Rabbi Isaac Elchanan
Theological Seminary
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RIETS Graduate Program Bioethics & Jewish Law

 

About the Program

The YU/RIETS Graduate Program in Bioethics & Jewish Law offers a unique opportunity to explore pressing medical and ethical questions through the lens of halacha. Grounded in deep respect for Jewish tradition and informed by real-world clinical realities, the program prepares students to think critically and compassionately about the dilemmas faced in today’s healthcare landscape. Whether pursuing the Certificate or the Master’s degree, students will gain a comprehensive understanding of key issues in contemporary bioethics—ranging from end-of-life care to reproductive technology—and develop the ability to apply timeless Jewish values to these modern challenges. Upon completion, graduates will be well-positioned to serve as knowledgeable voices in hospital ethics committees, community settings, or personal decision-making contexts, bridging the gap between Jewish law and secular medicine with clarity, sensitivity, and confidence.
 

Program Objective

The Certificate in Bioethics & Jewish Law offers a broad and practical foundation in Jewish medical ethics for anyone seeking to engage thoughtfully with the complex intersection of halacha and healthcare. Whether motivated by personal, communal, or professional interests, participants will develop the tools to navigate ethical challenges, support culturally sensitive decision-making, and foster productive dialogue between patients, families, and medical professionals. The program enables graduates to identify key areas of tension between secular medical ethics and halachic principles and respond with clarity and compassion. 
The Master’s in Bioethics & Halacha builds on the skills developed in the Certificate program and provides a rigorous, in-depth program focused on serious halachic training. It explores the major sugyot and responsa literature related to medical halacha, equipping learners with the analytical skills and textual grounding needed for advanced application in clinical, communal, or academic settings.

 

 

 

Program Tracks

Certificate Program

Certificate Overview: The program consists of two courses—Bioethics & Jewish Law I and II—offered in successive semesters starting Fall 2026.

Course Structure: Each course includes one in-person full-day seminar and twelve weekly online sessions held on Tuesday evenings.

Seminar Dates & Locations: In-person seminars are scheduled for Sunday, October 11, 2026 and Sunday March 28th, 2027, at Yeshiva University (NY Cohort). Times and Dates for the West Coast Cohort is to be announced soon. New: Chicago Cohort for 2026-2027, Details TBD

Course Timing: Course I runs from September to December, and Course II runs from January to April, with dates subject to slight adjustments.

Course Content: Sessions will include readings, discussions, case studies, and role-playing to simulate real-world clinical applications.

Cost: The total cost is $6,000, with each course priced at $3,000.

Master's Program

Program Overview: A 30-credit graduate program offering an in-depth exploration of medical halacha and Jewish bioethics, integrating rigorous Torah study with real-world clinical and ethical challenges.

Course Structure: The program is delivered in a fully remote, synchronous format, allowing students to participate in real-time learning from anywhere.

Program Requirements: Students complete 6 credits from the Certificate program, 4 core courses (3 credits each), 4 elective courses (2 credits each), and a 4-credit capstone thesis, totaling 30 credits.

Cost & Tuition: Tuition is charged at the RIETS graduate per-credit rate. Please inquire for current tuition details and scholarship opportunities.

Certificate Courses:

Course: Bioethics & Jewish Law I 
Course Number: HAL 6301 (Required, Pre-Requisite, Co-requisite, Certificate Course 1)
Course Schedule: NY/Eastern Time Section Tuesday Nights 7:30PM EST - 9:30PM EST, Sunday September 7th 9:00AM EST - 5:00PM EST
Los Angeles/Pacific Time Section, Tuesday Nights 7:00PM PCT - 9:00PM PCT, Sunday September 14th 9:00AM PCT - 5:00PM PCT
Course Description: This course will lay the foundation for the principles of Bioethics in both secular and Jewish Law. The course will begin by applying the ethics framework to the more introductory areas of Bioethics. Each Unit will include Harvard Business School style case study discussions to practice analysis and application of the framework Jewish Law establishes. Comparative analyses will be performed throughout the course to differentiate and discuss how to navigate differences between Jewish Law and secular ethical approaches used in our healthcare system.

