GUIDING INVESTIGATIONS
- How do the sources suggest we handle emotional burdens?
- What responsibility do others have to those with mental illness or emotional struggles?
- Should priority be given to lessen anxiety or fulfilling obligations?
- What viewpoint do the sources provide regarding self-harm and suicide?
CORE SOURCES: MENTAL HEALTH
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(משלי יב, כה) דאגה בלב איש ישחנה רבי אמי ורבי אסי חד אמר ישחנה מדעתו וחד אמר ישיחנה לאחרים
§ The Gemara explains another verse in Proverbs: “If there is care in a man’s heart, let him quash it [yashḥena]” (Proverbs 12:25). Rabbi Ami and Rabbi Asi dispute the verse’s meaning. One said: He should forcefully push it [yasḥena] out of his mind. One who worries should banish his concerns from his thoughts. And one said: It means he should tell [yesiḥena] others his concerns, which will lower his anxiety.
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Similarly, Rabbi Yoḥanan fell ill. Rabbi Ḥanina entered to visit him, and said to him: Is your suffering dear to you? Rabbi Yoḥanan said to him: I welcome neither this suffering nor its reward. Rabbi Ḥanina said to him: Give me your hand. He gave him his hand, and Rabbi Ḥanina stood him up and restored him to health. The Gemara asks: Why did Rabbi Yoḥanan wait for Rabbi Ḥanina to restore him to health? If he was able to heal his student, let Rabbi Yoḥanan stand himself up. The Gemara answers, they say: A prisoner cannot generally free himself from prison, but depends on others to release him from his shackles.
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Rabbi Israel ben Eliezer, the Baal Shem Tov (1698-1760)
To pull a friend out of the mire, do not hesitate to get dirty.
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(ד) הַשּׁוֹטֶה אֵין מִקָּחוֹ מִקָּח וְאֵין מִמְכָּרוֹ מִמְכָּר וְאֵין מַתְּנוֹתָיו קַיָּמוֹת. וּבֵית דִּין מַעֲמִידִים אַפּוֹטְרוֹפּוֹס לְשׁוֹטִים כְּדֶרֶךְ שֶׁמַּעֲמִידִין לִקְטַנִּים:
Neither a sale nor a purchase involving a mentally incapable or emotionally unstable individual is binding, nor are the presents that one gives effective. Instead, the court must appoint a guardian for such a person, just as it appoints guardians for minors.
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CORE SOURCES: SUICIDE PREVENTION
The Gemara asks: Who is the sage that you heard that says: It is forbidden for a person to injure himself? If we say that it is this sage, as it is taught: The verse states: “And surely your blood of your souls will I require” (Genesis 9:5), and Rabbi Elazar says: From the hand of your souls, i.e., from yourself, will I require your blood, meaning one is liable even for taking his own life
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(ה) כללו של דבר: במאבד עצמו לדעת – תלינן בכל איזה תלייה כל שהוא; כגון לתלות ביראה, או בצער, או שיצא מדעתו, או שסבור היה שזה מצוה לבלי להכשל בעברות אחרות, וכיוצא באלו הדברים, מפני שזהו באמת דבר רחוק שאדם יעשה נבלה כזו בדעת צלולה.
This is the general principle in connection with suicide: we find any excuse we can and say he acted thus because he was in terror or great pain, or his mind was unbalanced, or he imagined it was a mitzvah because he was preventing himself from failing and committing other sins as it is extremely unlikely that a person would commit such an act of folly with a clear mind.
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ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: GENERAL MENTAL HEALTH
(ט) רַ֡ק הִשָּׁ֣מֶר לְךָ֩ וּשְׁמֹ֨ר נַפְשְׁךָ֜ מְאֹ֗ד... (טו) וְנִשְׁמַרְתֶּ֥ם מְאֹ֖ד לְנַפְשֹׁתֵיכֶ֑ם
(9) But take utmost care and watch yourselves scrupulously... (15) For your own sake, therefore, be most careful...
הרב אשר וייס, שו"ת מנחת אשר קלד
תלמיד חכם מופלג וירא שמים מרבים שסובל ממקרה קשה של אובססיביות (OCD) ולרוב אינו מסוגל להגות ברכה כהלכתה, או לקרוא את השמע כהלכת, ולפעמים נאבק הוא זמן רב ללא הועיל כדי להוציא שם השם כראוי, ויש לו עגמת נפש עצומה. לדעת הרופאים המומחים בתחום זה דרך הטיפול היא שלעולם לא יחזור פעמיים על דיבור או תפילה ואם לא הצליח בפעם ראשונה להגות את הברכה או התפלה כראוי אין לעשות כלל נסיון נוסף. בדרך זו מקווים רופאיו לחלצו מיצר ולהקל על מצוקתו. נראה בזה להלכה דראשית חובתו של איש זה לעשות את כל הנדרש על מנת למצוא מזור ומרפא למחלתו ולשם כך מותר לו אף לעבור על מצוות התורה.
