Abstracts of the Invited Keynote Speakers of the Fifth Miami International Conference on Torah & Science

The Kovens Convention Center, Florida International University, Miami

December 16-21, 2003

For information contact Ilana Attia, info@borhatorh.org

The abstracts appear below in alphabetical order.

HAVE SCIENTISTS DISCOVERED G-D?

Professor Nathan Aviezer

Physics, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel

In recent years, it has become clear to many scientists that the universe appears to have been specifically designed for the existence and well-being of human beings. This phenomenon has attracted considerable scientific attention, and has become known as the "anthropic principle" (from the Greek word “anthropos,” meaning "man"). The anthropic principle expresses itself in two ways: 1) very slight changes in the laws of nature would make it impossible for life to exist, and 2) human life would not have been possible if not for the occurrence in the past of a large number of highly improbable events. Whereas the secular scientist sees these occurrences as mere lucky accidents, the believing person sees in them the guiding hand of the Creator. I shall show that, in contrast to the views of the secular scientists, the believing person is indeed justified in seeing the anthropic principle as a confirmation of his or her belief in the A-lmighty

LIVER DONATION FROM A LIVING DONOR: MEDICAL AND HALAKHIC ISSUES

Rabbi Aaron E. Glatt, MD

Associate Dean, New York Medical College;Chairman of Medicine, Our Lady of Mercy Medical Center, Bronx; Assistant Rabbi, Congregation Anshei Chesed in Hewlet, NY, USA

End stage cirrhosis—liver failure—secondary to many different etiologies or illnesses is a major cause of death. Cadaveric liver donations do not suffice to meet the current transplantation needs, and hence alternative options are necessary. The adult liver can regenerate, and modern surgical technique has progressed to the stage where the donation and transplantation of part of a living donor’s liver to another person is quite technologically feasible. Numerous medical, ethical, and halakhic issues are raised by this procedure. Is this surgery comparable to blood donation, or bone marrow, kidney or other tissue transplants taken from a live donor? What is the true risk to the donor? Under what, if any circumstance is any living donor bequest permitted? Is one required to donate if this will save a life? Does it matter if the recipient is a child or adult? Relative or friend? Does Jewish law allow financial compensation for such a donation? Using halakhic sources, we shall explore potential answers to these and related questions.

CARDIO-PULMONARY RESUSCITATION IN THE ELDERLY: CLINICAL, ETHICAL, AND JEWISH PERSPECTIVES

Michael Gordon, MD, FRCPC

Head of Geriatrics and Internal Medicine, Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care, Toronto, Canada

Long-term care for the frail and elderly may be examined from a number of perspectives, the first being the clinical data that in general has been at best dismal in terms of outcomes. The next perspective is that of the ethical issues that surround the impact of CPR and the implications of Do Not Resuscitate orders and what they represent. The third and unique perspective of halakha is whether or not and under what circumstances could or should CPR be applied and whether or not a Do Not Resuscitate order is an acceptable option. The last issue is the possible tension between the halakhic concept of the goses (dying patient) and the practice of CPR for the high-risk, long-term care population of the frail and the elderly.

NATURAL/UNNATURAL

Professor Roald Hoffmann

Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA

Why separate the natural from the man- and woman-made, the artifactual, the synthetic, the unnatural? To have a reasonable debate on our perturbations of the environment, to allow ethics to accompany human creation? The separation is not as simple as one thinks, as a look at cotton, rayon and nylon will show. And in almost every transforming action in our lives we subvert the natural-unnatural divide which we ourselves create. I will also  look at the Jewish perspective on this question, based on a book, Old Wine, New Flasks, written with Shira Leibowitz Schmidt. Here I’ll range from views of nature in the Psalms, through sheitls, to Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik’s analysis of the two Adams.

