary to make appropriate decisions. This presentation will explore the issues raised by Terry Schiavo in the context of Jewish Medical Ethics. The discussion will start by examining whether and under what circumstances medical interventions may be refused by, withheld from, or withdrawn from terminally ill Jewish patients, and in this context, the intervention known medically as artificial nutritional support will be explored. The conditions under which Jewish patients may execute advance directives consistent with halakhah will then be presented. Finally, halakhic definitions of terminal illness will be reviewed and the medical definition of a persistent vegetative state will be discussed in that context. From the information presented, specific conclusions regarding how halakhah would have dictated the outcome of the Terry Schiavo case will be drawn. My conclusions are as follows:
A. Berman, “From the Legacy of Rav Moshe Feinstein, z”l,” Journal of Halacha and Contemporary Society 13:5, Spring, 1987. J.D. Bleich, “Treatment of the Terminally Ill,” Tradition 30(3):51, 1996. Iggros Moshe, Choshen Mishpat II:74 in M.D. Tendler, Responsa of Rav Moshe Feinstein (NJ: Ktav Publishing, 1996). B.M. Kinzbrunner, “Jewish Medical Ethics and End-of-Life Care,” Palliative Medicine 7(4):558, 2004. B.M. Kinzbrunner, “Jewish Medical Ethics at the End of Life,” M. Lamm with B.M. Kinzbrunner, Jewish Hospice Manual for End-of-Life Care in Hospice and at Home (Miami and New York: Vitas Healthcare Corporation and National Institute for Jewish Hospice, October, 2003). M. Lamm, Commentary in NIJH Jewish Living Will (California, NIJH, 1992). A. Steinberg, “Jewish Perspective on the Four Principles,”chap. 7, Principles of Healthcare Ethics (John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, 1994). A. Steinberg, Encylopedia of Jewish Medical Ethics, trans. Fred Rosner (Jerusalem: Feldheim Publishers, 2003). M.D. Tendler, Responsa of Rav Moshe Feinstein (NJ, Ktav Publishing, 1996). Genesis 24:1, Genesis 47:28-50:1, Leviticus 19:14, Leviticus 19:18, Deuteronomy 4:9, Deuteronomy 4:15, Deuteronomy 6:18. Talmud Avodah Zarah 18a; Bava Metsia 87a; Ketubbot 104a; Sanhedrin 107b; Shabbat 151b with Rashi. Midrash Rabbah Genesis 65:9 Semahot 1:1-4 Shulhan Arukh-Rama to Yoreh Deah 339:1 Shulhan Arukh-Mehaber, end of Hosen Mishpat TE. Finucane, .C. Christmas, K. Travis, JAMA 282:1365, 1999. Amiel Levin, MD Dr. Amiel Levin is a geriatrician, internist, and ethicist who has been working at Mount Sinai Medical Center of Florida since 2004. His interests are in medical education, the biopsychosocial model of illness, ethics, and palliative care. He is well versed in Jewish ethics and serves as the primary consultant on this subject at Mount Sinai Medical Center. He moved from Israel to the US in 1991 after completing his military service in the Israel Defense Force. He obtained his BA and MD degrees from Boston University; completed a three-year residency at Rush Medical Center in Chicago and moved to New York to do a two-year geriatric-fellowship at Cornell University. A year ago he moved to Miami in order to assume the role of teaching internal medicine residents and medical students about geriatrics and ethics and to be the program director of a geriatric fellowship. alevine@msmc.com “The Biopsychosocial Model of Illness and the Healing Powers of Spirituality” Keynote lecture by Amiel Levine, MD Medicine, Mount Sinai Hospital, Miami Chronic illness affects 54 percent of the United States population. The etiology of chronic illness relates to the biological, psychological and social aspects of the human being. The science of medicine during the twentieth century focused solely on research, diagnoses and treatment of the biological etiology of illness. Only recently, medicine began to understand the psychological, social and spiritual dimensions of illness. Nevertheless, medicine invested nearly no efforts in studying this human science; that is, the science of how mental state and spiritual well being affect the biological body. This paper discusses the biopsychosocial model of illness and the trends of improving the research of human science. The paper incorporates the opinion of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menahem Mendel Schneerson, regarding illness and healing, as it is expressed in his talks and letters. The importance of a healthy soul is essential for the healing process of the body. The roles, responsibilities and duties of either patient or physician are explained according to the Rebbe’s opinion. Conference Organizer Rabbi Sholom Lipskar Since receiving ordination from the Central Lubavitch Yeshiva in Brooklyn in 1968, Rabbi Sholom Lipskar has worked as an emissary for the Lubavitcher Rebbe. In 1969 he founded