A New Challenge for Dr. Kaplan
Ben must face an onslaught of criticism from a rabbi.
Because Ben Kaplan was Chief of Medicine at Pittsburgh Memorial Hospital, he had administrative responsibilities. One of these was meeting with Lila Everett, EDD, the administrator in charge of education, to review problems that could potentially violate laws and statutes, not only state and local government laws and statutes but also regulations and standards promulgated by the ACGME (Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education) and the American College of Physicians. And perhaps most importantly, violation of these laws, rules, and regulations might negatively impact the hospital’s income. A big part of Lila’s job was to prevent this from happening.
“Good morning, Ben,” said Lila.
“Good morning to you, Lila. What’s on our agenda today?”
“I think you’ll be surprised, Ben. We have a problem that I haven’t seen before. Are you familiar with Rabbi Jeremiah Greenberg?”
“Of course, Lila. After all, I’m Jewish. Jeremiah is a conservative rabbi, the senior rabbi at The Pittsburgh Conservative Jewish Synagogue. He’s also a financial wizard and a member of our hospital board of trustees,” said Ben.
“Ben, his family is heavily connected politically both locally and at the national level. The family are major financial donors to Pittsburgh Memorial. He came to see me yesterday to talk about something that he considers a problem, a big problem.”
“What could that be, Lila?”
“He’s concerned that one of your senior medical residents is talking to some of our Jewish patients about Jesus Christ and even saying that He is the Messiah. One of these patients is a member of his congregation and her daughter spoke with the rabbi about this. The rabbi is angry. He considers this type of thing to be a form of antisemitism and he wants it stopped immediately,” said Lila.
“Do you consider this a problem, Lila?” asked Ben.
“I definitely do, Ben. What business is it of a medical resident, or any hospital employee for that matter, to discuss God and His so called Messiah with our patients, especially Jewish patients, in this hospital? Ben, you know that we receive federal funds to help pay for many things that we do here, including the education of residents. In fact, the government, through the Medicare program, even pays the salaries of some of our residents. Because of that we could even be getting into separation of Church and State issues right here at Pittsburgh Memorial because of what this medical resident did. Ben, do you know what the Constitution says about this?”
“Lila, do you believe in God and that Jesus Christ is His Messiah?” asked Ben.
“I’m not sure, Ben. But, I probably wouldn’t pose that question to Rabbi Greenberg,” said Lila. “The rabbi wants to talk with you personally about what this medical resident is doing.”
“Lila, I believe I know which medical resident you’re talking about. Is it Jamie Miller?”
“Ben, as a matter of fact, it is. Would you talk with him and let me know how that goes? In the meantime I’d like to coordinate a meeting between you and the rabbi, OK?”
“Of course, Lila. But before you go, do you know that separation of church and state is not found in our country’s constitution?”
“I didn’t know that, Ben”.
Jeremiah Greenberg had been raised as an orthodox Jew. He had gone to Yeshiva through high school and after that to a Jewish College where he obtained both a BA in liberal arts followed by a PhD in Old and New Testament studies. After that he had been ordained as a rabbi. But gradually, and secretly, he turned away from God. Jeremiah himself didn’t know where his feelings came from but his latent atheism had morphed into an intense dislike of his own Jewish people and of Israel. He usually managed to hide these feelings and only to let them out in the most subtle - and consequently deadly - ways.
Jeremiah continued his education and obtained an MBA and a PhD at the Wharton School. Over the next several years he went from entry level employee at Crafton Finance in Pittsburgh, to Director of Portfolios and Financial Instruments. Strangely, Jeremiah was also the Chief Rabbi at the largest conservative synagogue in Pittsburgh where he led Shabbat services and all Bible studies. Jeremiah was antisemitic but he especially hated Messianic Jews. And he hated Ben Kaplan, not only because Ben was a Jew, but because he was a Jewish believer in Yeshua.
Ben Kaplan drove up to The Pittsburgh Conservative Jewish Synagogue, commonly referred to as The PittCon by many of its members, and found a place to park. He was right on time for his appointment with Rabbi Greenberg.
Greenberg was a handsome man, about six feet two inches tall with lightly greying brown hair. He was not quite fifty years old. Although he knew of him, Ben had not met the rabbi before. As Ben approached him with right hand extended, Jeremiah Greenberg gave Ben a weak and moist handshake. Ben hated handshakes like that. He held on to Greenberg’s hand with a firm grip for several seconds and looked directly into Greenberg’s light grey eyes. There was no benevolence in those eyes.
“Ben, thanks for coming here to see me today. Let me get right to the point. One of your senior medical residents at Memorial, a Dr. Jaime Miller, has been talking with patients about Jesus Christ. And with one patient in particular, a Mrs. Siegel, who is obviously Jewish. You know Ben, Mrs. Siegel comes from a wealthy family. They donate a lot of money to this hospital and to my synagogue. Her daughter is furious about this conversation! I find Dr. Miller’s behavior highly inappropriate.”
“I know you do, Jeremiah. I spoke with Jaime about this and subsequently the patient, Mrs. Siegel. I understand that it’s her daughter who made you aware of this”, said Ben.
“Yes, Ben. Her daughter, Deborah Cohen, is quite angry. She’s furious!’
“May I ask what Mrs. Cohen is furious about?”
“Isn’t it obvious, Ben? Dr. Miller spoke with Mrs. Siegel about Jesus. He told her that Jesus is the Messiah and that He could bring her peace! If that isn’t nonsense then I don’t know what is. And especially to say this to a Jewish person, Ben. You know that Jews hate Jesus! I want something done about this, Ben!”
Ben responded calmly. “Jeremiah, Jesus is the Messiah. He came once and He’s going to come again, soon. It’s all in the Tanach (the Old Testament or Hebrew Scriptures), Jeremiah. I assume you know the Tanach?”
