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Post by medic09 on Mar 12, 2009 8:21:18 GMT -5
Well, for one thing the Rema writes in the Shulhan Aruch that 'some are accustomed to wear Shabbat or Yom Tov clothes, and that is correct.'
For another, all the times that I visited with figures such as Rav Mordechai Eliyahu yibadel l'haim or Rav Shaul Yisraeli or others as a young man on Purim, I found them dressed as the Rema mentions. So that is what made an impression on me.
I think costumes are great. I encourage it. Just not my personal thing.
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Post by medic09 on Mar 11, 2009 19:40:39 GMT -5
I'm too stodgy.
I encourage others dressing up, but I wear Shabbat/Yom Tov clothes.
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Post by medic09 on Mar 9, 2009 3:05:15 GMT -5
While it is quiet in the ED, I want to take a moment and wish all you holy nurses a PURIM SAMEAH!
;D
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Post by medic09 on Mar 9, 2009 3:04:00 GMT -5
Sorry. In My Opinon. Also, IMHO - In My Humble Opinion. Back when universities supplied us with email accounts that limited letters used for text, these sorts or acronyms were common. Bad habit. Sorry.
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Post by medic09 on Mar 8, 2009 10:38:35 GMT -5
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Post by medic09 on Mar 6, 2009 13:17:59 GMT -5
Rivkah, thanks for sharing your rav's brief response about working on Shabbat.
I've been meaning to put together a post outlining some of the issues involved, but just haven't had time. It is not a simple issue. What's more, many many people assume certain permissions/heterim in halachah that either may not apply or don't even really exist. Of course, sometimes the opposite is true and we end up being strict about something that doesn't warrant it. There is no substitute for learning Torah.
If I get around to this, I of course have no intent to paskin or even influence anyone's choices. It would be very important, though, in terms of increasing our application of Torah to our profession and maybe helpful when one goes to ask questions.
YUTorah has at least two very good talks in MP3 by Prof. Avraham S. Avraham "Pikuach Nefesh on Shabbat" and "Being a Jewish Physician". There are obvious applications to our profession. In addition to his experience as a physician in-house, he is an important talmid hacham who was a student of Rav Shlomo Zalman Aurbach. I recommend his talks by way of spurring some thought and further learning.
Shabbat Shalom all!
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Post by medic09 on Mar 4, 2009 0:30:14 GMT -5
princess,
I'm so very sorry to hear about this tremendous loss for you and your family. May Hashem provide you with real, full comfort in its due time. Hamakom yinachem etchem b'toch shear avalei tzion v'yerushalayim.
I know this was horribly hard for you. I'll bite my tongue, and not say all I might if you were my family or part of my k'hillah. I do feel I must respond to one thing you said here (please forgive me). I have no doubt that you did NOT kill your mother. The halacha does not, generally speaking, see withholding treatment in such circumstances as killing the patient. I am quite confident that any rav or posek to whom you present the details of the situation will agree with that assessment. That's all I will say on that, unless asked to elaborate more.
The g'mara tells us of the death of Rebi, Rabbi Yehuda Hanasi, the editor of the Mishnah. His students were praying fervently keeping him alive. His maidservant, seeing how he was suffering in his prolonged dying process, interrupted their prayers briefly by creating a distraction. At that, Rebi died. All the later hachamim understand this g'mara to speak approvingly of the servant's action. She recognized that Rebi was clearly dying, and needed to be allowed to do so. The poskim write, therefore, that we need to have this perspective, too. It is, admittedly, a difficult subjective judgement; but one that we must make. Your concern and love for your mother helped you to see this, even if you didn't exactly have the sources in halacha in mind (or maybe you did). What's more, you had the backing of a hacham. You couldn't possibly have acted more conscientiously.
Sometimes 'letting someone die' is wrong - when they can clearly be saved and will recover well. The narrative of Rebi's death teaches us that often, letting someone die is the greatest hesed of the moment, and in accord with Hashem's will.
I pray that Hashem will give you and all your family comfort and solace.
Will you be doing some learning in her memory, and to benefit her n'shamah?
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Post by medic09 on Feb 12, 2009 20:12:22 GMT -5
I'm in CT at the moment doing some close up kibud em ;-), but I'm still monitoring for those questions! I'm looking forward to Rav Herschel Schachter's shiur on Monday in Queens on end of life issues.
Achot, I will just briefly point out that by many poskim there are definately differences between Israel and outside on issues such as taking call/working on Shabbat. In Israel there is a normative halachic presumption that those available to run the healthcare system are Jews. Similarly, there is a presumption that most patients will be Jews. These fundamental presumptions shape much of the p'sak in the issue. Outside Israel, those presumption do not exist. The notion of being on call/working on Shabbat is far more difficult to justify/defend. No time to elaborate now, since I'm on a borrowed computer.
The latest d'var Torah for Yitro is up at Kol Beramah for anyone lacking something to read.
Shabbat Shalom!
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Post by medic09 on Feb 8, 2009 17:15:24 GMT -5
Two good questions so far! Keep 'em coming!
