SIVAN, 5736 I MAY, 1976 VOLUME XI, NUMBER 7 rHE EWISH SEVENTY-FIVE CENTS BS ERV ER "These People are distinguished by three attributes: they are merciful, they have a sense of shame, and they are given to perform good deeds." vEVAMos 79a The Trend Toward Euthanasia • The Abortion Bill in Israel • The Waning Sense of Shame THE JEWISH OBSERVER in this issue Euthanasia, Aaron Brafman .......................................................... 3 THE JEW!SH OBSERVER is published monthly, except July and August, Abortion in Israel, with excerpts from addresses by by the Agudath Israel of America, 5 Beekman St., New York, N.Y. Rabbi Yaakov Kamentsky, Rabbi Moshe Feinstein and 10038. Second class postage paid Rabbi Pinchas Teitz ................................................................ 9 at New York, N.Y. Subscription: $6.50 per year; Two years, $11.00; Wanted: A Sense of Shame, Bernard Weinberger ............... 11 Three years, $15.00; outside of the United States $7.50 per year. Torah: A Legacy of Love, Chaim Dov Keller ......................... 13 Single copy seventy-five cents. Printed in the U.S.A. Autumn Flame I Spring Green a poem by Bai/a Susholtz ................................................... 17 RABB! NissoN W0Lr1N Editor Rabbi of the Rebels - Rabbi Bernard lllowy Shmuel Singer ........................................................................ 18 Editorial Board Treasures, Aryeh Kaplan .............................................................. 22 DR ERNST L. BoDENHEIMER Chairman A Touch of Chaim, Wolf Karfiol................................................. 27 RABBI NATHAN BuLMAN RABBI JosEPH ELIAS Books in Review ............................................................................. 29 JOSEPH fRJEDENSON RABB! MOSHE SHERER The Book of Ruth - as reflected in Rabbinic Literature Megillas Ruth - a new translation, with commentary THE JEWISH OBSERVER does not Mother of Royalty assume responsibility for the In Accordance With His Will Kashrus of any product or service advertised in its pages. Second Looks at the Jewish Scene Dialogue-ing Through Pesach ........................................... 33 MAY, 1976 VOL. XI, No. 7 In Praise of Repetition, Avrum P. Shapiro .................... 34 Typography by Compu-Scribe at ArtScroll Studios, Ltd. Letters to the Editor ...................................................................... 36 Aaron Brafman Euthanasia: is there a good death - or must life be maintained under all circumstances? The born are destined to die, the dead are The Latest Frontiers of Mercy destined to be brought to life, and the living to IN 1971, AN INCIDENT at John Hopkins University be judged ... let not your fancy reassure you became a subject of much debate: The parents of a that beyond the grave is a place of refuge for defective mongoloid baby refused to grant permission for surgery to remove an intestinal obstruction from the you - for perforce were you created, perforce baby. As a result, the hospital decided to let the baby were you born, perforce do you live, perforce starve to death, which took fifteen torturous days. All shall you die - and perforce are you destined recent writing on the subject refer to this incident, each to give an account and reckoning before the side using it to buttress its position. Professor Arthur J. Dyck of Harvard Divinity School (one of the few Supreme King of Kings. (Avos IV:29). opponents of euthanasia) uses this to point to the MERCY KILLING, or euthanasia, was once a favorite topic excesses that will inevitably result if euthanasia is for debating societies. Thanatos is Greek for "death" permitted by law countering those who reject the and with eu, which means" good," the word invites one comparison of euthanasia legislation to what happened to believe that there are circumstances that would in Nazi Germany.1 On the other hand, 0. Ruth Russell render death good. (author of one of the most recent and comprehensive With regularity, tragic episodes, such as the ordeal of pro-euthanasia books) uses this case as argument for Karen Anne Quinlan and her family, thrust the legalization. For if euthanasia were legal, the baby could 2 prospect of euthanasia onto the public consciousness, have immediately been put out of misery. and the debate becomes more than academic. Our Whatever one's sympathies, what can one say about society is much closer to accepting euthanasia than one the staff and doctors who sat by and watched this might think, and as more than simply mercy killing. happen? What happened to their compassion? This This trend has overwhelming implications to the aspect of the euthanasia problem is still in its infancy. general public, with specific problems in regard to With the increase in genetic control and counseling, Torah Jewry, and is worthy of careful study. with the increase in the use of amniocentesis (inserting a needle into the mother's abdominal cavity to draw RABBI BRAFMAN, is rnenahd n_f the Yeshiva Derec/1 Ayson of Far amniotic fluid from her womb, for detection of