Medical advances seem to have given us unprecedented control over the conditions of life and death. Jewish thinkers and texts have long wrestled with these dilemmas - what defines a sick or dying person and how should they be cared for? In an age where almost all physical functioning can be supported with machines, what does it mean for contemporary Jews to face such thorny choices? How does our history of intergenerational trauma intersect with our dealings with the healthcare system? In this session, we will consider some sources from the Jewish wisdom tradition and seek to understand contemporary end of life issues from a Jewish lens.

Dr. Leah Rosenberg is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and a palliative care clinician-educator at the Massachusetts General Hospital. Leah is fascinated by the intersection of culture and religion in serious illness care when she is not doing Lego or origami projects with toddlers.

Open to all learning levels.