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Post by medic09 on Feb 5, 2009 0:16:55 GMT -5
I was sitting with a doctor today working on a lecture series we are collaborating on. He is a PhD in Ethics, and a Jew who is interested in promoting a Jewish understanding of medical ethics. In the course of the conversation, and looking at our topics, we both noted that nearly all discussion in secular and Torah circles relates to 'medical' decision making. Very little relates to direct patient care. Direct patient care is, of course, our realm. The realm of the nurses. So, I am interested in hearing what are the issues you want answers to or discussed. Some have already come up in this forum, and I'm sure there's much more. What are the questions, dilemnas, conflicts that concern you as a Jewish nurse? Anything is fair game. Even if you've already asked your rav and have your answers; please share it here so that we may all learn from the question itself. What will I do with all this? For myself, I will make some of this subjects to be looked into and learned. I will almost certainly discuss some of it with rabbanim to both elicit their insights and inform them of the concerns nurses have. In some cases I may set aside time to discuss an issue with a posek. I'm not sure what will come of this, if anything. I'm not even sure if I should share potential answers here, so as not to impose on anyone and also to avoid starting a potential dispute. I can, of course, share potential answers if people think it is appropriate. If you would like to present some ideas to me, but aren't comfortable doing so here, you may email me directly at myscher at comcast dot net. May Hashem bless you all with compassion and success in your work!
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Post by medic09 on Jan 23, 2009 12:35:45 GMT -5
I've not seen Wendy Shalit's book either, but I just googled her. She has a blog site, and apparently has another book out as well. Looks interesting.
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Post by medic09 on Jan 23, 2009 9:48:09 GMT -5
Princess, I begin with the caveat that I hope to be careful of lashon hara and the general respect due others.
Regarding Rabbi Boteach, he's had a controversial history within hareidi circles. On the one hand, he is very articulate and succeeds in touching a wide audience. He seems pretty knowledgeable. When he was still at Oxford some 15 years ago, I used to read his email material regularly. He is a fine communicator and debator.
His roots are very strongly in Chabad. When his book Kosher Sex came out, I was teaching with a well-established Chabad figure on the East Coast. The book bothered me for it's openness and bluntness, but I debated whether maybe it was useful somehow in the wide-open society we often see today. My Chabad colleague thought no such thing. Apparently the consensus in Chabad circles was that pushed R. Boteach outside the realm (at least of Chabad).
This does not, in and of itself, disqualify a person. From time to time we see figures of all sorts break with the particular subculture they come from, only to remain important figures for educating or leading the Jewish community. In this case, though, it serves to illustrate why some folks won't refer much to Rabbi Boteach.
I tend to prefer that books I recommend to people provoke thought and consideration, but not necessarily convince anyone. But I, like any of us, also prefer that the stream of thought inspired have someone considering values that I think important (at least for them) and congruent with Torah. I don't know if Rabbi Boteach's books do that or not; so I haven't recommended them.
This touches on a whole 'nother topic which isn't really nursing connected, but relevant as all Jews are both students and teachers in some way. On the one hand, I find censorship (other than some self-censorship) to be terribly distasteful; on the other hand I can't really promote ideas that I am absolutely convinced are antagonistic to Torah. But there is a huge middle ground there composed of things I'm not convinced about and things I don't even know clearly enough about. This happens in our beit midrash. We have a whole bunch of really interesting books related to learning Torah, given by one of our hevra who doesn't read them much anymore. Most I've never seen before, and a few were authored by figures whose general reputations and positions do not please me at all. Nonetheless, I felt very uncomfortable removing these from the shelf (though I did). Torah is a path that has a pretty wide range in thougt and deed. I try to promote that awareness and belief. Nonetheless, there comes a point when one has passed the boundaries of Torat Hashem Temimah.
Again, I personally make no judgements of Rabbi Boteach's ideas; but I haven't been making use of his stuff.
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Post by medic09 on Jan 22, 2009 12:04:07 GMT -5
Achot, you have to understand that in a beit midrash in Santa Fe there are occasionally one, two, or three people who know how to open some sort of sefer and the rest are beginners coming to learn their first bits of traditional Torah. So maybe these will be suitable for adults who've never considered a more traditional notion of personal dignity and socializing.
I don't know much of what's out there in English, but my favorite over the years has been Rabbi Manis Friedmans' Doesn't Anybody Blush Anymore?
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Post by medic09 on Jan 21, 2009 10:48:56 GMT -5
I'm not familiar with her, but I'm always open to something suitable to use for education programs or to put in front of someone at the beit midrash...
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Tzenius
Jan 19, 2009 1:19:56 GMT -5
Post by medic09 on Jan 19, 2009 1:19:56 GMT -5
40 guys in 120. I've never heard of such a large percentage of men in a nursing class. We were 5 in a class of 68. I was the only Jewish guy, and the only observant Jew altogether. I didn't have any problems with classmates (though the few Jews couldn't believe I actually keep Shabbat and kosher and took time to daven, etc.). I almost had problems with some staff, but they quickly saw that my resolve meant that I meant business. I was always polite, even deferential, when presenting my needs (Shabbat and Yom Tov off, away for Pesah, etc.); but I never made it an option.
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