"... it is better for the one who gave and not to be harmed to kill himself ... Rabbi.
(Foreign Work 18a)
There is a very fine line between pity and humanity and between bloodshed and a halachic and ethical prohibition.
The two quotations listed above are found line by line in the Gemara, and they point to two opposite directions: the prohibition to take life, and the authority to alleviate anguish.
Disconnection from the soul machine has been defined by an absolute majority of arbitrators - as prohibited by an absolute prohibition, but there is not always an obligation to connect to the machine.
Sometimes it is even permissible to avoid the actions of the soul supporters, sometimes it is even permissible to lower the percentage of oxygen.
These are complicated issues, due to the thin line between the prohibition of approaching death and the prohibition of preventing it.
This is the renewed opportunity to mention the very active initiative of 'Tzohar' - Tzohar for One Hundred and Twenty - which accompanies families debating these issues of the end of life, accompanied by a rabbi trained by us and the medical system, and a social worker alike (* 9253 24 hours a day, and of course without payment).
And to study the issues of the end of life and the halakhic decisions in them, at the Tzohar website for one hundred and twenty years.
To maintain the right relationship between halakhic, ethical, moral and human guidance.
The article is part of the Beit Midrash Zikim project to transmit short Torah remarks by Rabbi Sherlow on WhatsApp