Master's Courses:

Course Name: Fetal Personhood & Abortion 
Course Number: HAL 6314 (Requirement)
Time: Monday Nights 7:00 PM - 9:30PM 
Professor: Rabbi Kalman Laufer
 
Description: This course will explore questions related to abortion and how Halacha deals with those in a position to consider an abortion. Abortions in general have become more prevalent across the world especially due to the advanced imaging and diagnostic capabilities that have been developed in aims of identifying damaging diseases in fetuses. The goal of this course will be to look closely at issues such as status of a fetus, change in status as the pregnancy develops, and what Halacha views as the appropriate conditions if any under which to perform or acquiesce to an abortion. Additionally we will discuss how differences in secular and Halakhic analysis may shift the paradigm for the observant patient or physician in approaching questions of abortion.
 
Course Name: Jewish Bioethics & Emerging Technologies
Course Number: HAL 6328 (Elective)
Course Time: Wednesday Nights 7:30PM - 9:15PM
Professor: Rabbi Dr. Jason Weiner  
Description: Will Be Available June 1, 2026
 

Spring Offerings
 

Course Name: Surgery In Bioethics & Halacha 
Course Number: HAL 6312 (Requirement)
Time: Monday Nights 7:00 PM - 9:30PM
Professor: Rabbi Kalman Laufer
 
Description: In this course we will look at surgery on both the macro and micro levels. Exploring big picture  issues related to surgery, such as patient consent and the requirement of a doctor to treat (or not to treat) under differing circumstances, will be a fundamental portion of our course of study. Additionally, we will explore the level of requirement for a person to donate his money, time, or even parts of his body to save a fellow Jew (or gentile?). This course will also explore on a granular level, specific issues ranging from seemingly benign areas such as plastic surgery, to areas such as vital-organ transplants. Lastly we will cover various surgeries regarding the ability to procreate such as vasectomies and hysterectomies and related procedures and their permissibility in Halacha both for surgeons and patients.
 
Course Name: History Of Jewish Bioethics
Course Number: HAL 6325 (Elective)
Course Time: Wednesday Nights 7:30PM - 9:15PM
Professor: Rabbi Dr. Edward Reichman
 
Description: In this course we will trace the medical understanding of anatomy, physiology, and therapeutics across time and genres of rabbinic literature. The accumulated literature of centuries of Jewish legal discourse on medical topics serves as the foundation for contemporary Jewish bioethics. As these writings span the chronological gamut of scientific and medical discovery, it is essential to view each
source in its proper historical context. Marshalling a vast array of sources
from multiple disciplines, we will demonstrate the importance of the
historical dimension not only for Jewish bioethics research, but to better
understand the unique relationship of Judaism and medicine throughout
the centuries.

 

 
A. Master’s in Hebrew Literature (MHL) – Bioethics & Jewish Law 
The Master’s Degree in Hebrew Literature (MHL) in Bioethics & Jewish Law is a certified graduate degree for students with strong backgrounds in Jewish learning who seek to develop deep Halakhic and ethical fluency in navigating the pressing bioethical challenges of modern medicine. It is open to semikha students, medical professionals, and others seeking to study Torah at a high level while gaining expertise in the rapidly evolving field of Jewish bioethics. 
To receive the MHL in Bioethics & Jewish Law, students must complete the following course of study: 
Shape 
A. Requirements: 
Admission into the MHL program and completion of the requirements below. 
 
Admissions Requirements: 
 
Required Course of Study: 
Students can complete the program in one year as full-time students, or part-time over two or more years. All coursework is delivered remotely and synchronously. 
 
B. Core Curriculum (18 credits total) 
All students must take Bioethics & Jewish Law I and Bioethics & Jewish Law II in the first two semesters of the program. These courses are prerequisites and co-requisites for all other coursework in the program. 
 
C. Electives (8 credits total – 2 credits each) 
Students must choose four of the following elective courses: 
 
D. Capstone Requirement (4 credits total) 
Students must complete a year-long capstone project under the guidance of a faculty advisor. The two components must be registered for in successive semesters. 