Rocka-way (his,h school and b,1is midrash). A nurnbf'r of his articles impending birth defects) the issue of involuntary have r111peared in thesf." pas,es. euthanasia and abortion will rise. One can forsee the The Jewish Observer/ May, 1976 3 kind of world advocated by Millards 5. Everett in therapy is withheld so that death is hastened by "Ideals in Life": omission of treatment. Eventually, no child shall be admitted into the Voluntary euthanasia is committed at the request of society of the living who could be certain to suffer the patient. Involuntary takes place at the request of a any social handicap .... Life in early infancy is patient's legal guardian or next of kin in cases when the very close to non-existence and admitting a child patient is not of testamentary capacity, e.g. those in into a society is almost like admitting one from irreversible coma. potential to actual existence. And viewed in this This article is not dealing with the halachic aspects of way only normal life should be accepted. 3 euthanasia; it is well established that euthanasia is British Jurist Glanville Williams, discussing strictly prohibited and condemned as murder* .... involuntary euthanasia for defective infants, notes Legalization of euthanasia would not affect our attitude that the legalization of euthanasia for toward the issue in the least. As members of the general handicapped children would bring the law into public, however, we are forced to consider the closer relation to its practical administration, possibilities of such an evantuality and how it could because juY.ies do not regard parental mercy affect us. killing as murder .... The proposal certainly escapes the chief objection to the similar proposal The Time Is Ripe for Killing for senile dementia; it does not create a sense of WH:Y NOW?- Euthanasia advocates have been around a insecurity in society because infants cannot, like long time; the Euthanasia Society of America was adults, feel anticipatory dread of being done to organized in New York on January 16, 1938. An death if their condition should worsen. 4 immediate cause for the recent popularity of the idea is At the other end of the age spectrum, the talk already the increase in medical knowledge and technology. The concerns those not terminally ill, simply old or aged. As ability to control or artificially support life beyond 0. Ruth Russell says: previous limitations is ironically creating the problems. Can any thoughtful person really think that it In addition, the successful passage of abortion is more humane or moral to commit an elderly legislation has given a great impetus to the euthanasia person to an institution for the rest of his life advocates - note a paragraph from the bill introduced against his will rather than permit him merciful in the Hawaii Legislature (Resolution 44 1972) which termination of a hopeless existence if that is what reads: he wishes ?s "Whereas, with the liberalization of abortion laws If a person is in an irremediable condition and throughout the country, the idea of euthanasia is has become a grievous burden to his family and beginning to emerge from its stigma as man friends as well as himself, is there anything wrong assumes a much greater role in the determination with his wanting his family to be spared over his own life or death. " disastrous consequences of caring for him or If man can control life and end it at one end of the financing his care over a long period of time ?6 spectrum, why not at the other? One wonders how many old people tragically Judging by the status of abortion, then, chances of "burden" their families even when they are healthy and passage of euthanasia legislation are very strong. These how many people in general are a "burden" to society. issues are ultimately decided not by what is moral or - Some consider every welfare case an unwanted right, but rather by what becomes popularly acceptable. burden. The mass media focus on the sensational and tend to side with whatever seems "progressive," breaking These, then, are the extreme positions that have away from the past. Thus, as with abortion, the initial already gained currency in serious discussions debate is attended by great moralists and ethicists who regarding euthanasia. discuss the grave questions involved; only to be decided The Many Ways of a "Good Death" by a popular mood, which does not react to philosophical issues, but to its own convenience. THERE WAS A TIME when euthanasia referred exclusively to mercy-killing - that is, killing someone Initially the lofty discussions regarding abortion were suffering unending pain. No more. At present there are also limited in focus, but once it became a law, stress is two major categories under discussion: active and no longer on the life of the fetus, but on the "rights of passive euthanasia, each with a subheading of the mother over her own body." voluntary and involuntary, not necessarily related to (It is worth noting that halachically the mother has "suffering unending pain." no such rights.