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21 Rutgers J. L. & Religion 426 (2021)
Cadaver Donations in the Jewish Legal System

handle is hein.journals/rjlr21 and id is 426 raw text is: CADAVER DONATIONS IN THE JEWISH LEGAL SYSTEM Gabriel N. Slamovits, Esq. * INTRODUCTION The use of human cadavers for teaching and training purposes is a relatively new phenomenon in medical education. From antiquity through the Middle Ages and beyond, the dissection of the human body was largely considered immoral and was often illegal. That said, select physicians and artists, such as Bandinelli and da Vinci, performed anatomical dissections. It was not until the twentieth century that the use of cadavers in medical schools became standard practice. Indeed, in 1888, in the United States House of Representatives, New Jersey Congressman William McAdoo referred to anatomy as the savage, soulless science of the medical schools.1 Yet, over time, dissecting the human body became a required rite of passage for nearly all medical students. Entry into the gross anatomy lab is one of the hallmarks of medical education. The Jewish legal system faces a complex balancing test with regard to anatomical dissection. On the one hand, the belief that * Gabriel N. Slamovits, Esq., is a 2019 graduate of New York University School of Law and attended medical school at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. An earlier version of this Article won an Honorable Mention in the 2019 Mary Moers Wenig Student Writing Competition administered by the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel Foundation. I am profoundly grateful to my adviser and teacher, Professor Bridget J. Crawford, for her support of my work and her mentorship. Every stage of the process, from research through publication, has been enhanced and enriched by her dedicated guidance. I also thank Professor Moshe Halbertal and Rabbi Joseph J. Wolfson, both of New York University, and Barbara Niss, Director of the Archives at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. My gratitude to Koren Publishers for providing me with a searchable edition of Farber and Greenberg's HALAKHIC REALITIES: COLLECTED ESSAYS ON ORGAN DONATION and to the International Rabbinic Fellowship for the right to utilize images from the book. I thank my parents, Dr. Thomas Slamovits and Lynn Neumann Slamovits, for their love and unwavering support. Special thanks to Dr. Jeffrey T. Laitman, Distinguished Professor of Medical Education at Mount Sinai, whose Gross Anatomy course, and particularly our special class session on end-of-life transitions and whole-body donation, spurred me to think about many of these issues. My experience with my cadaver, whom I was trained to think of as my first patient, is the genesis of this paper. I am eternally grateful to that patient for the sacred gift he bestowed upon me and my fellow students in the anatomy lab. 1 McAdoo, William. (NJ) Objection to House Bill No. 5040, for the promotion of anatomical science and to protect the desecration of graves in the District of Columbia. Congressional Record 19:2418 (Mar. 26, 1888).

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