Technology for Good: Mobile Apps that Help Us

As we look around the technology landscape at the beginning of 2016, I think it's fair to say that the pace of innovation is quite impressive. Driverless cars, drones, connected homes and 3-D virtual reality have arrived and today's youth don't even know of a time without social media or mobile apps.

We are certainly living in exciting times thanks to tech innovation. However, I like to consider that there are three separate categories of innovation. We can and should be excited about all three categories because the technology is impressive in each. One category consists of technology that ranges from the fun to the mindless. This includes technology without a higher purpose -- think gaming mobile apps like Angry Birds. Sure, it helps preoccupy your kids by handing them the iPad while in the doctor's waiting room, but it doesn't advance society. The second category includes technology that improves our lives, but doesn't solve our most pressing issues. Here, I would include such innovations as drones, Uber/Lyft transportation, socialized TV viewing and advanced GPS technology. They have made our lives easier, but we could also continue living without them.

The third category is the most critical. I argue that this is the technology about which we should really be passionate and enthusiastic. Not only does this technology have a utility,  but it is revolutionary. This is the technology that will solve the greatest ills of the 21st century.

Beacon of Hope

Sex slavery is the fastest growing crime in the world and less than 1% of the victims (half of whom are under 12-years-old) are identified. That problem has led 25-year-old twin sisters America and Penelope Lopez to develop Beacon of Hope. Last year, the sisters won a top prize at the AT&T Developer Summit and Hackathon in Las Vegas for their "Body Camera Hack," a prototype camera with face-tracking technology that can be worn by law enforcement officers to record their actions in the field. This year, the Lopez sisters returned to the AT&T Developer Summit to spend the 36 straight hours of the Hackathon creating their potential solution to the sex slavery problem.

What is Beacon of Hope? Together with a couple other developers, the dynamic sisters have used Gimbal's iBeacon technology to alert law enforcement when a woman is being taken as a sex slave. The small beacons are hidden in tampons and sanitary napkins that will be available in women's restrooms at such places as gas stations, highway rest stops, stadiums and casinos because survivors report the only place they were ever alone was in a public restroom. A woman will be able to easily hide the beacon in her purse or pocket to be tracked by local law enforcement. The beacon immediately sends a signal to the police so they can trace her location. The sisters have taken advantage of AT&T's Smart Cities technology to ensure the tracking beacon is monitored as it travels as sex slavery victims are often moved from city to city against their will. It also utilizes the technologies of IBM Watson, Intel Edison and AT&T Flow Designer. The next version of Beacon of Hope will allow a victim to simply make a hand gesture in front of the beacon dispensary to alert law enforcement.

America and Penelope Lopez of Beacon of Hope

Immunizations and Responsible Parenting

With the recent outbreak of Measles due to an unvaccinated child at Disneyland, everyone seems to be talking about the parents, known as anti-vaxxers, who choose to not have their children vaccinated for various reasons. Hillel Day School, the Jewish day school that I attended as a child and where my children now go to school, recently changed its policy about vaccinations -- a decision which I support wholeheartedly.

The Head of School, Steve Freedman, sent out an email to the school community outlining the new policy which he implemented. The bottom line is that no children without up-to-date vaccinations, unless they have a medical waiver from the child's physician, will be allowed to continue at the school. He wrote, "Hillel reserves the right to: Exclude any child whose family has refused immunization, exclude any child who is not immunized against measles or pertussis and has been potentially exposed, for the duration of the incubation period." Regarding students who are not immunized for non-medical reasons, such as on religious grounds or for a philosophical objection, he explained, "Hillel Day school will not accept religious grounds as an objection. On the contrary, Jewish values would insist on vaccinations based on the concept of pikuah nefesh – saving a life. Vaccines not only protect your children, they also protect the others in the community. If not enough people are immunized, others are put at risk, including young children, babies, the elderly, and pregnant women." (Waivers for philosophical objections will only be granted after parents take a required class from the county health department).

