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MARK WASHOFSKY

by these and similar arguments, already use age as a standard by which to determine patient selection.’

My goal in this paper is to test this case—this reality— against the principles of the Jewish ethical tradition, both as it is formulated in our literary sources and as it might be understood by those of us of a liberal religious outlook. And it is for this reason that I turn to the discussion of this issue in the Halakhah , that genre of Jewish writing in which, over many centuries, the sages of Israel have worked out the contours of Jewish religious life. It is here, in the books of Jewish law, that the rabbis argue and deliberate in the most extensive and intensive manner the precise definitions of our obligations to God , to ourselves, and to our fellow human beings. Does the Halakhah offer us firm guidance as to how we should fulfill the awesome responsibility of determining priorities in health care and medical treatment?

To consider this question, I want to look at two teshuvot, or responsa, written by Rabbi Moses Feinstein, who during his life­time was regarded as the outstanding Orthodox posek(halakhic authority) in North America and, perhaps, the world. These rela­tively brief responsa are not the only existing halakhic treatments of our topic, but taken together they constitute the most systematic and sustained ruling on setting priorities in medical care, including priorities based on age, ever issued by a leading posek. This fact alone warrants their careful study. Yet these responsa also provide us, in sharp detail, a particular example of Halakhah as a literary exercise and a rhetorical activity. By what he says, how he says it, and what he does not say, Rabbi Feinstein creates a textual environ­ment in which he operates as an interpreter of Jewish law. His text thus invites us to participate in that environment, to share his view

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