The bulk of the material presented in this book originally appeared in the columns of Tradition over the course of the past number of years, and has been expanded and amplified for presentation in its present form. Portions of this work served as the subject matter of a seminar in medical ethics and Halakhah conducted on behalf of the students of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and of courses in contemporary halakhic problems at Stern College for Women.
The present volume has been divided into two sections. Part I is composed of chapters each of which contains a series of relatively brief discussions of related issues in a given area. The material presented in this section is to a large extent, although by no means exclusively, drawn from current periodical halakhic literature. Each of the chapters in Part II is devoted to an extensive analysis of a single halakhic topic and focuses upon a far more wide-ranging array of sources.
I am indebted to Rabbi Walter Wurzburger, editor of Tradition, both for permission to reprint material which appeared in that journal and for his indulgent understanding over the years. It has been my position that in matters of Halakhah style and readability must give way to accuracy and precision. As a result, I bear sole responsibility for any lapses, whether of content or of style.
I also wish to express my thanks to the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture for a grant to defray expenses incurred in preparation of this manuscript; to my brother-in-law, Rabbi Mordecai Ochs, for his insightful assistance in reading the manuscript; and to Rabbi Norman Lamm, for his encouragement and valued aid in bringing this work to publication.
Le-talmidai yoter mi-kullam—to my students above all others I am indebted for their incisive and relentless questioning, which led to a sharpening and honing of the halakhic dialectic.