A Very Jewish Issue

BY RABBI GARY KARLIN, SHAAR SHALOM CONGREGATION, HALIFAX, NS

Peruse the news this past year, and what do you find? Sometimes it seems that all we hear about are two things: COVID-19, and racial and social injustice. Of course, this is not really the case; many other developments and issues are around us, even in our own backyard. Life goes on, and as fundamental as health and tzedek (justice) are, we need to listen up to more than the most pressing voices.

Readers of Shalom may be aware that on January 18, 2021, an important law is coming to Nova Scotia. “The Nova Scotia Human Organ and Tissue Donation Act” will make it simpler for more Nova Scotians to save lives. Specifically, we will go from an “opt-in” policy to an “opt-out” one, meaning that, after January 18, if you make no decision to withhold, you will be presumed to agree to be a donor, and upon your death, your organs and tissues will be available for transplanting to others. While Nova Scotia may be on the cutting-edge of this issue, no doubt other provinces will follow our lead toward presumed consent.

This change in law affects all Nova Scotians, and is why it is so important that we become more aware and thoughtful of the many complex issues involved—both in the provincial law, and in Jewish law and tradition—in this important matter.

Just recently, in December, I was privileged to be a part of a small working group that discussed the new Act and how it can be more effectively implemented. Two local Islamic clergy, a research facilitator, a physician wellplaced in the NS organ and tissue transplant program, and I discussed how our respective traditions and backgrounds could more purposefully, sensitively, and knowledgably support the new Act. In two online meetings (we originally planned for one, but the conversation became so far-ranging and the questions so important that a second was added), we concluded that it would be helpful for everybody—the medical/legal establishment, as well as the local Islamic and Jewish communities—to participate in an open learning and discussion forum on donations and transplants. The consensus was that some of the religious values and laws that both we Jews and our Muslim neighbours face are so similar, that it would be helpful for all of us to come together, and not meet separately, in a larger session with representatives from the provincial medical and government communities.

Keep posted for more news about the Donation Act, and about the interfaith forum on religious responses to it.