the Landow Yeshiva Center in Miami Beach, Florida. He has served as its principal and dean of its elementary, academy, and high school studies, and was directly responsible for training its rabbinical students. He formulated a school-wide curriculum and managed a multi-million-dollar budget. In 1981, he founded The Shul of Bal Harbour in Surfside, Florida. As its head rabbi he is both the spiritual leader and educational programmer for all ages. Also in 1981 Rabbi Lipskar founded the Aleph Institute and the Educational Academy for the Elderly, both based in Surfside. The Aleph Institute is a non-profit national humanitarian organization dedicated to improving the quality of life for both prisoners and military personnel and their families. Rabbi Lipskar has created alternative punishment philosophies and developed unique educational opportunities for the general public in the field of treatment of closed populations. He directs the pioneering Educational Academy for the Elderly. Rabbi Lipskar is the founder of and chief organizer of the Miami International Conferences on Torah and Science.
Mordechai Olesky is an agricultural consultant, who has worked in numerous tropical countries. His specialty is export development of non-traditional crops, with particular interest in organically grown produce. He holds a master's degree from the College of Agriculture at the University of Florida. He resides in Florida. “G-d’s Creation: From Unity to Diversity to Unity” Contributing lecture by Mordechai Olesky Agricultural Consultant, Florida, USA After the description of creation in Genesis, the Torah states “…the L-rd (Havaya) G-d (Elokim) made earth and heaven (Genesis 2:4).” Judaism attributes creation to the unity of these two names. Havaya confers infinity or non-change to creation, and Elokim confers finiteness or change. Creation reaches its culmination when G-d confers the potential for unity by creating man. Biology describes a similar pattern of creation from unity to diversity to unity, in the carbon cycle, the complementary processes of photosynthesis and respiration. Photosynthesis is the means by which plants utilize carbon dioxide and water to transform the energy of sunlight to glucose and oxygen. In respiration, those products are assimilated to fuel metabolic processes, and carbon dioxide and water return to the atmosphere. Parallel to the Judaic explanation of creation by virtue of the unity of a non-changing and changing Force, chemistry describes the unit of creation as the atom whose permanence is conferred by its number of protons, and change by its electrons. The cycle of carbon dioxide and water becoming glucose and oxygen, and then returning to carbon dioxide and water to be utilized again in photosynthesis, ad infinitum, demonstrates that infinity underlies the finite, and that unity underlies diversity. Alexander Poltorak, PhD Dr. Alexander Poltorak was born in Krasnodar, Russia, in 1957. Devoting his studies at the Kuban State University in Krasnodar to Einstein's theory of relativity and gravitation, Poltorak published several papers in this field and wrote his doctoral thesis on a solution to a long-standing "energy problem" in General Relativity Theory. Accused of Jewish nationalist dissident activity, Poltorak was stripped of his academic degrees. In 1982 he emigrated to the USA. From 1982 to 1985 he served as an assistant professor of biomathematics at Cornell University Medical College, where he conducted research on mathematical modeling of brain blood-flow circulation and on Positron Emission Tomography (PAT). While at Cornell, Poltorak coauthored several papers on PAT that were published in peer-reviewed journals. Alexander Poltorak also served as assistant professor of physics at Touro College. Dr. Poltorak has held the position of co-chairman of the Subcommittee on Information Exchange of the US-USSR Trade and Economic Council. He is now chairman and CEO of General Patent Corporation. He is a professor of law at the Globe Institute of Technology and has been recently appointed an adjunct professor of intellectual property at Columbia University School of Business. He has coauthored two books on intellectual property and numerous papers on patent law and economics. Dr. Poltorak has published numerous articles on topics of Jewish tradition, philosophy, and mysticism. He taught Jewish studies at Touro College and lectures frequently throughout North America on Jewish mysticism, religion, and science. He and his wife live in Monsey, New York. They have five children and two grandchildren “The Riddle of Time and the Age of the Universe” Contributing lecture by Alexander Poltorak Physics, CEO of General Patent Corporation, NY, USA The nature of time is considered within the frameworks of