PSYCHONEUROIMMUNOLOGY, SPIRITUALITY/RELIGIOUSITY AND HEALTH

Yakir Kaufman MD

Hadassah Hospital, Jerusalem, Israel; Fellow at the Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care, Toronto, Canada

Research technologies advances in psychoneuroimmunology (PNI) show that the mind affects the body. Science now knows that different states of mind have an effect on our health. “Negative” states of mind, such as stress, anger, anxiety and sadness impair immune and endocrine system functions and thus increase risk for disease. On the other hand, numerous studies have shown that “positive” states of mind, stress reduction and higher well-being levels all reduce risk for disease.

We live in an exciting period of time in which advances in scientific knowledge is bridging a conceptual gap between science and spirituality/religion—a gap caused by decades of alienation and conflict. Science increasingly acknowledges, the significance of spirituality/religion in our health and lives. Recently, a large conference on spirituality/religiosity and health was held at the National Institute of Health (NIH) where scientists presented a large body of research data in this growing field of interest. Studies show that spirituality/religiosity have “positive” effects on mental and physical health and reduce morbidity and mortality in many diseases.

The World Health Organization defines health as a complete state of physical, social and mental well-being. Spirituality/religiosity positively affect all these three components of health. The novel insights of psychoneuroimmunology allow us to perceive the mechanisms in which spirituality/religiosity positively affect our health.

PROBING THE ROOTS OF THOUGHT: FROM NEUROSCIENCE TO THE MIND OF G-D

Brian L. Lancaster, PhD

Senior Lecturer, Liverpool University; Chair, Transpersonal Psychology Section of the British Psychological Society, UK

By emphasizing a non-ego-focused dynamic of thought, Freud displaced the one-sided Cartesian view which had placed ‘I’ on a pedestal as ‘the thinker.’ The Freudian position leads to Lacan’s “I think where I am not,” which comes close to the Jewish view of the divine nature of thought. The interactive worldview of Judaism emphasizes the role of thought in Creation (“Thought is the beginning of all”—Zohar), and thought becomes the medium of encounter between human and G-d. I argue that recent work in neuroscience complements the view of thought presented in Jewish mystical sources. Neural pathways in the brain are arranged on a pattern of re-entrance. In perceptual systems, for example, the sensory pathways responsible for analyzing features of sensory stimuli are influenced by neurones ‘descending’ from higher regions of the brain. Considerable evidence suggests that consciousness is dependent on the re-entrant pathways. This cerebral pattern is reminiscent of the kabbalistic principle that “the impulse from below awakens that above,” and I argue that analysis of the kabbalistic material can usefully inform a contemporary neuroscience of consciousness.

THE IMPACT OF TORAH STUDY AND PRAYER ON THE HEALTH OF OLDER ADULTS

Rabbi Sholom Lipskar

The Shul of Bal Harbour and The Aleph Institute, Surfside, FL, USA

Pamela Elfenbeim, PhD

Geriatrics, Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA

“The healing of the soul is like the healing of the body…”

We are increasingly learning that a person's physical health is directly affected by his or her faith in G-d. Modern medicine has begun to discover the dramatic effect that a person's spirit can have on the healing process, and, conversely, that even a small defect in the spirit creates a profound defect in the body. The Lubavitcher Rebbe reminds us that health is far more than a physical body that functions properly, good health includes a sound soul, and that the soul needs spiritual nourishment, just as the body is fed with material energy through the process of digestion.

For the many residents of the Miami Jewish Home and Hospital for the Aged, corruption of their physical bodies and failing of their soul powers are interconnected. The Rebbe often spoke of how trust in G-d is just as important to the healing process as medicine and doctors, and that disability hides a special potentiality: “If a person has been deprived of a limb or a faculty, this itself indicates that G-d has given him special powers to overcome the limitations this entails, and to surpass the achievements of ordinary people… [the disabled] possess potentials that the rest of us do not.”