After the email from Hillel last week, I was contacted by the Detroit Jewish News for my opinion of this decision, both as a rabbi and as a parent in the school. Here's how I responded:

"A core ethic of Judaism is pikuach nefesh, the idea that preserving human life overrides virtually any other Jewish law. With modern medicine we understand that it is essential for good health that babies and young children receive vaccinations on the required schedule. Not receiving these vaccinations puts that individual's life at risk, as well as countless others. Therefore, I argue that refusing vaccinations for babies and children is antithetical to living in accordance with Jewish law."

"When I read the recent email from Steve Freedman at Hillel Day School, where my children attend, I was grateful for his tough stance on vaccinations. Just one child at a school who isn't vaccinated puts everyone else at risk and that is irresponsible."

Being Honest About Ritual Circumcision

I don't get squeamish watching a bris take place. And I've seen my fair share. However, I have been getting squeamish lately over the many news items concerning the legality and morality of ritual circumcision, a required Jewish life-cycle event for thousands of years.

When discussing brit milah (Jewish ritual circumcision), I believe it is important to be open and honest. I firmly believe that this mitzvah (commandment) is of paramount importance to the Jewish people and that we must ensure that it is done safely throughout the world to ensure that it continues for generations to come.

The Israeli Bandage and Gabby Giffords

The highlight of the AIPAC Policy Conference so far has been the exhibit on Israeli technological innovation in the AIPAC Village. The bottom floor of the Washington Convention Center, called AIPAC Village, is where D.C.'s annual auto show is held so it is the perfect location to display the America-Israel Racing's NASCAR race car, an electric car from Shai Agassi's Better Place, and an Israeli tank. However, the best thing that I saw in that exhibit was the first meeting between two men.

I happened to witness the first encounter between Bernard Bar-Natan and Daniel Hernandez. Both of these men contributed to the mitzvah of pikuach nefesh -- saving a life. Bar-Natan is responsible for developing the "Israeli Bandage" that was used to save Rep. Gabrielle Giffords' life after the assassination attempt that almost killed her. Daniel Hernandez had only been Rep. Giffords' intern for five days on the day of the tragic incident. Hernandez had the good sense to wrap Giffords' wounds with makeshift bandages until the paramedics arrived on the scene.

With Daniel Hernandez and Bernard Bar-Natan, CEO of FirstCare

When Bernard Bar-Natan was training to become a military medic in the mid-80's he noticed that some of the bandages they were using in the Israeli Army to stop bleeding were manufactured during World War II or even before. He began working on new bandages that would have a pressure bar built into the bandage itself. In the early 90's Bar-Natan was part of a technology incubator program in Jerusalem with a government grant allowing him to develop the bandage. Today, Bar-Natan's startup company, First Care Products in Lod, Israel, produces over 2 million bandages a year.

The Israeli Bandage helps stem blood loss, prevents infection and allows non-medically trained soldiers to stabilize a wound. American emergency management and law enforcement teams also use the Israeli Bandage. After the Israeli Bandage was used to stop Gabby Giffords' bleeding, Dr. Katherine Hiller, an emergency physician at the University of Arizona Medical Center remarked, "Without this care, it would have definitely been a different situation."

This bandage is just one example of how Israeli innovation is saving lives. While I haven't had the honor to ever meet Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in person, I felt truly privileged yesterday to meet two of the men responsible for her still being alive today. Watching them meet each other was a remarkable moment and one that I won't soon forget.

Va'etchanan - Loving God Through Stem Cell Research

One of the oddest of the 613 commandments offered in the Torah is found in this week's Torah portion. On Shabbat morning, Jews all over the world will hear the words of Va'etchanan read aloud, including the commandment that we are to "to love God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might." Even young children pick up on the fact that it's odd for God to command us to love God. After all, love is a feeling and commanding a human being to have an emotion seems strange.

However, there are ways for us to express our love for God that transcend our emotions. We can love God in physical ways as well. Our actions toward the betterment of people's lives are a reflection of our loving relationship with the Divine. If we believe that God created humans and we were partners in the creation of the world, then we have a responsibility to help other humans be healthy and live long lives.

In his commentary on the Torah, Rashi explains that "with all your heart" means that we should serve God with all our powers for goodness, compassion and charity.

