Philadelphia Mini-School Students Share Work in Ethics and Purposes

An Ethics teacher in Philadelphia offered her students the opportunity to present a topic (according to the lessons) in class of which they have interest or knowledge. Below is one from Elsie Duman;

Animal Experimentation

As many of you know, I’ve had some serious health problems, which began just about a year ago. I now know far more than I ever wanted to about procedures, medications, doctors, hospital, etc. Of one thing I am quite sure; animal experimentation has been vital to my good health.

I haven’t eaten meat for many years. I can give all the good reasons: it’s better for the environment, it’s healthier. But for me, what it comes down to is that I like animals too much to eat them. (I do eat fish; I guess I don’t like them as much as I like other animals). I also feel that kashrut is a concession to meat eating; people really are supposed to be vegetarians. The highest form of keeping kosher is to not eat meat. In the days when I did eat meat as an adult, it was kosher.

When my doctor advised me that in order to properly digest food, I needed to take an enzyme supplement with my meals, I readily agreed. I read the voluminous notes that came with the enzyme, and discovered the one contraindication: do not take this product if you have had an allergic reaction to pork products. What I had to take was from a pig! I knew I would take it; despite kashrut and my love of animals, if it’s me or the pig, I choose me! Even after making that decision, I talked to the rabbi of my synagogue, who immediately assured me that what I was taking was a medication, not a food. He asked if I had a bad reaction to the enzyme. When I told him I didn’t, he laughed and said, “If you ever decide to have a bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich, you’ll be all right”. So I bought a little plastic pig to sit on top of the medicine bottle, just to emphasize the point.

I’ve investigated clinical trials, phase I, phase II, phase III, and I know that before a new medication or treatment is tried on an experimental basis on people, it’s tried on animals, because biologically, all mammals are very similar. Animal experimentation has led to the use of insulin for diabetes, modern anesthesia, discovery of the RH factor, antibiotics, prevention of polio, rubella, measles, tetanus.

As we read in our text, Rabbi Moses Isserles wrote, “Anything which is necessary in order to effect a cure…does not entail a violation of the prohibition against ‘Tsaar Ba’alei Chayyim’”. In Judaism, all religious laws are suspended to save a life, except laws forbidding idolatry, murder and certain sexual relations. Animals are already being raised for food and clothing, so they certainly may be bred and used to help save a life, but every effort must be made to spare the animals from suffering. Rabbi J. David Bleich of Yeshiva University writes that several medieval commentators had concerns that people who slaughter animals may develop an indifference to their suffering, and then transfer that indifference to human suffering. So sensitivity to the animal is for the benefit of people as well as the animal. He says that Jewish law forbids any act causing pain or discomfort to animals unless such act is designed to satisfy a legitimate human need and such need cannot be met in any other fashion. Medical experimentation for the purpose of achieving therapeutic benefit for human beings is generally endorsed but the experiment must adhere to the strictest possible standards for preventing unnecessary pain.

I doubt that anyone here objects to animal experimentation to benefit people, but I hope I’ve been able to give you some insight into what it’s like to be on the receiving end of such experimentation.

Purposes Class Poem

Students from the Purposes class wrote the following poem, based on the lesson in which Torah is compared to water (week 29). The instructor, Mr. Steven Kraus, asked the students to brainstorm how Torah is like water; he wrote everything they said on the board. It covers the entire philosophy/theology that's presented in Purposes.

The Importance of Torah Study: How is Torah like Water?

life-giving
can fill your life
fluid
needed for growth
can see it at certain depths only
quenches thirst
can drown in it
cleanses
comes from the sky
flows from high to low
adapts to any climate
can be steamy
different look at different times
takes the shape of its vessel
unfathomable
cyclical
clear
goes to unsuspecting spaces
found everywhere
indestructible
you can see your reflection in it
eternal

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