One morning the Europeans discovered a disturbing phenomenon: young men wore yellow trousers, a yellow sweater and a blue jacket and took their lives in their palm.
This was after 1774, when the novel "The Anguish of the Young Werther" by the German writer Johann Wolfgang Goethe was published.
The protagonist of the novel, Werther, is a lost and confused young man who desperately falls in love with an engaged woman, and when he realizes that his love is hopeless - he commits suicide, dressed in the aforementioned clothes.
Following the alarming wave of young suicides imitating Werther was coined the term "Werther effect", which describes how after the publication of a suicide act, this gives a boost to people who are considering the same step and have so far refrained from doing so.
Every time a person commits suicide - especially if he is famous, and as much as this is accompanied by intense media engagement with the suicide and the actual reasons - then more suicides come.
Some examples from recent years: A few years ago, one of the largest hospitals in the country saw a series of suicides of staff members;
After the suicide of the entertainer Dudu Topaz, the number of suicide attempts increased by 24 percent;
And so it is after the famous suicide of Muhammad Boazizi, who ignited the Arab Spring in Tunisia.
When you want to talk about suicide, and certainly when you do it in the media, you must conduct the discourse with the understanding that it may give a sense of legitimacy and "right timing" to people who are still with us, among the living, and considering the horrible act.
We have a responsibility to them, to their families, to all those who may be harmed by the suicide of another person.
It is impossible not to talk about Haim Velder.
His story is important, and the appallingly long trail of casualties he left behind justifies a deep engagement with the affair.
But do we really need to hear exactly how he committed suicide, and where, and how everyone reacted to the suicide, and who came to eulogize at the funeral and who is responsible for the suicide?
And when a young woman follows him, should she also be trampled on and emphasized how much her act is understood?
Jewish law originally states that a person who commits suicide removes himself from the collective called the people of Israel - so much so that he must be buried outside the fence.
Over the years there has been a softening in the halakhic attitude towards suicide bombers, mainly out of a desire to allow the family to observe the customs of mourning as any family that has lost their loved one does.
This idea - to deduce the treatment of the suicide from the responsibility for the family and society he left behind - should be a candle to our feet.
Dr. Zvi Fischel, chairman of the Psychiatric Association of the Medical Association, once wrote the rules of thumb in public reference after suicide following one affair: The publication of a picture of the deceased, the method of suicide or the place of the act should be avoided.
These are details that may not only encourage the next case, but also put dangerous ideas in the head;
It is advisable to avoid using the words "sensational" and "dramatic" in describing suicide.
The glorification of the case creates a sense that the victim is a hero;
One should avoid describing the circumstances of the case, for example "disappointed love" or "victim of abuse", because such a description gives a seal of approval for someone who has experienced the same event to end his life.
Every person is a world, and we have a responsibility.
Let's make sure our discourse does not push the next suicide.
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