In Canada and some European countries, laws have gradually expanded the circumstances under which doctors may kill their patients. The Netherlands this year has moved to relax its restrictions on the euthanization of children between the ages of one and twelve. Shlomo Brody explains the halakhic strictures on such deeds, as well as the ways that Jewish tradition has addressed the humanitarian concerns usually cited by euthanasia advocates:
Judaism certainly places a premium on preserving life and usually calls upon us to do everything to save a life. We value the life of all human beings and certainly do not belittle the inherent dignity of those with physical or mental impairments. We furthermore condemn active euthanasia, assisted suicide, or intentionally hastening someone’s death. Judaism does not want humans to “put out a flickering candle,” as the [talmudic] sages put it.
Nonetheless, . . . “There is a time for death” (Ecclesiastes 3:2). Sometimes our interventions will not extend living but instead prolong dying. Judaism doesn’t value dragging out a painful process of dying. Halakhah allows a person to forego further interventions when their ailments have become too great and their quality of life has become too degraded.
Of course, Brody explains, rabbinic authorities differ on how to find the correct balance:
Jewish law mandates that we can desecrate Shabbat to save the life of a person, even if we will only be extending their life for a short, fleeting amount of time. On this basis, Rabbi Eliezer Waldenberg asserted that even as we treat people for pain, we should generally do everything to extend a person’s life, even for a limited time. Similarly, Rabbi Immanuel Jakobovits repeatedly asserted, “Any fraction of life, whether ten years or a minute, whether healthy, crippled, or even unconscious, remains equally infinite in value.”
In contrast, Rabbi Yaakov Kanievsky (the “Steipler gaon”), followed by Rabbi Asher Weiss, have contended that this sentiment is wrong. Their proof is that halakhah permits removing an impediment to a suffering person’s death, if this will prevent severe suffering, as long as one does not move the dying person himself in a way that will cause him to die. Sometimes, we should passively allow natural death.
Read more on Jerusalem Post: https://www.jpost.com/judaism/article-748284