Last night I had the pleasure to learn from one of the smartest people I've ever met. Dr. Eva Feldman, of the Taubman Institute at the University of Michigan, is using her knowledge, talent and heart to change the world for the better.

Feldman, a soft-spoken professor of neurology at the University of Michigan's School of Medicine, has made significant contributions to the fight against ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease) and Diabetes in a very short period of time. Last night, she explained to a living room full of some of Metro Detroit's young adults how her clinical trial of a stem cell therapy for ALS has allowed dozens of patients to walk better.

A. Alfred Taubman, the Michigan shopping mall magnate and mega-philanthropist, helped create the Taubman Medical Research Institute with a $22 million endowment in 2007 and named Feldman as the institute's first director in January 2008. (Taubman is the University of Michigan's largest individual donor, with total giving of more than $142 million including $100 million specifically for innovative medical science.)

Three years ago, Dr. Feldman and the Taubman Institute educated citizens in Michigan about the importance of stem cell research in the study and treatment of disease, which led to voters approving a constitutional amendment lifting restrictions on stem cell research. As a result of the election, the Taubman Institute opened the first core facilities in Michigan to derive embryonic stem cell lines (one of the few in the nation).

Dr. Eva Feldman is a pioneer in this field of medical science, but she has also learned to be a quiet fighter. She has to fight against politicians who seek to make her research illegal and she has to fight against those who claim that what she is doing is unethical. Some even accuse her of playing God. There are many who cite their religious beliefs to criticize Dr. Feldman's work, but I am convinced that her research comes from a place of deep compassion for humanity. Dr. Feldman is motivated to find ways to treat and cure disease. She does this through the power of modern scientific and medical innovation. She explained to our group that she is pro-life because she uses the leftover frozen embryos created for couples using IVF to have children. These embryos would have been destroyed in a garbage disposal, but Dr. Feldman is able to use these stem cell lines to learn more about genetic diseases, create treatments for suffering patients, and help find cures for such life-threatening conditions as cancer, ALS, and Diabetes.

We were all created in the image of God and we owe it to each other to use modern science and medical innovation to benefit the lives of God's creatures. Using stem cells to fight (and potentially cure) diseases isn't playing God, but it is a form of loving God. Rebbe Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev taught that it can be determined if a person really loves God by the love they bear toward others. Dr. Eva Feldman strikes me as this type of person.

Shabbat Shalom.

Dr. Jack Kevorkian from a Jewish Perspective

It's been a week since "Dr. Death," Jack Kevorkian, died of natural causes. A local celebrity in Michigan, Kevorkian became synonymous with physician-assisted suicide in the 1990s. He also made his long-time attorney, Geoffrey Feiger, into a local celebrity. Growing up in Metro Detroit with Kevorkian's antics on the television news each day meant that "euthanasia" was a well-known term to my peers and me.

Kevorkian's death has once again revived the ethical conversation surrounding physician-assisted suicide. My friend and classmate, Rabbi Leonard Sharzer, MD, was recently interviewed by The Jewish Week about the Jewish perspective of Physician-Assisted Suicide. The interview was published just days before Kevorkian's death.

Rabbi Sharzer, a retired plastic surgeon in New York, was interviewed because a new documentary is airing on HBO. "How to Die in Oregon" takes a powerful look at Oregon's Death with Dignity Act, a 1994 measure allowing physician-assisted suicide and the first law of its kind, by telling the stories of several people who died under the act. Rabbi Sharzer writes and lectures on bio-medical ethics at the Jewish Theological Seminary's Finkelstein Institute for Religious and Social Studies. The following are questions he answered on the subject of physician assisted suicide:

Q: What, if anything, do Jewish texts and modern-day responsa say about physician-assisted suicide?

A: Normative Judaism, as a general matter, is opposed to suicide, although there have been exceptions, as in the case of matrydom. Jewish legal writing about physician-assisted suicide is quite new, as discussion of the phenomenon itself is recent. The predominant opinion is negative. There’s the notion that human life is a gift from God, and it’s up to God to decide when it ends, not human beings. … Judaism sees no intrinsic value to suffering at the end of life and encourages physicians to use all means at their disposal to relieve suffering — but not to actually end a life.

