so the Sefer Hassidim stated that if the steady rhythm of someone chopping wood kept a goses alive, the wood chopping should be stopped (#723; Isserles to Shulhan Arukh Yoreh Deah 339.1). Some rabbinic statements limit the definition of goses to persons who will not live for more than three days, however modern medical technology has made these limitations obsolete. Earlier Biblical statements clearly indicated that no positive acts to abbreviate life, even, when there was no hope, were permitted(I Sam 31.1 ff; II Sam 1.5 ff). In a later age Solomon Eger indicated that medicine should also not be used to hinder a soul’s departure(comment to Shulhan Arukh Yoreh Deah 339.1). We may then safely say that at the critical juncture of life when no hope for recovery exists the soul should be allowed to drift away peacefully. We have become even more sensitive to issues of euthanasia through our own experiences with the Holocaust .
Love of life in all its forms is very much part of our tradition. Even when conditions of life are rather doubtful and when there might be serious questions about the"quality of life" we cannot encourage euthanasia(W. Jacob Contemporary American Reform Responsa#83) nor can we make assumptions about"the quality of life."
The modern development of medicine has brought wonderful cures and provides additional years of life even to those in advanced years. On the other hand its technology may leave us in a permanent Oma or a persistent vegetative state in which we are neither alive nor dead. Such individuals may be completely dependent upon life support Machinery. While this is acceptable during periods of recovery, we fear 4 permanent coma when the mind has ceased to respond and a plateau of Mere physical existence has been reached.
When the Harvard criteria of death have been satisfied, life Support machinery may be removed. This state of"brain dead" has been defineq by an ad hoc committee of the Harvard Medical School in 1968 Vournal of the American Medical Association Vol 205, pp 337 ff). It fecommended three tests:(1) Lack of response to external stimuli or to
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