Torah for Today: What does the Torah say about suicide pacts?
What does the Torah say about… suicide pacts
• By Rabbi Zvi Solomons
There has been much made in the media about suicide pacts between lovers or people who feel they cannot live without each other. The theme of star-crossed lovers is much worn in English and world literature, based on the idea that those in love cannot envisage a meaningful life without each other.
This is, however, a rather limited view of the world. The pain of bereavement may be hard and difficult to bear for the survivor, but what about friends and relatives? The concept of a couple committing suicide to be with each other in death means the rest of the family have to suffer a double bereavement. Twice the loss at the same time cannot be a good thing. Moreover, we know the emotional pressure to do the thing together can cause people to take their lives in cases where it would be unthinkable otherwise.
The most extreme example of suicide pacts is to be found in the Jonestown event on 18 November 1978 when 918 people committed suicide together, an example of mass hysteria encouraging irrational destruction of life. Judaism emphasises life and the preservation of life. Time and again, the Torah and the Halacha teach us we are to uphold life, never doing anything which might shorten it.
The injunction against suicide comes from Genesis 9:5: “And surely your blood of your lives will I require.” According to Rabbi Yaakov Emden (1697-1776), a criminal who has committed a capital offence can commit suicide and obtain atonement but this is an exceptional situation and it would be ridiculous to add his or her friends or relatives to the death party.
When a couple decide to commit suicide together one may be trying to escape from pain, perhaps from a painful death through cancer, but the other is usually healthy. It is wrong to persuade another person to do away with is or her life, and raises ethical issues of the emotional vulnerability of the partner who is joining in this activity.
While we do not currently have the practice of discriminating against suicides in our Orthodox cemeteries, suicide pacts should be discouraged. What if the suicide of one does not work? What are the religious implications of killing your healthy self to be with a loved one?
Assuming God punishes those who wilfully do away with their own lives, how can a healthy person who commits suicide alongside a sick partner know they will end up next to them in heaven?And what about the poor family? Suicide pacts only add to the misery of mankind. The Jewish answer is choose life.
• Zvi Solomons is rabbi of Reading Hebrew Congregation
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