Do the Torah and other Jewish texts include examples of people choosing to end their lives rather experiencing an agonizing or painful death?

The classic example in the Bible is the case of King Saul, who found himself wounded in battle and surrounded by the enemy. Fearing torture and degradation, he took his own life. The rabbis go to some length to justify Saul’s action while saying it’s an exception that shouldn’t be considered the rule.

Did seeing the documentary influence your own views on the subject?

I’d say that seeing the movie gave me a much better understanding of the human condition in which this develops. It gives a human face to the issue. It’s not my position to be judgmental of anyone who makes that decision, even if I wouldn’t make that decision for myself and wouldn’t counsel it.

What’s the role of spiritual leaders, such as rabbis, in such decisions? Is it the cleric’s place to veto a decision like this and, if so, under what circumstances?

Spiritual leaders, clergy and pastoral caregivers have in role in help both patients and their families deal with these very difficult questions. I don’t think it’s about a veto. Rather, it’s about helping people who are seeking guidance from within a religious tradition. … It’s clearly a feature of our times that people want to control all aspects of their life and health. The spiritual position is that sometimes you can’t. The contribution of spiritual and religious leaders is to help them deal with areas over which they aren’t able to exert control.

In a statement released by the filmmaker, he says that, surprisingly, the lessons he learned from making the documentary have more to do with living than with dying. What does an issue like this — and, more generally, the idea of death — teach us about life?

One of the lessons is that we don’t live this life as isolated individuals. We live this life as part of a family, as part of a community. We want to live out a sense of values not only for ourselves, but for our families and communities, and impart [our values] to the ones who come after us.

Proud of Israel

Israel often gets slammed by the media, so when there is positive coverage of Israel in the news, it is important to showcase it. Several major media outlets have lauded Israel for its quick and efficient aid in Haiti following the devastating earthquake there.

Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb of the Orthodox Union writes for the JTA: "The Jewish community, in its entirety, can be proud of its response thus far to the Haitian catastrophe. Rescue teams from the State of Israel and millions of dollars from the Jews of America are but examples of our response. Whatever the motivation for these responses, this has been a religious response, a Jewish response." He explains earlier in his op-ed that the Jewish way of responding to natural disasters is to: "See. Feel. Act."

Yesterday, I was pleasantly surprised to see how CNN was singing the praises of Israel's response in Haiti. Even though the Israelis came from the other side of the world, the report notes that the Israeli army was the first to set up a field hospital in Haiti. One woman explains, "I've been here since Thursday and no one except the Israeli hospital has taken our patients." When the reporter walks into the Israeli field hospital she says that it's like another world because of the imaging technology and the operating rooms the Israelis have set up. Diane Sawyer also featured the quick response by the Israelis in Haiti on ABC News. Sawyer speaks with a correspondent who helped deliver a baby and then watched as another baby was delivered in the Israel Defense Forces field hospital. The baby was named "Israel."

Here is the video clip from the CNN report:



In addition to the response by the Israelis on the ground in Haiti, other articles have praised the American Jewish community for the outpouring of aid through charitable gifts and medical supplies. The JTA reports: "By Tuesday, AJWS raised $1.8 million from more than 16,000 people via its Web site. The JUF-Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago raised $283,000 in five days from 2,200 donors. Almost all of it -- nearly $260,000 – came in online, from 2,058 individuals. UJA-Federation of Greater Toronto raised $173,240 so far, much of it online. Those involved in the fund-raising effort say the Jewish community’s gifts to the people of Haiti stem from Jewish values."

The New York Times today also featured an article praising Israel, but this time it had to do with the Winter Olympics. The article explained that Israel is hardly a winter sports powerhouse (no surprise!), but this year may prove differently for Israel in the Winter Olympics in downhill skiing and ice-skating.

I can only hope that this positive coverage of Israel by the media continues. At least the world is taking notice of Israel's rapid response to the need for humanitarian aid in Haiti.