KOL SHALOM

A Message from Rabbi Goldstein Mackler
. . . “Jewish Views of Stem Cell Research”
(This is an excerpt taken from Rabbi Mackler’s March 13, 2009 Sermon)
When President
Obama signed an
executive order
permitting the use of federal funds or
federally funded lab space for embryonic
stem cell research, an amazing thing
occurred: each denomination within
Judaism, and each agency in the Jewish
world spoke with one accord. From the
Orthodox Union, to the Religious
Action Center of our Union for Reform
Judaism, from the Conservative
Movement, to the Interfaith Alliance;
from B’nai Brith International to
Hadassah, from the Jewish Council on
Public Affairs to the National Council
of Jewish Women – each agency, each
movement sent out a press release
celebrating this renewed commitment to
human initiative in partnership with
God.
Eight years ago, when embryonic
stem cell research was halted on a federal
level, these groups protested with one
voice, and many agencies worked
tirelessly to garner private and state funds
to keep the research going. Scientists at
Hadassah Hospital’s Goldyne Savad
Institute of Gene Therapy were among
the first in the world to derive
embryonic stem cell lines. If the
prohibition resulted from a religious or
an ideological core, how then could all
these Jewish agencies and movements be
against it?
Clearly, there is nothing written in
the bible about Embryonic Stem Cell
research, but as you might guess, that
does not mean Jewish tradition is silent
on the matter.
From mystics to rabbis, Judaism
expresses a broad vision of the nature of
human life and of our place in the
scheme of things. Further, we bring our
own Jewish lens through which we look
at the importance of scientific and
medical work. Our understanding comes
in the first chapter of the Hebrew Bible,
“Let us make man in our image, after our
own likeness.” Every human life is sacred
and irreplaceable because each of us carries
within us a trace of God’s presence in the
world.
We may disagree with one another
and with our neighbors as to when
independent life begins, or when
ensoulment may happen, but each of us
agrees that from a person’s birth, he is
endowed with dignity and sanctity, and
his life is a gift from God on loan.
Another crucial understanding is that
Jewish ethics is classically constructed in
terms of responsibilities, duties and
obligations rather than in the language of
rights. In ethical dilemmas we are not
arguing a conflict of rights, but a conflict
of duties and responsibilities. This is
(continued on page 3)
“May....be You'll Join Us?”
by Patty Marks
As I write this,
my first article of my
second year as
president, I am
tempted to look back at the year gone by
and reminisce about all that we have done
– our accomplishments, our challenges,
our successes and our obstacles. Then I
might look ahead and tell you of my goals
for the next year – where I hope to see
us, how we might change to improve,
what programs and classes I would like
to see happen. And I might share with
you what I have learned in the last year.
But I am not going to do that. That will
be my talk on May 8 th at our Annual
Meeting. It will begin at 6:00 p.m. and
will be followed by a congregational
dinner and services. I hope you will be
there for it!
2
May is also the month of two other
annual events, Post-Con graduation and
Confirmation. If you have never been
to a Post-Con graduation, I encourage
you to be at Temple on May 1 st at 5:45
p.m. (please note the change of time for
this 1 st Friday night of the month!) to
hear from our graduating seniors about
the two years they have spent debating
issues, eating pizza and learning from one
another and from their fearless teacher,
the indefatigable Alan Mazer. I have
never gone and not left with a sense of
pride in our students and the program
we offer and a feeling of optimism that
the future, as represented by these young
adults, is bright!
Confirmation will be held on
Sunday afternoon, May 3 rd . It is a lovely
service, conducted by the members of
the Confirmation class. It is always
interesting to hear from members of the
class about what Judaism means to them,
what their personal beliefs are or how they
feel about their experience at Temple.
There is great honesty and insight in these
talks and I always love listening to them.
On a personal note, this year’s
Confirmation class was the first 3 rd grade
class I taught in Religious School. (I taught
for 3 years!) I have watched these young
people grow up and am proud for them
and their families that they have reached
this wonderful occasion! Let me take this
opportunity to congratulate them all!
I hope to see you at any or all of the
events I have listed. But if I don’t, thanks
for the privilege of serving this
congregation. And thanks for your
continued support and participation!