התאבדות במקורות - El suicidio en las fuentes

(29) He embraced the two middle pillars that the temple rested upon, one with his right arm and one with his left, and leaned against them; (30) Samson cried, “Let me die with the Philistines!” and he pulled with all his might. The temple came crashing down on the lords and on all the people in it. Those who were slain by him as he died outnumbered those who had been slain by him when he lived.

(4) Saul said to his arms-bearer, “Draw your sword and run me through, so that the uncircumcised may not run me through and make sport of me.” But his arms-bearer, in his great awe, refused; whereupon Saul grasped the sword and fell upon it. (5) When his arms-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he too fell on his sword and died with him.

(23) When Ahithophel saw that his advice had not been followed, he saddled his ass and went home to his native town. He set his affairs in order, and then he hanged himself. He was buried in his ancestral tomb.

The Sages taught: When the Temple was destroyed for the first time, many groups of young priests gathered together with the Temple keys in their hands. And they ascended to the roof of the Sanctuary and said before God: Master of the Universe, since we did not merit to be faithful treasurers, and the Temple is being destroyed, let the Temple keys be handed to You. And they threw them upward, and a kind of palm of a hand emerged and received the keys from them. And the young priests jumped from the roof and fell into the fire of the burning Temple.

§ The Gemara now considers which prohibitions are permitted in times of mortal danger. Rabbi Yoḥanan says in the name of Rabbi Shimon ben Yehotzadak: The Sages who discussed this issue counted the votes of those assembled and concluded in the upper story of the house of Nitza in the city of Lod: With regard to all other transgressions in the Torah, if a person is told: Transgress this prohibition and you will not be killed, he may transgress that prohibition and not be killed, because the preserving of his own life overrides all of the Torah’s prohibitions. This is the halakha concerning all prohibitions except for those of idol worship, forbidden sexual relations, and bloodshed. Concerning those prohibitions, one must allow himself to be killed rather than transgress them.

(1) One who commits suicide wilfully is not attended to at all;¹Lit. ‘in every respect.’ For it is written: ‘And surely your blood of your lives will I require’ (Gen. IX, 5), regarding which R. Eleazar remarked that it means, ‘I will require your blood if shed by yourselves’ (B.K. 91b). RaShBA writes that although the law is that we do not attend to one who commits suicide, nevertheless, this does not apply to burial and shrouds, but only to rending of garments and baring the shoulder in mourning — ShaK. and one does not mourn for him and no lamentation is made for him, nor does one rend [garments] or bare [the shoulder in mourning for him], but one stands for him in the line [of comforters], and one recites over him the mourners' blessing, and whatever [brings] honour [only] to the living [may be done].²Sem(H). II, Thus also Yad, Ebel I, 1 N holds that garments are rent for a suicide and that the passage in Sem. from which our ruling is derived refers to strangers only but not to near-of-kin — ShaK. In a case where the surviving members of the family of a suicide would suffer shame and humiliation, it is permitted to allow them to observe mourning rites — P.Tesh. If no doubts are entertained as to the commision of suicide, the law is that where there are other mourners present at the Synagogue services, the children of a suicidal case should not recite the Kaddish. But if any doubts exist as to whether the person really committed suicide, the children should recite the Kaddish — P.Tesh.

(2) Who is [considered] a wilful suicide? — For example, if one stated that he is going up to the roof-top, and they saw him go up at once in anger; or he was in distress, and [then] fell down³By throwing himself down from the roof-top. and died, — [the law is that] such a person is presumed to have committed suicide wilfully. But if they discovered him⁴Sem. has ‘they found him.’ strangled and hung upon a tree, or [they found him] killed⁵ infra § 364, 4. and thrown upon his sword, he is presumed to be like all [other] dead,⁶For it may have been the result of an accident and unintentional. and they attend to him and withhold not from him anything.⁷Yad ibid., derived from Sem(H). II, 2-3. The following rules determine a suicidal case: a) The actual commission of suicide must be observed. A mere indication of suicide is not relied upon, unless the suicide’s previous actions clearly indicate such commision. b) It must be committed wilfully and clearheadedly. c) The expressed intention for such commision must be followed by the act proper. d) In the case of a person found hung, even if the surrounding circumstances lead one to believe that the person took his life, nevertheless, he is not considered a suicide — P.Tesh. If one was not seen going up to the roof-top to take his life in accord with his previous expressed intention, the law is that even if he was later found dead, he is not presumed to be a suicide (RaSHaL) — ShaK. supra c. Gloss: One who stole or robbed⁸The fact that stealing or robbing are punishable by death in no way indicates that the culprit, being aware of the outcome of his crime, may have committed suicide, for it is quite possible that he might have thought that he would not be caught. Nor is he regarded as one who dissociates himself from the practices of the community (v. infra par. 5). If a thief or a robber die a natural death, they are mourned for, provided they repented (supra § 340, 5 refers to one who did not repent) — ShaK., as a result of which was executed by government law,⁹Mord. states that mourning rites are not observed for one who was executed by the government on account of theft. Such a case should be considered as suicide. MaHaRIW (source of this gloss) opposes the ruling of Mord., and maintains that one executed by the government, should be mourned for and is not on an equal footing with a suicide. He holds that Mord. was misled by a corrupt text in Sem. San. 47b where a distinction is made between one executed by a Gentile government and one executed by the Beth Din. In the former case, where execution is not in accordance with Jewish Law, one obtains forgiveness, and should be mourned for; in the latter case death is justly meted out and one is not forgiven. Cf. D.M. and W.G. a.l. is to be mourned for, if no danger will [result] through him on account of the fear of the government;¹⁰ San. 11a; Sota 48b. Otherwise, mourning could be regarded as an act of provocation. One who threw himself into the river is not considered a suicide, for prior to drowning, he is cast about by the waves, and no doubt, before he drowns, he repents — G.Mah. One who murdered a fellow Jew and was exemuted by government law is mourned for — B.L.Y. One who takes his life in order to avoid being subjected by others to inhuman torture is not considered a suicide — B.L.Y. and he is not designated a wilful suicided.¹¹MaHaRIW s. 114 — G.

(3) A minor who commits suicide wilfullly, is considered as though it were [done] unintentionally.¹²Sem(H). II, 4-5. Since he is of immature mind. The same is applicable to an imbecile — Tur. And likewise, one who was of age, and committed suicide wilfully, [being under pressure, as [in the case of] King Saul,¹³For whom suicide was permitted lest the Philistines torture him. Yeb. 78b: ‘“For Saul” (II Sam. XXI, 1) because he was not mourned for properly.’ also Gen. R. Noah XXXIV, 1 Thus also N and Asheri. On King Saul’s tragic death v. I Sam. — [the law is that] they withhold not from him a thing.