Navigate aging and end-of-life
with Jewish wisdom & halacha
The best time is today.
Ematai: If Not Now, When?
Navigate aging and end-of-life with Jewish wisdom and halacha
The best time is today.
Ematai, If Not Now, When?
Robert M. Beren Healthcare Directive & Conversation Guide
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Robert M. Beren
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"One of the essential qualities of the clinician is interest in humanity, for the secret of the care of the patient is in caring for the patient.”
Dr. Louise Aronson, Elderhood: Redefining Aging, Transforming Medicine, Reimagining Life
<br><br>“Whoever saves a single life is considered by Scripture to have saved the whole world.”
Talmud
“If I am not for myself, who is for me? But if I am only for myself, what am I? And if not now, when?”
Hillel the Elder, Ethics of our Fathers
"Faith is about how we live, not how long... It helps us to develop an appetite for life, to cherish the miracle of being, to celebrate in the midst of uncertainty. Perhaps that is its secret, its wisdom, and its gift. Faith teaches us to make a blessing over life."
Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, Celebrating Life
“When a person is at full strength, and all the more so when they age, they are obligated to deeply reflect and draw up a will... Regarding this obligation, the wisdom of Ethics of Our Fathers applies: “If I am not for myself, who will be for me?”
Rabbi Yisrael Kagan, “Chofetz Chaim,” Shem Olam
“Sometimes we can offer a cure, sometimes only a salve, sometimes not even that. But whatever we can offer, our interventions, and the risks and sacrifices they entail, are justified only if they serve the larger aims of a person’s life. When we forget that, the suffering we inflict can be barbaric. When we remember it, the good we do can be breathtaking.”
Dr. Atul Gawande, Being Mortal
"Judaism is concerned about the quality of life, about the mitigation of pain, and the cure of illness wherever possible. If no cure or remission can be achieved, nature may be allowed to take its course. To prolong life is a mitzvah, to prolong dying is not."
Rabbi Dr. Moshe David Tendler, Care of the Critically Ill
"The capacity to live in the present and maximize it softens the scare of not existing at all... The gift of death is that we don't know when it is, so we spend each day in exceptional states of love, generosity, and sanctity because time matters so much."
Dr. Erica Brown, Happier Endings
"Faith is about how we live, not how long... It helps us to develop an appetite for life, to cherish the miracle of being, to celebrate in the midst of uncertainty. Perhaps that is its secret, its wisdom, and its gift. Faith teaches us to make a blessing over life."
Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, Celebrating Life
“Sometimes we can offer a cure, sometimes only a salve, sometimes not even that. But whatever we can offer, our interventions, and the risks and sacrifices they entail, are justified only if they serve the larger aims of a person’s life. When we forget that, the suffering we inflict can be barbaric. When we remember it, the good we do can be breathtaking.”
Dr. Atul Gawande, Being Mortal
“When a person is at full strength, and all the more so when they age, they are obligated to deeply reflect and draw up a will... Regarding this obligation, the wisdom of Ethics of Our Fathers applies: “If I am not for myself, who will be for me?”
Rabbi Yisrael Kagan, “Chofetz Chaim,” Shem Olam
"The capacity to live in the present and maximize it softens the scare of not existing at all... The gift of death is that we don't know when it is, so we spend each day in exceptional states of love, generosity, and sanctity because time matters so much."
Dr. Erica Brown, Happier Endings
"One of the essential qualities of the clinician is interest in humanity, for the secret of the care of the patient is in caring for the patient.”
Dr. Louise Aronson, Elderhood: Redefining Aging, Transforming Medicine, Reimagining Life
"Judaism is concerned about the quality of life, about the mitigation of pain, and the cure of illness wherever possible. If no cure or remission can be achieved, nature may be allowed to take its course. To prolong life is a mitzvah, to prolong dying is not."
Rabbi Dr. Moshe David Tendler, Care of the Critically Ill
<br><br>“Whoever saves a single life is considered by Scripture to have saved the whole world.”
Talmud
“If I am not for myself, who is for me? But if I am only for myself, what am I? And if not now, when?”
Hillel the Elder, Ethics of our Fathers