HaRav Asher Weiss, Responsa Minchat Asher 134
There are many students who are devout and God fearing and suffer from Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and for the most part they are unable to say a beracha or shema according to Jewish law, and sometimes spend a lot of time trying to say God's name properly to no avail, and experience a lot of anguish. According to the doctors who are experts in this [condition] the treatment is to never go back in prayer, and if he does not feel he said the prayer properly, he should not make another try. In this way, the doctors hope to save him from his distress. … It is the law that the first obligation a person has is to do whatever is required to find healing from this illness and for this it is even permitted for him to bypass and not fulfill commandments in the Torah.
Prayer for Acute Mental Illness Crisis by Rabbi Beni Wajnberg
Hashkiveini Adonai Elohai le’shalom ve’ha'amideini shomri le’hayyim
Adonai, my God, make my laying down low be peaceful.
Make me able to raise up again to life, my Guardian.
I come to you in a time of great affliction and pain.
I come to you in a time where society does not understand my pain.
My troubles are many, my lack of comfort is heartbreaking.
I have become enslaved by my mental illness.
I look for support, but I feel lonely.
I may not be alone, I may be surrounded by many.
But my loneliness is severe.
I pray that my caregivers and doctors will soon be able to help me to feel better.
I pray that my neighbors and my family will soon be able to accept me.
I pray that I will soon be able to love myself again.
My pain is unique, as is everyone’s.
Guardian, I pray that You will always be with me.
That in my solitude I find a comforting and kind presence.
U’Fros alai sukkat shlomekha,
I pray that You will spread over me a shelter of Your peace.
Help me to find a way forward.
Help me so I can help myself.
Help others so they can see and help me.
I know I am not alone, even if I feel that way.
Don’t give up on me, so I don’t give up on myself.
Yodeah ta'alumot, Knower of all mysteries,
Thank you for being with me.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: SUICIDE PREVENTION
(טו) רְאֵ֨ה נָתַ֤תִּי לְפָנֶ֙יךָ֙ הַיּ֔וֹם אֶת־הַֽחַיִּ֖ים וְאֶת־הַטּ֑וֹב וְאֶת־הַמָּ֖וֶת וְאֶת־הָרָֽע... (יט) הַעִידֹ֨תִי בָכֶ֣ם הַיּוֹם֮ אֶת־הַשָּׁמַ֣יִם וְאֶת־הָאָרֶץ֒ הַחַיִּ֤ים וְהַמָּ֙וֶת֙ נָתַ֣תִּי לְפָנֶ֔יךָ הַבְּרָכָ֖ה וְהַקְּלָלָ֑ה וּבָֽחַרְתָּ֙ בַּֽחַיִּ֔ים לְמַ֥עַן תִּחְיֶ֖ה אַתָּ֥ה וְזַרְעֶֽךָ׃
(15) See, I set before you this day life and prosperity, death and adversity... (19) I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day: I have put before you life and death, blessing and curse. Choose life—if you and your offspring would live—
לְפִיכָךְ נִבְרָא אָדָם יְחִידִי, לְלַמֶּדְךָ, שֶׁכָּל הַמְאַבֵּד נֶפֶשׁ אַחַת מִיִּשְׂרָאֵל, מַעֲלֶה עָלָיו הַכָּתוּב כְּאִלּוּ אִבֵּד עוֹלָם מָלֵא. וְכָל הַמְקַיֵּם נֶפֶשׁ אַחַת מִיִּשְׂרָאֵל, מַעֲלֶה עָלָיו הַכָּתוּב כְּאִלּוּ קִיֵּם עוֹלָם מָלֵא.
Therefore but a single person was created in the world, to teach that if any man has caused a single life to perish from Israel, he is deemed by Scripture as if he had caused a whole world to perish; and anyone who saves a single soul from Israel, he is deemed by Scripture as if he had saved a whole world.
וְאַל יַבְטִיחֲךָ יִצְרְךָ שֶׁהַשְּׁאוֹל בֵּית מָנוֹס לְךָ, שֶׁעַל כָּרְחֲךָ אַתָּה נוֹצָר, וְעַל כָּרְחֲךָ אַתָּה נוֹלָד, וְעַל כָּרְחֲךָ אַתָּה חַי, וְעַל כָּרְחֲךָ אַתָּה מֵת, וְעַל כָּרְחֲךָ אַתָּה עָתִיד לִתֵּן דִּין וְחֶשְׁבּוֹן לִפְנֵי מֶלֶךְ מַלְכֵי הַמְּלָכִים הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא:
And let not your impulse assure thee that the grave is a place of refuge for you; for against your will were you formed, against your will were you born, against your will you live, against your will you will die, and against your will you will give an account and reckoning before the King of the kings of kings, the Holy One, blessed be He.