remove the salt from his tongue(Beit Lehem Yehudah,to Shulhan Arukh, 1804).
R. Yaakov b. Shmuel of Seusmer(Dyhernfuerth), Prussia, wrote in his Responsa, Beit Yaakov(1696):"It is forbidden to delay the soul’s departure and the demise of the dying person. One must not use medication in order to prolong the dying process."
In contrast to this decision, R. Yaakov b. Yose Reisher stated that an expert in medication that would delay the dying process even for a few moments is permitted to give such medicine to the patient. It is similar to our clearing away the debris on Shabbat to add a few minutes to the life of the victim(Responsa, Shevut Yaakov 11:13).
We find support for the second form of passive euthanasia among modern Israeli decisors. R. Baruch Rabinowitz, Chief Rabbi of Holon stated that this halakhah(of removing the impediment to death) is very important in the process of modern healing:
In most cases, when efforts are made to save the patient, he is connected to various sorts of instruments to enable him to breathe and given many forms of medication. As long as; his body is connected to these instruments, he can continue for a long period to live, what physicians call"vegetative life." However, who are not able to distinguish between vegetative life on the one hand and rational-emotional life on the other. The question therefore arises, are we permitted to disconnect the instruments from the patient as long as he shows signs of life. The physician, in truth, has already despaired of restoring the patient to natural and spontaneous life, but this artificially sustained life can continue. Is it permitted for the doctor to disconnect and make them cease? That is he problem with which we are confronted in the hospital every day. Many doctors ask what they should
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