“Ben, I have a PhD in Old and New Testament studies. Yes, I know the Tanach!”
“Jeremiah, let me tell you what my investigation of Mrs. Cohen’s complaint revealed. Dr. Miller came to her mother’s room on routine rounds and noticed that Mrs. Siegel was crying. Jaime knew that she’d just been given news by the oncology group, that she has widely metastatic kidney cancer. It’s all over her body, Jeremiah. Jaime asked her how he could help. She told him that she believed she was going to die soon and she was concerned about her eternal destiny, about life after death. Jaime asked her if she believed in God. She said she didn’t know. He told her that God loves her. She asked him to please tell her more. So Jaime told her the good news about the Messiah, Yeshua or Jesus. He read her this verse:
Romans 6:23 (NKJV) For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
“Jeremiah, although this is a New Testament verse what it teaches is fully supported by the Tanach.”
“Dr. Kaplan, I’m a son of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I don’t need you to tell me what is in the Tanach. I know what’s in the Tanach better than you ever will! I’m the senior rabbi of the biggest conservative synagogue in Pittsburgh, for God’s sake!”
“Jeremiah, Mrs. Siegel actually felt much better after hearing the verse from Romans and asked Jaime if he would come back and talk more with her about this.
“Jeremiah, right now there is nothing for me to counsel Dr. Miller about. I suggest that you talk with Mrs. Siegel and her daughter together to get the story straight and then get back to me. If Mrs. Siegel is OK with what happened then there is no problem as far as I’m concerned, whether her daughter thinks there is or not.”
Rabbi Greenberg was livid. “Well, Dr. Kaplan, I think there is a problem. You’ll be hearing further from me. Good day to you and you may leave my office now!”
But, Ben was not quite ready to leave yet. He would not give up on Rabbi Greenberg, as unreasonable and as frustrating as the man was. Ben spoke softly.
“Rabbi, is there nothing that I can do to change your mind? Is there nothing that will make you consider that what I am telling you is the truth, that Jesus is Israel’s Messiah and that He came to earth and died so that your sins and mine could be forgiven?”
Ben’s humility gave the rabbi pause. He didn’t quite know what to say, but somehow his ailing mother came to mind and he spoke.
“Dr. Kaplan, I have an elderly mother whom I love very much, languishing in the hospital. She is in University Hospital. Top specialists there have seen her and none of them have been able to figure out what is wrong with her. If you can do anything to make her well, I will listen to what you have to say about Jesus.
“But, until then, Dr. Kaplan, I am going ahead with plans to have you removed from your position at Memorial. Is that clear, Ben?”
“It’s clear, rabbi. What is your mother’s name?”
“Her name is Dora Greenberg and you have my permission to call her attending doctor at University Hospital.
Jeremiah Greenberg called the emergency meeting of the Synagogue Board of Trustees to order. This august group was made up of nine men and women, highly educated, wealthy, and members of the synagogue for many years. Included in this group were Debrah Cohen and Sherry Marsden. Except for the rabbi and Debrah Cohen the purpose of the meeting was not known.
“I’d like to explain why I’ve called this emergency meeting. Some of you may know Dr. Benjamin Kaplan, a diagnostic expert and Chief of Medicine at Memorial. He has condoned the behavior of a young resident at Memorial. This physician, a Dr. Jaime Miller, spoke with Deb Cohen’s mother, a patient at Memorial, about Jesus Christ. Miller told her that Jesus Christ is the Jewish Messiah and that He could guarantee her eternal life in heaven with God,” explained Rabbi Greenberg. “We just can’t have that going on in our community.”
Debrah Cohen spoke up. “I completely agree, rabbi. This is outrageous!”
Sherry Marsden spoke next. “I know Dr. Kaplan. Not only is he a brilliant physician but he is a man of integrity. If he approves of what this young doctor did, I’d need to seriously consider that the doctor’s behavior may be appropriate.”
Rabbi Greenberg exploded. “Are you crazy, Sherry? Jews don’t believe in Jesus! Period! And saying otherwise is outrageous. Something has to be done!
“All right! All in favor of sending a resolution to the CEO of Memorial asking that Dr. Kaplan be fired, raise your right hand,” said Jeremiah Greenberg.
All but two people raised their hands. One of the two was Sherry Marsden.
Gabriel Stone had been CEO of Memorial Hospital for more than twenty years and was well known throughout the Pittsburgh medical community. John Davis was chairman of Memorial’s board of trustees. Gabe and John had summoned Jeremiah Greenberg, who was himself a member of this board, to meet with them.
“Rabbi, we’ve received the letter from your synagogue board asking that Ben Kaplan, our Chief of Medicine be fired because He wouldn’t rebuke a resident physician for talking to a Jewish patient about Jesus”, said Gabe.
John Davis nodded his agreement.
“Gentlemen, the resident physician in question, Jaime Miller, didn’t just talk with the patient about Jesus. He told her that Jesus is the Messiah and that if she accepted Jesus as her Lord and Savior, He could give her eternal life in heaven with God. I find that absolutely outrageous and I demand that you fire this resident’s chief, Dr. Benjamin Kaplan”.
“Rabbi, we’re not going to fire Dr. Kaplan”, said John Davis.
“You’re not going to fire Dr. Kaplan? Why?”
“Because he did nothing wrong. He has counseled his residents and students that they may talk with patients about God but only after they first ask each patient if that is OK and they must tell patients that they can ask that the conversation stop at any time”, replied Gabe Stone.
“Gentlemen, do you realize that Memorial will lose millions of dollars every year, in contributions from our synagogue members, if you do not fire Dr. Kaplan?”
“We do, Rabbi.”
“I’ve nothing more to say, then”, said the rabbi and he abruptly left the meeting.