physics, mathematics, Kabbalah and Hasidic philosophy. It is well known that physics fails to explain the riddle of time as most of physical equations are symmetrical with respect to time, contrary to our experience. Neither does physics explain the “flow” of time. It is proposed that the failure of physics to explain time asymmetry is rooted in the use of mathematical formalism, which is inherently static. As there is no room for time in mathematics, so there is no explanation for it in theoretical physics, which entirely relies on static mathematics. It is suggested that the notion of time may arise in formal logic when the human mind tries to construe the meaning of a self-referential statement, thereby setting off an infinite true-false cycle. Self-referential statements, which are inconsistent in formal logic, can easily be modeled on self-consistent dynamic physical processes. In this paradigm, human consciousness plays a key role in the creation of time. This approach is compared to the notion of time in Habad philosophy wherein the time is thought to originate in the infinite oscillation of the rotso–va’shov cycle. Lastly, it is suggested that this approach may serve to reconcile the apparent contradiction between the biblical age of the universe with the cosmological age. Our approach is also consistent with our previously suggested resolution of the age paradox from quantum-mechanical point of view. Aaron Rabinowitz, PhD A clinical psychologist, Dr. Aaron Rabinowitz taught for many years at Bar Ilan University. His book, Judaism and Psychology: Meeting Points, was published by Jason Aronson, and he contributed an invited report, “Insertion of Religion into Medicine” for the American Psychological Association. “Unity-Duality: Mankind’s Role, a Philosophical, Theological, and Psychological Analysis” Contributing lecture by Aaron Rabinowitz, PhD Psychology (Emeritus), Bar Ilan University; private clinical practice, Israel The unity of G-d expressed by the shema (“Hear O Israel, the L-rd is our G-d, the L-rd is One”) is the bedrock of Jewish theology. Our sages, articulated most clearly by Rabbi C.M. Luzatto (Ramhal), teach that acceptance of the unity of G-d is the hoped for pinnacle to be achieved by mankind. It is also viewed as the explanation of the reason for creation and imparts meaning to subsequent history.Everything that happens is part of G-d’s master plan to ensure that humans will fully acknowledge that only His will exits and influences events. This paper explores the human role in this unfolding drama. The analysis probes the question of unity-duality and its relevance for the understanding of human personality. The discussion will focus upon the problem raised by the apparent existence of evil, to the concept of unity. The principle derived from the analysis is used to illuminate and resolve an important controversy in psychological theory. Opinions differ as to whether personality is a unified whole, or—as upheld primarily by social psychologists and others—that humans adopt patterns of behavior so as to conform to reality. Stated differently, is there a basic core to personality which dictates behavior, or are humans actors in a world which is perceived as a giant stage. Fax 972-3-571-8063 Sarah Yehudit (Susan) Schneider Sarah Yehudit (Susan) Schneider is the founding director of A Still Small Voice, a correspondence school that provides weekly teachings in classic Jewish wisdom to subscribers around the world. Her published works include a book entitled Kabbalistic Writings on the Nature of Masculine and Feminine, which was published by Jason Aronson, Inc. In addition she has produced three pocket books called, Eating as Tikun, Purim Bursts, and Evolutionary Creationism, Torah solves the Riddle of Missing Links. She has also produced three journal articles for B’Or HaTorah: “Evolution, Form and Consciousness,” “The Underside of Creative Expression,” and “The Daughters of Tslafchad, Toward a Methodology of Attitude Around Women’s Issues.” An expanded version of the latter article appears in an anthology titled, Torah of the Mothers: Contemporary Jewish Women Read Classical Jewish Texts. Schneider has a bachelor’s degree in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology from the University of Colorado in Boulde. Before immigrating to Israel she worked as Laboratory Researcher for Celestial Seasonings’ Herb Tea Company. She can be contacted through her Still Small Voice website: www.amyisrael.co.il/smallvoice/ or by email: “From Diminishment to Full Stature: Kabbalistic Stages of Feminine Development” Keynote lecture by Sarah Yehudit Schneider Director, The Still Small Voice, Jerusalem, Israel Kabbalistic Writings on the Nature of Masculine and Feminine presents annotated translations