MONDAY: Second 2006 Lichter Lecture at UC, 'Medical Questions in Maimonides Writings'

Each year, the Lichter Lecture Series focuses on a critical theme. This year’s three lectures, on consecutive Monday nights, feature internationally renowned Maimonides scholars.

“Medical Questions in Maimonides’ Writings” will be presented by Fred Rosner, MD,  Professor of Medicine at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine.

When: Monday, Oct. 23
Reception at 6 p.m.
Lecture at 7 p.m.

Where: Raymond Walters College, Room 100, Science & Allied Health Building

All the lectures are free and open to the public and include a reception, which will be observant of Kosher dietary law. To RSVP, call 513-556-2297.

Fred Rosner, MD, professor of medicine at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, director of the Department of Medicine at Queens Hospital Center and visiting professor of Medicine at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, is an internationally recognized expert in the field of Jewish bioethics. A prolific writer, he has published 36 books and over 800 articles, has reviewed manuscripts for 16 professional medical journals, and has authored six acclaimed books on Jewish medical ethics, including Modern Medicine and Jewish Ethics and Medicine and Jewish Law I and II.

Dr. Rosner has translated all of Maimonides' medical writings into English and written several books, including "The Medical Encyclopedia of Moses Maimonides." He will bring to Monday's lecture copies of "The Medical Legacy of Moses Maimonides,” a compilation of many of Rosner’s articles on medical works written by the famed philosopher, doctor and rabbi.

"I think it's perfectly appropriate to speak about Maimonides today, 800 years after he died, because his medical writings are still relevant," Dr. Rosner says. "And some of them were far ahead of their time."

For example, in his "Maqala fi al-rabw" — "Treatise on Asthma" — Maimonides spoke about air pollution. Long before it was a recognized problem, Maimonides said “city air is stagnant because of big buildings, the refuse of inhabitants, lack of sunshine and so on,” Dr. Rosner quotes.

Maimonides urged others, when they were building a house or looking for a place to live, “to look for an upper floor with lots of sunshine and air, and that the outhouse should be as far removed from the house as possible," says Dr. Rosner.

"I think this recognition of air pollution 800 years before it became a word, and the greenhouse effect he's alluding to … he was way ahead of his time."

Department of Judaic Studies
McMicken College of Arts and Sciences
University of Cincinnati
Cincinnati, OH 45221-0169
513-556-9116
Judaic.Studies@uc.edu

The Lichter Lectures in Judaic Studies are made possible by the Jacob and Jennie L. Lichter Fund of the Jewish Federation of Cincinnati

About the Department of Judaic Studies