This past Shabbat, we celebrated the Bar Mitzvah of Rebecca Matathias, who gave a lovely speech on her haftarah, in which she emphasized the value of family and forgiveness based on the love within the family.
Rabbi Gorin followed up with a thought-provoking discussion of the mitzvah of returning lost property, even to the extent that in Jerusalem, one can read ads posting rewards offered by the finder to anyone claiming a lost object! (for more on this topic, please go to Rabbi Shraga Simmons essay on Ki Tetzei (Deuteronomy 21:10-25:19): Returning Lost Objects on the www.aish.com site).
In another story, the efforts made by an observant Jew in NYC leads to the repair of a broken relationship, in addition to the restoration of the lost property to it’s rightful – a double mitzvah!
Rabbi Gorin then broadened the idea of property from material belongings to the sense of owning good health. Just as one should restore lost property, it is a mitzvah to restore good health to another. Obviously, for those of us who work in health care professions, we attempt to do this in our day-to-day work, but Rabbi Gorin emphasized that everyone has the capacity to help restore health – by donating organs! He passionately argued that organ donation is not only allowed, but expressly encouraged by all of Judaism, and that anyone who claims that Judaism forbids organ donation is lying, or misconstruing Halachah. He cited the CJLS teshuva, written by Rabbi Joshua H. Prouser, titled “Hesed or Hiyuv? The Obligation to Preserve Life and the Question of Post-Mortem Organ Donation”, approved in 1995.
And after encouraging us all to make sure that we designate our organ donor status on our driver’s licenses, the rabbi extended the idea of returning health to others in our community from the particular to the societal, by challenging us all to consider that if it is a mitzvah to restore health to another person, than we have an obligation to ensure that all members of society have access to health care. And that the current politicking on both the right and the left is sinful in preventing our society to move forward to achieving a reform of health care that provides for all US citizens. To show that the support for moving health care reform forward comes from the right, as well as the left, he cited the op-ed columnist, Charles Krauthammar, who wrote on august 21st:
“Let’s see if we can have a reasoned discussion about end-of-life counseling. We might start by asking Sarah Palin to leave the room. I’ve got nothing against her. She’s a remarkable political talent. But there are no “death panels” in the Democratic health-care bills, and to say that there are is to debase the debate.”
I’ll be adding references to the other sources that Rabbi Gorin alluded to as soon as I get them from him. In the meantime, what do you think?
Tags: health care, Mitzvot, torah
I had the priviledge of hearing Rabbi Gorin last Shabbat and was proud of the fact that he addressed this subject. It is imperative that we as a country address the issue of health care and provide for all of our citizens. The political acrimony that has surfaced in the past month is not helpful to the political process or to solving national problems and in my view is the result of ignorance and selfishness. I believe we have a duty to provide a health system that cares for our fellows. Health is a right just as nutrition, housing and occupation is a right and basic need of humanity.
Melanie Grishman
Could we not also construe “restoring health” as restoring the spirit of friends or congregants who for one reason or another find themselves alone, or in need of help? Perhaps the Rabbi’s sermon will encourage us to seek out those who seem alone or in need of pick up to a Shabbat or Yom Tov meal, volunteer to run errands for the elderly, drive someone to a health care appointment, or become a friendly visitor to some one in need some care an attention. As with all beginnings all that is required is that first step. You will be surprised by how good you feel as well as the one who has been assisted. A double mitzva?
Hope Levy Kott
I was also impressed by Rabbi Gorin’s d’var on August 29th. It showed clear thinking and presented a logical approach and framework for healthcare reform, without the total misinformation currently rampant in the media.
I complimented him afterwards and suggested that he might reach more congregants if he were to incorporated the substance of his message in one of his sermons on the High Holy Days.
Like many others, I’m interested in what acutually is proposed to be in the healthcare reform bill, (along with counter-arguments for each such provision) and would like to be informed of the actual general thrusts of major provisions, in a non-biased format— rather than distilled rants and soundbites by columnists on all sides of the issue who accentuate misinformation coupled with interviews of totally uninformed citizens who have been fed slogans and signs by lobbyists that have their own financial axes to grind.
The printed press, has done a poor job on this matter so far. Far worse is the electronic media, i.e. radio and the TV news, which many citizens seem to take as “the truth” has fed the fires of ignorance, by focusing on dissenters and screamers at public forums, rather than presenting – as Edward R. Murrow might have said ” This is the news”, without mixing in a whole batch of slanted opinons.