The Shul of Bal Harbour, under the direction of Rabbi Shalom Lipskar has embarked on a program of Service and Prayer to enable residents of the Miami Jewish Home and Hospital for the Aged to heal their souls by discovering their special uniqueness and potentiality at the end of their lives. This presentation will provide a discussion of the project rationale from both secular and religious orientations, an overview of the project, and case examples.

MAIMONIDES THE PHYSICIAN

Professor Fred Rosner, MD, FACP

Queens Hospital Center, NY, USA

This lecture will discuss the medical writings of Moses Maimonides and his practice of medicine. He stands out as one of the most illustrious physicians of all times.

Maimonides died on December 13, 1204 and was buried in Tiberias. The Jewish, Christian, and Moslem worlds mourned him. His literary ability was incredible, and his knowledge encyclopedic. He mastered nearly everything known in the fields of theology, mathematics, law, philosophy, astronomy, ethics, and, of course, medicine. As a physician, he treated disease by the scientific method, not by guesswork, superstition, or rule of thumb. His attitude towards the practice of medicine came from his deep religious background, which made the preservation of health and life a Divine commandment. His inspiration lives on through the years and his position as one of the medical giants of history is indelibly recorded. He served as the physician of sultans and princes, and as Sir William Osler said, was the “Prince of Physicians.” The heritage of his great medical writings is increasingly appreciated. To the Jewish people Maimonides symbolizes the highest possible human spiritual and intellectual achievement.

UPLINK TO THE DIVINE: JEWS AND JUDAISM IN CYBERSPACE

Professor Oren Baruch Stier

Religious Studies, Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA

Do the World Wide Web and the Internet fill specifically Jewish needs? Are there parallels between Jewish associative thinking and the endless web of associations available in cyberspace? How real is virtual reality?  Cyberspace defines a curious place in modern consciousness: neither here nor there, it is everywhere and nowhere at the same time.  Judaism, in contrast, is almost always localized, generally requiring physical presence for its practices.  Yet Jews, ever on the cutting edge of technology, have taken to the wonders of the web with relish.  Perhaps this comes from a familiarity arising from the long history of Jewish Diaspora existence and homelessness.  In the age of Jewish national homecoming, has the Internet provided a virtual, parallel version? I shall address these issues from two perspectives. One presents a theoretical context for the discussion, considering current literature in Judaic Studies on cyberspace, and vice versa. The other looks at a particular case of Jewish cyber-interactivity: Chabad-Lubavitch in Cyberspace (CLIC). Based on ongoing research into CLIC’s activities, I shall analyze its unique mix of old- and new-world innovation. Ultimately, CLIC is shown to embody communal awareness and messianic consciousness, apparently contravening the structural barriers that might separate Judaism from the Web. In this case, medium and message are one, which has profound implications for anyone studying contemporary Judaism or surfing Jewish web-sites.

GENETIC PREDESTINATION AND FREE WILL: THE JUDEO-BIBLICAL PERSPECTIVE

Rabbi Professor Moshe David Tendler

Dean of 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, USA

The successful completion of the first phase of the Human Genome Project—the isolation of the genes that make up the human genome—is recognized as possibly the greatest scientific achievement of mankind. When the function of the proteins engineered by each gene is identified, both the cause and potential cure for most diseases will be known.

The focus of this paper is to analyze the many research studies on the interrelationship of genes and behavioral traits. The claims of genetically predetermined behavior present a dramatic challenge to our fundamental theological axiom that humankind was granted free will by our Creator. Genetically predetermined behavior also challenges the secular legal system, which assigns personal responsibility for actions only if they are done voluntarily, without coercion. If genes are implicated as coercive forces in such behavioral traits as aggressiveness, drug addiction, and sexual orientation, how can any system of reward and punishment be operative?

An analysis of biblical and post-biblical literature will be presented that offer an elucidation of this dilemma.

HOW DO PRAYER AND FAITH AFFECT HEALTH?

