SUICIDE, ASSISTED SUICIDE, ACTIVE EUTHANASIA

handmaid ascended the roof and prayed:"The immortals desire Rabbi [to join them] and the mortals desire Rabbi [to remain with them]; may it be the will[of God ] that the mortals may overpower the immortals." When, however, she saw how often he resorted to the privy, painfully taking off his zefillin and putting them on again, she prayed:"May it be the will[of the Almighty] that the immortals may overpower the mortals.” As the Rabbis incessantly continued their prayers for[heavenly] mercy she took up a jar and threw it down from the roof to the ground.[For a moment] they ceased praying and the soul of Rabbi departed to its eternal rest.*

This is also a famous and much discussed passage. The fact that it is aggadic and the fact that maid cared deeply for Rabbi makes it especially instructive. Careful analysis will show that she acted out of compassion, but in defiance of rabbinic prohibition. She comprehends that Rabbi ’s disciples had lost sight of their master’s needs and were consumed with their own.” Their prayers were an extraordinary powerful artificial life support. In throwing the pot and interrupting the prayers she performed a positive act. In effect she killed him. There is a preference in Judaism and in general medical ethical literature to suggest that what makes her act morally acceptable is that it was indirect and she removed an impediment to dying rather than hastened his death.* Psychologically it is easier to deal with indirect rather than direct action and the concept of allowing to die has greater appeal than killing. The distinction is often difficult to maintain. The maid’s act clearly terminated his life. There is not disapproval of the action. We should further note that the rabbis’ prayers become a form of abuse and torture for while they kept him alive they no longer constituted therapy in any meaningful sense.

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