Eliezer Shostak, Israel’s Minister of Health, told the American Friends of Kiryat Sara Loniado Hospital this week that the new anatomy and pathology bill which calls for strict adherence to halacha in performing autopsies which was recently passed by the Knesset was a “good law” and would not hinder the development of medicine in Israel. He assured the 500 people attending the American Friends’ annual dinner that there will be “no damage” to medical research by allowing the family of the deceased the final say regarding autopsy.
Shostak, who was the guest of honor of the American Friends which presented him with on award citing him as a “humanitarian, statesman and protector of the sanctity of life,” asserted that the standard of health core in Israel is high mainly because of “the devotion of its medical personnel.”
The minister, who came to the U.S. especially to attend the community wide dinner highlighting the achievements of Kiryat Sanz Loniado Hospital in Netonya which opened in 1976, praised the dedication and work of Rabbi S. L. Halberstom of Sanz, the founder of the hospital, because the rabbi established a hospital where medical practice and halacha work in harmony. Shostak also cited Halberstam’s plan to increase research in the study of childless couples. “We need people,” the minister said, and Israel is in need of on increased birth rate which he termed “internal aliya.”
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