Tradition, modernity and the dying process: Secular ideologies and Judaism

The issues surrounding death and dying in contemporary society challenge Judaism. Authorities of Jewish law deliberate about the implications of current scientific knowledge and its applicability to a halakhic understanding of many issues including those surrounding death and dying. Medical issues which are now in the forefront of both rabbinic and secular discussions were inconceivable until this century. Thus, rabbis and physicians are adapting their roles in an attempt to accommodate the way these challenges affect the populations they serve. My research goes on to examine, the tensions between traditional ideas of life in Judaism and the secular principle of autonomy, as well as the relationship between pain and the Judaic sanctity of life principle and finally the brain death debate and its impact on secular and religious decision-making.