Home
Jews and Genes

Jews and Genes

The Genetic Future in Contemporary Jewish Thought

Edited by Elliot N. Dorff and Laurie Zoloth

Published by: University of Nebraska Press

Imprint: The Jewish Publication Society

480 Pages, 152.00 × 229.00 mm

Paperback
9780827612242
Published: March 2015

£26.99

Buy

Description
Contents
Authors
Praise

Foreword by Mark S. Frankel
Introduction by Elliot N. Dorff and Laurie Zoloth
Part 1. Stem Cell Research
1. Summary of the Science of Stem Cell Research
Elliot N. Dorff and Laurie Zoloth
2. Applying Jewish Law to Stem Cell Research
Elliot N. Dorff
3. Divine Representations and the Value of Embryos: God’s Image, God’s Name, and the Status of Human Nonpersons
Noam J. Zohar
4. “Like Water”: Using Genesis to Formulate an Alternative Jewish Position on the Beginning of Life
Yosef Leibowitz
5. Reasonable Magic: Stem Cell Research and Forbidden Knowledge
Laurie Zoloth
Part 2. Genetic Mapping and Identity
6. Summary of the Science of Genetic Mapping and Identity
Elliot N. Dorff and Laurie Zoloth
7. Folk Taxonomy, Prejudice, and the Human Genome
Judith S. Neulander
8. What Is a Jew? The Meaning of Genetic Disease for Jewish Identity
Rebecca Alpert
9. Yearning for the Long-Lost Home: The Lemba and the Jewish Narrative of Genetic Return
Laurie Zoloth
Part 3. Genetic Testing
10. Summary of the Science of Genetic Testing
Elliot N. Dorff and Laurie Zoloth
11. Genetic Testing in the Jewish Community
Paul Root Wolpe
12. Jewish Genetic Decision Making and an Ethic of Care
Toby L. Schonfeld
Part 4. Genetic Intervention
13. Summary of the Science of Genetic Intervention
Elliot N. Dorff and Laurie Zoloth
14. Some Jewish Thoughts on Genetic Enhancement
Shimon Glick
15. Curing Disease and Enhancing Traits: A Philosophical (and Jewish) Perspective
Ronald M. Green
16. Genetic Enhancement and the Image of God
Aaron L. Mackler
17. “Blessed Is the One Who Is Good and Who Brings Forth Goodness”: A Jewish Theological Response to the Ethical Challenges of New Genetic Technologies
Louis E. Newman
18. Jewish Reflections on Genetic Enhancement
Jeffrey H. Burack
19. Mending the Code
Robert Gibbs
Part 5. The New Genetics and Public Policy
20. Religious Traditions in a Postreligious World: Does Halakhah Have Insights for Nonbelievers?
John Lantos
21. How the Unconscious Shapes Modern Genomic Science
Robert Pollack
22. To Fix the World: Jewish Convictions Affecting Social Issues
Elliot N. Dorff
Contributors
Index to Classical Sources
General Index

Elliot N. Dorff is rector and Sol and Anne Dorff Distinguished Service Professor of Philosophy at the American Jewish University in Los Angeles and past chair of the Society of Jewish Ethics. He is the author or editor of numerous award-winning books, including Matters of Life and Death: A Jewish Approach to Modern Medical Ethics (JPS, 1998).

Laurie Zoloth is a professor of religious studies and on the Jewish studies faculty at Weinberg College and is a professor of medical humanities and bioethics at the Feinberg School of Medicine, both at Northwestern University. She is the author or editor of six books, including The Ethics of Encounter: A Jewish Discussion of Social Justice. Mark S. Frankel is director of the Scientific Responsibility, Human Rights, and Law Program at the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

"As informed and informative as it is thoughtful and thought-provoking, Jews and Genes: The Genetic Future in Contemporary Jewish Thought is very highly recommended for community and academic library Judaic Studies, Genetics, and Bioethics reference collections and supplemental studies reading lists."-Willis M. Buhle, Midwest Book Review

"Dorff and Zoloth have assembled contributions that shed light on Jews, biology, and genes that are engagingly revelatory for Jew and non-Jew alike."—Arthur L. Caplan, Drs. William F. and Virginia Connolly Mitty Professor of Bioethics and director of the Division of Medical Ethics at NYU Langone Medical Center

"A brilliant combination of science and philosophy that deepens one's awe for the genetics of life and demonstrates how insights from Jewish thought can help address the vexing questions that arise because of scientists' new capabilities to test for genes and alter them in the effort to prevent or cure disease."—Neil S. Wenger, director of the UCLA Health Ethics Center