Meet the Faculty

Rabbi Kalman Laufer serves as faculty at both Yeshiva University’s Isaac Breuer College and Stern College for Women teaching courses in Medical & Business Ethics. Rabbi Laufer completed his Semikha (Yorah Yorah) at RIETS in 2017 and is currently pursuing Yadin Yadin (Dayanus) in the Rabbi Norman Lamm Kollel L’Horaah at RIETS under the auspices of Rabbi J. David Bleich and Rabbi Mordechai Willig. Rabbi Laufer graduated Yeshiva University’s Sy Syms School of Business with a Bachelor’s Degree in Finance and a Master’s Degree in Accounting as well as a Master’s degree in Bioethics from Albert Einstein College of Medicine/Cardozo Law School. Rabbi Laufer focuses his studies in areas of Bioethics and Medical Halacha specifically working on Halakhic issues that arise in caring for parents suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease or dementia. He also serves as an independent member of the St. John’s Riverside Hospital Ethics Committee.
Rabbi Dr. Jason Weiner, BCC, is the senior rabbi and executive director of the Spiritual Care Department at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles, where he oversees the chaplaincy team and all spiritual care services across the health system. He also serves as rabbi of Knesset Israel Synagogue of Beverlywood and as a senior consultant to Ematai. 
Formerly the assistant rabbi at Young Israel of Century City, Rabbi Weiner holds two rabbinic ordinations, a doctorate in clinical bioethics, a master’s in bioethics and health policy from Loyola University (Chicago), and a master’s in Jewish history from Yeshiva University. He completed four units of clinical pastoral education and is a board-certified chaplain. 
He serves on the executive committee of the Cedars-Sinai Bioethics Committee and is a past president of the Southern California Board of Rabbis. He has received chaplaincy and rabbinic leadership awards from the Rabbinical Council of America, Orthodox Union, Chabad On-Call, Chai Lifeline, and Neshama: Association of Jewish Chaplains, where he chairs their ethics committee. In 2023, he donated a kidney to a stranger. 
  
Rabbi Weiner frequently lectures nationwide as a scholar-in-residence on Jewish medical ethics, pastoral care, and wellness, and teaches hands-on Jewish medical ethics to high school students throughout Los Angeles. 
  
In addition to dozens of articles and book chapters, he is the author of Guide to Observance of Jewish Law in a Hospital (Kodesh Press), Jewish Guide to Practical Medical Decision-Making (Urim Press), cited in a Supreme Court brief, and Care and Covenant: A Jewish Bioethic of Responsibility (Georgetown University Press), a finalist for the Rabbi Jonathan Sacks Book Prize. 
 
Rabbi Dr. Edward Reichman is a Professor of Emergency Medicine at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, where he also teaches Jewish medical ethics, and holds the Rabbi Isaac and Bella Tendler Chair in Jewish Medical Ethics at Yeshiva College. He received his B.A. from Yeshiva University; M.D. from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine; and Rabbinic Ordination from the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary. In addition to his full-time clinical practice in Emergency Medicine at Montefiore Medical Center, Rabbi Dr. Reichman lectures internationally on Jewish medical ethics and Jewish medical history. He has edited numerous books and penned many book chapters and journal articles, and his book, The Anatomy of Jewish Law: A Fresh Dissection of the Relationship Between Medicine, Medical History and Rabbinic Literature was published jointly by Koren/OU/YU presses. 
 
Rabbi Dr. David Shabtai brings a unique combination of rabbinic scholarship, medical expertise, and public health training to the bioethics program. He received his B.A. from Columbia University; M.D. from New York University School of Medicine; M.P.H. from Brown University School of Public Health; and Rabbinic Ordination from the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary, where he also completed the Wexner Kollel Elyon program. 
Rabbi Dr. Shabtai is a recognized authority in Jewish medical ethics, having authored Defining the Moment: Understanding Brain Death in Halakhah (Shoresh Press) and contributed chapters to numerous scholarly works on halakhic perspectives in modern medicine. He previously taught Jewish Perspectives on Bioethics at the Straus Center for Torah and Western Thought at Yeshiva University, presenting monthly seminars for advanced rabbinical students on the intersection of science and Judaism. His practical rabbinic experience includes serving as Rabbi of the Sephardic Minyan at Boca Raton Synagogue, where he regularly addressed medical halakhic queries and worked with organizations like Chayim Aruchim to liaise between families, rabbis, and hospitals. Rabbi Dr. Shabtai has coordinated vaccine policy committees for South Florida Jewish day schools and served on multiple medical advisory committees. His scholarly work appears in leading publications including the Medical Halachah Annual, Journal of Halacha and Contemporary Society, and Jewish Medical Ethics.