Rabbi Dr. Abraham J. Twerski

Founder and Medical Director Emeritus of the Gateway Rehabilitation Center, PA, USA

The sixteenth century surgeon Felix Plater made the famous statement, “I dressed him, but G-d healed him.” Archaeological and historical evidence indicate that prayer has always been considered effective in disease.

Repeated studies leave little doubt that prayer has a salutary effect on recovery from illness. What is not as clear is the mechanism whereby this effect occurs.

Religionists have no problem in attributing the effect of prayer to Divine benevolence, G-d’s responding to prayer. They struggle, however, with the problem of how can a person’s prayer cause G-d to act differently than He would have without the prayer. It is a tenet of faith that G-d does not undergo any change.

Those who do not ascribe to Divine intervention say that the serenity and reassurance brought about by prayer are responsible for its effects. That emotions can affect disease and recovery is no longer debatable, and the mechanism whereby this occurs has essentially been elucidated. The effect of others praying for the patient can be similarly explained. However, the studies that show salutary effects of prayers for a patient even when the patient is unaware that he is being prayed for are more difficult to explain.

Even hard core scientists who tend to dismiss anything other than what is demonstrable in the laboratory have had to conduct double-blind studies because of the placebo effect. Resistance to anything other than scientifically proven phenomena has waned as respectable medical schools have established departments of “adjunctive medicine,” where the roles of herbs, acupuncture and healing hands are respected. In the wake of this, prayer is finding a place in the treatment armamentarium.

KOSHER PORK AND TREIFE TOMATOES: GENETICALLY MODIFIED PLANTS AND ANIMALS

Professor Miryam Z. Wahrman

Biology, William Paterson University, NJ, USA

Scientists are now able to manipulate the traits of plants and animals producing genetically modified (GM) organisms with novel features. The successful production of GM fish, pigs, and other species leads to the speculation that genetic engineering could alter previously nonkosher species, transforming them into kosher species.  In addition, plants or animals genetically altered with DNA from nonkosher animals might be rendered unkosher. Does genetic engineering provide a way to produce kosher pork and treife tomatoes? Would plants genetically engineered with animal DNA lose their neutral pareve status? Is it permissible under Jewish law to alter species and produce barnyards, ponds and fields filled with GM animals and plants?  These questions will be addressed by considering rabbinic and talmudic perspectives on issues involved in genetic engineering. The principles of kilayim (forbidden mixtures); V'rappo yirrape (“Heal, he shall heal”); and tsaar baaley hayyim (concern for the suffering of animals) will be addressed in this presentation.

KOSHER EVOLUTION

Professor Eliezer Zeiger

Biology, University of California Los Angeles, CA, USA; CEO of the Torah Science Foundation

The two stories of creation in Genesis 1:1-31 and 2:3-24 sharply differ in the use of two different verbs for the act of creation: “Va’yivra Elokim et ha’adam” (Genesis 1:27, And Elokim created [ex nihilo] the man) and “Va’yitser Havaya Elokim et ha’adam afar min ha’adama” (Genesis 2:7, And the L-rd G-d formed the man of dust of the ground). The concept of formation is clearly not ex nihilo.. Whereas the first account of creation is a creationist story, the second account is an evolutionary story.

The two accounts of creation unify the seemingly contradictory viewpoints of scientific creationism with evolutionary theory. In this unified view, macroevolution is clearly attributed to the Creator, whereas “formation,” the completion of the creative process described by science as microevolution, can be accounted for by natural selection. This Torah view of creation further shows that the major mutations that drive the evolutionary process are positive mutations, which act at the top of the evolutionary ladder (as opposed to the view of evolutionary theory, in which mostly negative mutations introduce variation from the bottom up).

The evolution of consciousness is the next major change operating at the forefront of the evolutionary process. As we become ever more conscious of the Creator, our faith in, and love for the Creator increase. Humans are G-d’s partners in the creative process, and the emergence of humans conscious of the continuous re-creation of the world ex nihilo anticipates the fulfillment of the purpose of creation.

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