The following cases (the first from the Hebrew Bible and the second from the Talmud), present situations where it appears that death is hastened in order to avoid suffering. The first case is one of suicide; the second is a case of “ceasing treatment”:
יומא דנח נפשיה דרבי גזרו רבנן תעניתא ובעו רחמי ואמרי כל מאן דאמר נח נפשיה דר' ידקר בחרב סליקא אמתיה דרבי לאיגרא אמרה עליוני' מבקשין את רבי והתחתוני' מבקשין את רבי יהי רצון שיכופו תחתונים את העליונים כיון דחזאי כמה זימני דעייל לבית הכסא וחלץ תפילין ומנח להו וקמצטער אמרה יהי רצון שיכופו עליונים את התחתונים ולא הוו שתקי רבנן מלמיבעי רחמי שקלה כוזא שדייא מאיגרא [לארעא] אישתיקו מרחמי ונח נפשיה
It is related that on the day that Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi died, the Sages decreed a fast, and begged for divine mercy so that he would not die. And they said: Anyone who says that Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi has died will be stabbed with a sword. The maidservant of Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi ascended to the roof and said: The upper realms are requesting the presence of Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi, and the lower realms are requesting the presence of Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi. May it be the will of God that the lower worlds should impose their will upon the upper worlds. However, when she saw how many times he would enter the bathroom and remove his phylacteries, and then exit and put them back on, and how he was suffering with his intestinal disease, she said: May it be the will of God that the upper worlds should impose their will upon the lower worlds. And the Sages, meanwhile, would not be silent, i.e., they would not refrain, from begging for mercy so that Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi would not die. So she took a jug [kuza] and threw it from the roof to the ground. Due to the sudden noise, the Sages were momentarily silent and refrained from begging for mercy, and Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi died.
Compare and contrast these cases. What is the same? What is different?
The first case takes place in a time of war. Is that similar or different from dealing with a disease?
In the second case the "treatment" is prayer? Where is the line between hastening death versus allowing death to naturally happen?
The Rabbis qualified the suicide of King Saul with the following commentary:
(5) ואך את דמכם, “however your blood, etc.” It is possible that when King Saul committed suicide by telling his arms bearer to finish him off (Samuel I 31,4) he thought that he committed a meritorious act denying the Philistines the boast that they had killed the anointed one of God. This is why the Torah uses the diminutive word אך, when writing this legislation, to tell us that there are situations, such as when Chananyah, Mishael and Azaryah agreed to be thrown into the fiery furnace, that this was not considered suicide but [after consultation with the prophet Ezekiel Ed] an act of sanctifying the name of God.
There are many tragic cases of martyrdom in Judaism. What do you think the difference is between martyrdom (Kiddush HaShem) and suicide?
The Rabbis refused to condone suicide, but after fact, they did their utmost to interpret any apparent case of suicide to be of someone who was not in control and did so unwittingly:
מסכת שמחות ב\א-ו
הלכה א
המאבד עצמו לדעת אןי מתעסקין עמו בכל דבר. רבי ישמעאל אומר קורין עליו "הוי נטלה הוי נטלה". אמר לו רבי עקיבא הנח לו בסתמו. אל תכבדהו ואל תקללהו. אין קורעין עליו ואין חולצין עליו ולא מספידין עליו. אבל עומדין עליו בשורה ואומרין עליו ברכת אבלים מפני שהוא כבוד חיים.
כללו של דבר: כל שהוא כבוד של חיים מתעסקין בו. כל שאין כבוד של חיים אין הרבים מתעסקין עמו לכל דבר.
הלכה ב
איזהו המאבד עצמו לדעת? לא שעלה בראש האילן ונפל ומת; בראש הגג ונפל ומת. אלא זה שאמר "הריני עולה לראש הגג או לראש האילן ואפיל עצמי ואמות", ורואין אותו שעלה לראש האילן ונפל ומת -- הרי זה בחזקת המאבד את עצמו בדעת, וכל המאבד את עצמו לדעת אין מתעסקין עמו בכל דבר.
הלכה ג
מצאהו חנוק ותלוי באילן, הרוג ומושלך על גבי הסייף -- הרי זה בחזקת המאבד את עצמו שלא בדעת ואין מונעין הימנו כל דבר.
הלכה ד
מעשה בבנו של גורנוס(?) בלוד שברח מבית הספר והראה לו אביו באזנו ונתירא מאביו והלך ואבד עצמו בבגד ובאו ושאלו את רבי טרפון ואמר אין מונעין הימנו כל דבר.
הלכה ה
מעשה בתינוק אחד מבני ברק ששבר צלוחית בשבת והראה לו אביו באזנו ונתירא מאביו והלך ואבד עצמו בבור ושאלו את רבי עקיבא ואמר אין מונעין הימנו כל דבר.
1. For a suicide (lit. "one who kills himself intentionally"), no rites whatsoever should be observed. Rabbi Yishmael said, "He may be lamented: 'Alas, misguided fool! Alas, misguided fool!'" Whereupon Rabbi Akiva said to him, "Leave him to his oblivion; neither honor him nor curse him." Clothes are not rent for him, nor are shoulders bared, nor is he eulogized, but people should line up for him and the mourner's blessing should be recited over him, since this displays respect for the living. The general rule is that whatever is performed out of respect for the living should be observed for him; anything that is not performed out of respect for the living (but rather out of respect for the deceased) should not be observed for him by the community.
2. Who is to be accounted a suicide? Not someone who climbs to the top of a tree or to the top of a roof and falls to his death, but rather one who says, "Behold, I am going to climb to the top of the roof or to the top of the tree and then throw myself down to my death," and he is (thereupon) observed climbing to the top of the tree and fallng to his death. Such a person is presumed to be a suicide, and for a suicide no rites whatsoever are to be observed.
3. If a person is found strangled and hanging from a tree, or slain and impaled upon a sword, he is presumed to have taken his own life unwittingly, and no rites are denied him.
4. It once happened that the son of Gorgos of Lod ran away from school. His father threatened to box his ears. In terror of his father he went off and cast himself into a cistern. The incident was brought before Rabbi Tarfon, who ruled, "No rites are to be denied him."
5. Another incident concerns a child from Benei Berak who broke a flask on Shabbat. His father threatened to box his ears. In terror of his father the child went off and cast himself into a cistern. The incident was brought before Rabbi Akva, who ruled, "No rites are to be denied him."
Knowing what we know now about mental illness and depression, how might you apply (or not apply) these classic Jewish sources today?