Here’s an ethical issue and Jewish source response:
Case
Great-Grandma Sara is 91 years old. She is suffering from a debilitating illness, and the doctors have said that she will never recover. The cost of her hospital stay is $10,000 per month and it is draining her life savings, which would have been her family’s inheritance. She is of sound mind and is in constant, but not overwhelming, pain. Because of the great medical expense and because of her inheritance, she asks her family to petition the hospital to “pull the plug” and remove her from the machines that are keeping her alive.
Answer
Are conversations about money for end-stage medical treatments valid under Jewish law? May a dying person weigh between providing an inheritance for his or her children and paying the medical bills? May he or she then decide that paying for medical care is not worth the expense and request that the doctors pull the plug?
[a] In general, Judaism believes that it is not up to a person to decide to end his or her life, since that life does not belong to the person at all, but rather to God (Maimonides, Hilchot Rotzeach 1:4). This is also one of the reasons that we are commanded to keep ourselves as healthy as possible and out of danger (Deuteronomy 15:9 & 15), and are forbidden to harm ourselves (Bava Kama 90b). Since our bodies are merely “on loan” to us from God, we must treat them as any borrowed object should be treated: with the greatest care not to be damaged or destroyed.
[b] Specific to the concept of life, Judaism not only believes that each life is equal to the entire world – i.e. an infinite worth (Sanhedrin 37a) – but also that every minute of life is infinite and is equal to the entire world. Therefore, the man who aided King Saul to die just a few minutes early (at Saul’s request), is condemned in the Bible as a murderer (I Samuel 1:9-16). In general, one is not permitted to violate Shabbat except when there is the possibility of saving a life. However, if a dying person (collapsed under the rubble, for example) could be kept alive for just a few more hours, through the violation of Shabbat (i.e. removing the rubble), then a Jew is not only permitted, but is obligated to violate Shabbat for this purpose (Shulchan Aruch, Orech Hayyim 329:3-5). This shows that even a few hours of life have the value of an entire life. Thus, shortening any life, even by a few hours, is tantamount to destroying an entire life.
[c] It is said that when Rabbi Chananya ben Tradyon was being burned at the hands of the Romans, his students begged him to open his mouth, so that he would die more quickly. He refused, however, since that would have shortened his life by a few moments (Avoda Zara, 18a).
[d] Thus, Great-Grandma Sara, or any other person, is forbidden to end her life “early,” even to relieve suffering (Maimonides, Hilchot Rotzeach, 2:7). Certainly, any financial consideration, no matter how substantial, cannot possibly be equated with even a moment of life. Only God, not people, may determine the moment of death (Pesachim 54b).
However, when one is already close to death, it is not necessary to intervene and maintain his-her life.
[e] There is one story in the Talmud (Ketubot 104a) which relates what happened on the day that Rabbi Judah was dying. The Rabbis decreed a public fast and offered prayers for heavenly mercy so that Rabbi Judah would not die. Rabbi Judah’s maid saw how he suffered … she ascended to the roof and prayed for him to die. The Rabbis continued their prayers for heavenly mercy, and the maid took a jar and threw it down from the roof to the ground. When the Rabbis heard the sound of the jar shattering, they stopped praying for a moment and the soul of Rabbi Judah departed.
[f] Rabbenu Nissim (commentary to Nedarim 40a), said that sometimes one must request mercy on behalf of the ill so that he might die, as in the case of a patient who is terminal and who is in great pain.
[g] It happened that a woman who had aged considerably appeared before Rabbi Yose ben Halafta. She said, ‘Rabbi, I am much too old. Life has become a burden for me. I can no longer taste food or drink. I wish to die.’ Rabbi Yose asked her, ‘To what do you ascribe your longevity?’ She answered that it was her habit to pray in the synagogue every morning, and despite occasional, more pressing needs she never had missed a service. Rabbi Yose advised her to refrain from attending services for three consecutive days. She heeded his advice and on the third day she took ill and died (Yalkut Shimoni, Proverbs 943).
In general, we are allowed to do nothing that will cause death, but can allow someone who is in pain to die naturally.
Joel Grishaver, “You Be the Judge 2”, pgs. 84-86
Used with permission from Joel Grishaver
