Gain clarity in life’s healthcare choices
The best time to start navigating your future health needs is today.
Ematai :: If Not Now, When?
Gain clarity in life’s healthcare choices
The best time to start navigating your future health needs is today.
Ematai :: If Not Now, When?
“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
"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
“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
“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
“Whoever saves a single life is considered by Scripture to have saved the whole world.”
Talmud
"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
"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
"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
Dilemmas about mortality impact our personal life journey, communal experience, and public affairs. Judaism is not afraid to confront deep questions regarding death and dying. Ematai seeks to represent Judaism with a wise and nuanced voice on these sensitive matters.
Rabbi Dr. Shlomo Brody, Executive Director
Whether you are contemplating a distant future, or suddenly facing a crisis, Ematai can help you make informed healthcare decisions consistent with your Jewish values. Ematai offers help to the entire Jewish community- whatever your level of affiliation and whatever the situation – with making these difficult choices for ourselves and our loved ones.
Kim Pimley, Board Member
People mistakenly think that palliative care is only for end-of-life treatment, and that Judaism always prioritizes prolongation of life over alleviation of suffering. Such misunderstandings can cause unnecessary suffering. Ematai helps dispel these misconceptions, and encourages the involvement of palliative support from the start
Dr. Tamar Rubinstein
Ematai fills a void by addressing the most complex issues of organ donation and end of life care in a way that facilitates essential dialogue between patients, families, physicians, and rabbis. It serves an integral role for both the Jewish and medical communities.
Rabbi Edward Reichman, M.D.
Patients and their families are often called upon to make difficult choices in hospital settings or as they face a health crisis. Ematai helps them become informed decision makers to make wise decisions based both on Jewish wisdom and the most up-to-date clinical expertise.
Rabbi Dr. Jason Weiner
[custom-twitter-feeds feed=2]