of kabbalistic texts that paint an authoritative and enlightened vision of how man and woman will relate when they have healed themselves and fixed the world. Based on a talmudic tale about sun and moon (Babylonia Talmud, Hulin 60b), Jewish mystical writings identify seven stages of waning and waxing that mark the feminine life cycle. They apply on all scales from the span of an individual woman’s life to the history of creation (for the entire period of existence from the beginning of time to its end is but a single circuit of the moon.). In the seventh and final stage, woman stands equal and opposite to man and they met for the first time as spiritual, intellectual, and emotional mates. This perfect marriage has been our (perhaps unconscious) yearning for six thousand years, and from its consummation flow all the promised blessings of the world to come. Kabbalistic Writings on the Nature of Masculine and Feminine builds its thesis upon the following texts: R. I. Luria’s Diminishment of the Moon, Rabbi Y. Ashlag’s commentary on the Zohar, Rabbi S. Elyashiv’s Diminishment of the Moon, Rabbi A. I. Kook’s Orot HaKodesh, Rabbi K. K. Epstein’s Meor V’Shemesh, and Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi’s commentary on the prayer book. Professor Meier Schwarz Professor Meier Schwarz was born in Nuremberg, Germany in 1926 and immigrated to the land of Israel in 1926. He became a member of Kibbuts Hafets Hayyim, and served in the Haganah, Aliyah B, and the Israel Defense Forces. He received his BSc and MSc in botany and zoology at Bar Ilan University and his PhD from the Hebrew University. Dr. Schwarz headed the Soilless Culture Department of the Negev Institute for Arid Zone Research in Beersheba. He also headed the research team at the Medical Environmental Laboratory at Hadassah Medical Faculty of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He served as an expert for the United Nations Development Program for plant nutrition and environmental conditions in the Far East. He lectured and conducted research at both Bar Ilan University and the Hebrew University. For eleven years he taught Talmud tractates dealing with the land of Israel at BIU. He founded the science department of the Jerusalem College for Women and served as its dean. He headed the Biotech Engineering Unit at the Jerusalem College of Technology, served as president of the World Association of Religious Jewish Scientists and its branch in Israel. Having published eighty-three professional papers and six agronomic books, including Guide to Commercial Hydroponics (Jerusalem: Keter, 1968, 4 editions), Soilless Culture for Horticulture Crop Production (with G.W. Windsor, published by UN/FAO in 1990), Soilless Culture Managing (Springer Verlag, 1995), and Guide to Commercial Soilless Culture (UN/FAO), Dr. Schwarz has also published seventeen papers on Torah and science and twenty-eight papers and three books on Jewish life. His 880-page Synagogen Gedenkbuch Nordrhein-Westfalen, published by Kamp Verlag, is the first of eight volumes documenting the 2200 synagogues of Germany. Having conducted many university seminars in Israel and Germany on the pre-holocaust era, Jewish life in Ashkenaz, and Kristallnacht, he is preparing a series of eight films on Jewish life in pre-war Central Europe and is establishing an archive on Ashkenaz history. synagog@netvision.net.il “Biotechnology and Halakhic Problems in Future Food Production” Contributing lecture by Professor Meier Schwarz Agronomy (Emeritus), Hebrew University and Bar Ilan University, Israel A new wheat strain, missing the main DNA fraction activating fermentation, would eliminate the problem of the dough fermenting after 18 minutes. Matsot could be baked even during the intermediate days, but could we use this unleavened bread on Pesah? Could we say, “this is the matsah that our forefathers ate in Egypt….?” “Whealy,” a new strain of grain, is a mixture (kilayim) of wheat and barley which would have a short life-span, would require less water and even utilize saline water, as with barley, and is rich in starch and protein, as with wheat. This is a new species. The two “parents” are true grains, but grains are only the five species categorized in the Mishnah! Can we make matsah from this “combination”? Tissue culture of grain, to be grown in a fully controlled growing environment, is already practiced in space research. Can we make the blessing “Blessed are You, L-rd our G-d, King of the universe, who brings forth bread from the earth” on bread made from its flour? Grapes in treated vineyard stock could yield four times a year and be replaced after three years (twelve seasons). Are these grapes orlah? Full re-use of waste water up to drinking standard can be fulfilled in twenty-four hours. Can