Panelists and Moderator

Panelists:

Rabbi Yaakov Neuburger, Rosh Yeshiva of RIETS, I. Meier and Henrietta Segals Chair in Talmud

Rabbi Yaakov Neuburger is a Rosh Yeshiva at the Yeshiva Program/Mazer School of Talmudic Studies of Yeshiva University. Rabbi Neuberger is also the spiritual leader of Congregation Beth Abraham in Bergenfield, NJ. Rabbi Neuburger is an authority on issues related to marital relationships and medical matters. From 1986 to 1990, Rabbi Neuburger was spiritual leader of the Jewish community at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and the Jack D. Weiler Hospital. Rabbi Neuburger received semikha from the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS) of Yeshiva University in 1979 as well as Yadin Yadin semikha. He is a graduate of Yeshiva College and earned an M.A. in psychology from Columbia University.

Rabbi Dr. Shlomo Brody, Executive Director of Ematai

Rabbi Dr. Shlomo Brody is the executive director of Ematai, an organization dedicated to helping Jews navigate aging, end-of-life care and organ donation with Jewish wisdom and halacha. He previously served as a senior rebbe at Yeshivat HaKotel and the dean of the Tikvah Online Academy. An award-winning columnist for The Jerusalem Post, Rabbi Brody's writings have appeared in many popular and scholarly publications and were cited in Israeli Supreme Court decisions. He is the author of two award-winning books, Ethics of Our Fighters: A Jewish View on War and Morality (Maggid) and A Guide to the Complex: Contemporary Halakhic Debates (Maggid). A graduate of Harvard College, he received semikha from the Israeli Chief Rabbinate, an M.A. in Jewish philosophy at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and his Ph.D. from Bar Ilan University Law School.

Rabbi Kalman Laufer, Program Director, RIETS Graduate Program in Jewish Bioethics

Rabbi Kalman Laufer serves as Director of the Bioethics & Jewish Law (Medical Halacha) Program at RIETS, and as faculty at Yeshiva University’s Isaac Breuer College and Stern College for Women, where he teaches courses in Medical Ethics and Halacha and Business Ethics and Halacha. He also serves as a Dayan for the Beth Din of America, having completed his semikha (Yoreh Yoreh) at RIETS in 2018 and Yadin Yadin semikha in the Rabbi Norman Lamm Kollel L’Horaah at RIETS in 2023. 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. He also earned a master’s degree in bioethics from Albert Einstein College of Medicine/Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. Rabbi Laufer focuses his studies in areas of bioethics and medical halacha, specifically working on halakhic issues that arise in caring for individuals suffering from Alzheimer’s disease or dementia. He has also served as an independent member of the ethics committees of New York area hospitals.

Moderator:

Dr. Jessica Stiefel, Assistant Attending Pediatric Oncologist, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Dr. Jessica Stiefel is a graduate of Stern College for Women (2011) and Albert Einstein College of Medicine (2015). She has completed training in pediatrics at Cohen Children's Medical Center and in pediatric hematology-oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Beyond clinical work in treating children with cancer, Dr. Stiefel has an interest in clinical research, having completed a master’s degree in clinical and translational investigation, and in the intersection between Jewish law, medicine and bioethics. Dr. Steifel was a member of the inaugural class of the RIETS certificate program in Jewish bioethics. Utilizing all of this training and education, Dr. Steifel works as a pediatric oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

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