“The distinguished contributors to this volume offer a timely and thoughtful voice to the ongoing debate about the treatment and care of those at the end-of-life,” states Arthur Caplan, the Emanuel & Robert Hart Professor of Bioethics, Chair, Department of Medical Ethics, and Director of the Center for Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania.

“This book brings together psychological, social, religious and philosophical deliberations that provide a unique resource regarding Jewish perspectives on the duties owed to the dying be they adult or child. The worldwide discussion of end-of-life care issues among professionals, religious leaders and the general public will be much richer thanks to the availability of this important volume.”
Appearing on the heels of last year’s much-publicized Terri Schiavo case, Jewish Ethics and the Care of End-of-Life Patients offers a comprehensive compendium of opinions concerning our right to life, the quality of life and the meaning of life itself. Concerning itself with such topics as assisted death versus assisted suicide; terminal illness in children; empathy towards the incurably ill; and all manner of issues, laws and attitudes about death and dying, the book is an indispensable companion for the professional or layperson…in short, anyone and everyone who is interested in the passage from life to death.

Consisting of chapters written by such respected authorities as Maurice Lamm, J. David Bleich, Vardit Ravitsky, Shimon Glick and Avraham Steinberg, Jewish Ethics and the Care of End-of-Life Patients is relevant and required reading for a broad swath of the general public.

Representing a variety of views and religious orientations, the book’s potential to bridge disparate communities is also invaluable. Informative yet accessible, the book can function both as a support for the individual or family faced with the imminent loss of a loved one and as the catalyst for important discussion and debate within a religious, medical or academic setting.

Jewish Ethics and the Care of End-of-Life Patients is that rare book that invites its readers to enter into a relationship with its subject matter…whose relevance cannot be denied. “End of life care and the right to die with dignity have become two of the most controversial issues in bioethics in recent years,” writes Vardit Ravitsky in her chapter, Dying with Dignity in a Jewish-Democratic State. “While many questions about biomedical technology seem to be futuristic or esoteric, end-of-life questions touch on the lives of everyone.”