we use this water for ritual hand washing and so forth? S. Reichenberg, Mishpatey Erets—Shivi’it Le’Halakhah vele’Maaseh (Hotsa’at Beit Ha’Midrash Le’Halakhah Ba’Hityashvut, 5754). Hazon Ish, siman 22, seif katan 1; and siman 21, seif katan 4. See the responsa there of Rabbi Eliyashiv, Rabbi Karlits, Rabbi Auerbach, Rabbi Vozner, and Rabbi Yitshak Yaakov Weiss. Responsum of Rabbi Benyamin Zilber on planting in water or in a flower pot with no hole, appendix on page 282, Nisan 5740. Rabbi Arthur Seltzer, PhD Arthur Seltzer is both an ordained rabbi (from the chief rabbi of South Africa) and a certified alternative healer. He earned an OMD (doctorate in Oriental medicine) from the International Acupuncture Institute in Hong Kong, and an ND (doctor of naturopathy) and PhD in holistic nutrition from the Clayton College of Natural Healing in Birmingham, Alabama. He is a certified Ayurvedic practitioner, and a Reiki master. He also holds a D. Phil degree from the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa for his dissertation on “Esoteric Themes in the Book of Jonah.” This year, he earned the MTh degree from the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa in Clinical Pastoral Counseling. Dr. Seltzer teaches Jewish meditation and kabbalistic healing in Cape Town, and combines all the above disciplines in his holistic healing practice, basing treatment upon specific patient need and diagnostic requirements. He is married to Dr. Barbara Lewis, herself a registered homeopath and herbalist. They share a joint healing practice. lewseltz@iafrica.com “The Shadow and the Self”Keynote lecture by Rabbi Arthur Seltzer, PhD, OMD, NDPrivate practice in holistic healing, Cape Town, South AfricaIn analytical psychology, the shadow is understood to be that part of our selves which contains material which is suppressed and hidden from consciousness. This unconscious material is difficult for the conscious mind to access or comprehend, yet its influence is profound. C. G. Jung writes that to attempt to ignore or suppress shadow material is to perpetuate its neurotic hold over us. Only through recognizing and incorporating the shadow as an integral part of the conscious self do we become truly whole and transformed. The above may be compared with hasidic psychology which speaks of each person possessing an animal soul and a divine soul. It is only through the supremacy of the divine soul over the animal soul, accompanied by the subsequent transformation of the animal soul itself by the divine soul to G-dliness, that an integrated and transformed personality can rise in its spirituality. This transformation, elevation and incorporation of the unconscious/animal soul to consciousness/G-dliness is the essence of the spiritual quest. Professor Samuel Spero Professor Samuel Spero completed a thirty-five years career devoted to creatively integrating computer technology into school education. He originated and developed numerous computer-based techniques and strategies for achieving success at all levels of instruction. He shared his knowledge on the use of computers with colleagues and peers at his college and with teachers at all grade levels and with employees in industry in a consultative capacity. He was the founding director of the Institute for Computers in Jewish Life at the Hebrew Theological College in Skokie, Illinois, that evolved into the Davka Corporation. He received awards for teaching and achieved significant recognition for his courses and computer applications. In recent years he has been focusing his efforts on distance education both cable television and the internet. sam.spero@tri-c.cc.oh.us “The Maimonides Experiments and Psychic Dreams” Contributing lecture by Professor Samuel Spero Mathematics and Computer Education (Emeritus), Cuyahoga Community College, Cleveland OH, USA Much of our faith is based on a belief in the possibility of extra-sensory communication. G-d does not have a mouth so when He speaks; He is heard by way of extra-sensory communication. That is how our prophets “hear” the “voice” of G-d. In the same way G-d communicates through dreams and that is how the Pharaoh in the story of Joseph “heard” that there would be seven good years and seven bad years. There are many instances of extra-sensory communication in the Torah and the Talmud. The question that we raise in this paper is whether all human beings have the potential to receive extra-sensory communication, from G-d and from their fellow human beings, and what are the implications for the practicing Jew of experiencing such communication? A series of very interesting experiments relating to this question have been conducted in the Sleep Laboratory at Maimonides Hospital in Brooklyn that have verified to a high degree of scientific validity that such communication is indeed possible. In this paper I will describe these experiments and their results. I shall also discuss some of the halakhic implications of psychic dreams. Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, The Book of Knowledge, Laws Concerning the Basic Principles of the Torah, chap. 7, paragraphs1-3; Taaniyot 1:12. Genesis, 15:12-17 Genesis, 28:12-15 Genesis, 37:5-11 Genesis 31:24 Genesis, 40:5-19 Genesis, 41:1-38 Research in Dreams and the Maimonides Experiments Babylonian Talmud: Brakhot 55b, Horiot 13b, Nedarim 8a, Shabbat 11a, Bava Batra 10a Jerusalem Talmud, Maaser Sheni 55b Genesis Rabbah 17:5 Shulhan Arukh, Orah Hayyim 220:1 and 228 Lee M. Spetner, PhD Dr. Lee Spetner has a PhD in physics from MIT and was engaged in the development of military electronic systems for more than forty years. He was a member of the principal professional staff of The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory for twenty years and technical director of Eljim, Ltd. (later a subsidiary of Elbit, Ltd.) in Nes Tsiona, Israel for another twenty years. During this period he also taught graduate courses in statistical communication theory at The Johns Hopkins University and at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot. After leaving Elbit, he retired to private consulting for a few years, and then retired to private research, including evolution and studies leading to a therapy for cancer. He published a book, Not by Chance! Shattering the Modern Theory of Evolution (Judaica Press, 1996,1997, 1998). Dr. Spetner has published twenty-three articles in professional journals, including Nature, and has four patents to his name. His articles “The Evolutionary Doctrine” and “Information Theory Considerations of Organic Evolution” were published in B’Or Ha’Torah 2. lspetner@alum.mit.edu “Teaching Evolution in the High Schools” Keynote lecture by Lee M Spetner, PhD Physics, (retired) Technical Director of Eljim, Ltd., Israel Currently involved in cancer research, Redoxia Israel Ltd. Evolution should definitely be taught in the life-science course in Jewish high schools. It should be taught critically rather than as indoctrination. Creation or Intelligent Design is better left to the religious department and should not be included in a science course. The mechanism of mutations and natural selection should be explained together with the evidence for them. These concepts should be made sufficiently clear to enable the student to understand why people accept evolution. The distinction between different uses of the term "evolution" should be explained, noting for what kind of "evolution" there is evidence and for what kind there is not. Evolutionism, which is a philosophy espousing that life originated and evolved through purely natural events can be described and explained, noting that it is held by many secularists, but Jewish tradition rejects it, and pointing out that it is not science. Explaining the scientific fallacies on which evolutionism is built is appropriate for a science class. Its philosophical fallacies, on the other hand might be beyond the scope of a high-school science course. Several of the most important and most popular of the scientific fallacies of evolutionism will be described and explained in the talk. Rabbi Professor Moshe Tendler Rabbi Professor Moshe D. Tendler, noted authority on medical ethics and the relationship of medicine and science to Jewish law, is the rosh yeshiva (dean) of the Yeshiva University-affiliated Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS), professor of biology at Yeshiva College, and the Rabbi Isaac and Bella Tendler Chair in Jewish Medical Ethics at Yeshiva University. Rabbi Tendler was ordained at RIETS in 1949 and earned a PhD in biology from Columbia University in 1957. Since 1969, he has served on the Medical Ethics Task Force of the Federation of Jewish Philanthropies, for which he edited Medical Ethics and Halakhah. For six years he served as its chairman. He is also chairman of the Bioethical Commission of the Rabbinical Council of America. He has been a member of the board of directors of Americans for Medical Progress, Inc. and is a member of number of ethics commissions. A former president of the Association of Orthodox Jewish Scientists, Rabbi Tendler is author of Pardes Rimonim (a text on Jewish family life); Practical Medical Halakhah; Care of the Critically Ill—Responsa of Rav Moshe Feinstein; as well as many articles on science and religion in leading publications. He is frequently consulted by the media and public officials on ethical issues. “Values and Conflicts: Tradition Confronts Society”
Keynote lecture by Rabbi Professor Moshe Tendler
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