Saturday, September 30, 2006
The Position of Judaism on Organ Donation.
With few exceptions, the obligation to preserve human life ("pikuah nefesh") is an overriding principle of Jewish law. This would support the idea of organ donation.
At the same time, Jewish law prohibits desecration of a dead body ("nivul hamet"). A dead person's body, since it once housed the holy soul, is to be treated with the utmost respect. Every part of the body must be buried - which is why you see the heart-wrenching images of religious Jews dutifully going around after a terrorist bombing, scraping up pieces of flesh and blood for burial.
How do we resolve these two principles?
Complete article: http://judaism.about.com/library/3_askrabbi_o/bl_simmons_organdonation.htm
Sunday, September 17, 2006
Congregation Sons Of Israel, Chambersburg, PA
"Together we can extinguish the fire that consumes our sense of unity, and stoke the glowing embers of faith, that build our sense of oneness."
"We are a community of many voices."
Dr. Steve Schwartz,
president, CSI
Thursday, September 14, 2006
Rosh HaShanah
Irish Hersh, Public Opinion
Growing up in the 1950s in the Bronx, Dr. Steven Schwartz, president of Congregation Sons of Israel Synagogue, Chambersburg, remembers how school didn't get started in earnest until the High Holy Days were over.
"Unlike the secular holidays, the Days of Awe for me were about feeling a special sense of Jewish identity. I fondly remember walking with my big brother and our dad to the synagogue all dressed up in our best clothes. Back home, Mom was preparing for our return with a hearty meal."
Growing up in the 1950s in the Bronx, Dr. Steven Schwartz, president of Congregation Sons of Israel Synagogue, Chambersburg, remembers how school didn't get started in earnest until the High Holy Days were over.
"Unlike the secular holidays, the Days of Awe for me were about feeling a special sense of Jewish identity. I fondly remember walking with my big brother and our dad to the synagogue all dressed up in our best clothes. Back home, Mom was preparing for our return with a hearty meal."
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