By Rabbi Alberto Sermoneta
I would like to begin this paper of mine by quoting a passage from the Jerusalem Talmud,[2]: Rabbi Judan son of Pazi said: "(The Holy One, Blessed be He) filled a spoonful of dust, taking it from the place of the Altar and created man with it, because it is written 'and the Lord G-d created man of the dust of the earth (adamah)' and it is also written: 'an Altar of earth (adamah) you shall make for Me[3]';
Given that when the Altar is concerned it is called adamah, and for man it is also called adamah, it follows that if the Altar is considered holy, inasmuch as it was the place where sacrifices were offered in the Sanctuary of Jerusalem, the human body is also considered holy.
It is well known that in the conception of both the Torah and halakhah (rabbinic law) the importance of the sanctity of the body is equal to that of the soul.
Some Masters of Israel maintain that the GUF (body) is a garment that G-d created custom-made for the soul and entrusted to us so that we might manage it throughout our existence.
Just as an intact body was granted to us at birth, every human being has the sacred duty to keep it intact until the moment of death.
Halakhah even provides that in the event a limb has been amputated, that same limb must subsequently be buried with the rest of the body.
The Masters of Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism) are even more rigorous, adding that even the hair and the nails of the hands and feet that a person cuts during their lifetime must be preserved and then buried with the body.
For this reason, everyone has the duty to ensure that they maintain their body in the best possible way, which in Jewish law is known by the term “Shemirat Ha Guf” – “conservation - preservation of the body”.
Obligation to save a life
Just as one has the duty to preserve our body from every form of suffering, one also has the duty to help one's fellow man and save him from dangers and illnesses.
In the book of Leviticus,[4] we find the imperative “LO TA’AMOD AL DAM RE’EKHA” “Do not stand idly by the blood of your neighbour”. That is, everyone has the duty to do everything possible to save the life of their fellow man.
Exegesists maintain that if a man is drowning, and another happens to be passing by, the latter has the duty to save that life. The value of human life is so important that our Masters provide that, in case of danger, in order to save it, it is even permissible to desecrate Shabbat.
In the Talmudic tractate of Yoma [5] it is stated: “if a collapse occurs on Shabbat and there is a risk that a man is beneath its rubble, although there is no certainty whether he is still alive, it is permitted to desecrate Shabbat to search for the body”. The rule of “saving a life” applies to every man, even more so to those whose profession it is to do so.
In the Shulchan Aruch (code of Jewish law) Yoreh De'ah [6] it is stated: “the Torah has given permission to a physician to heal, and this is a duty; generally this occurs to preserve a life.
If he refuses, he is considered a MURDERER, even if there is someone else near him who can cure him.
Since man cannot be treated by any physician indiscriminately, and a physician has the potential to treat and heal those sick people who are destined for him from Above, the physician is therefore considered a divine agent for the care and healing of the sick person.
The value of life is infinite, absolute, without distinctions and relativisms. Every part of the body is sacred like the whole body.
Maimonides (Spanish rabbi and physician of the 1200s) in his work MISHNEH TORAH in the tractate “rules concerning homicide and the preservation of the body[7]” maintains: a man who kills a healthy man or a sick person on the point of death, even if he kills a dying person, is liable for murder.
The Shulchan Aruch Yoreh De'ah [8] says: “the dying person is considered alive to all intents and purposes – one does not bind his cheeks, one does not anoint him, one does not wash him, one does not plug his orifices, one does not remove the pillow from beneath his head, one does not place him on the ground and one does not close his eyes”.
Anyone who behaves in this manner, causing his death, is considered guilty of murder. However, as regards the dying person with severe suffering, one does not persist with treatments that may prolong his suffering.
In the Babylonian Talmud, tractate Ketubot[9] it is narrated that Rabbi Judah the Prince (one of the most important Masters of the Talmud) was on the point of death and his disciples proclaimed a fast, spending time in prayer at his bedside asking G-d to heal him.
The same thing was done by the heavenly Angels, who however prayed to G-d that the soul of R. Judah might join them. A sort of contest for the soul of the Master thus came about, so much so as to increase his suffering.
A maidservant of his who noticed this took an earthenware amphora, climbed onto the roof of the house and hurled it to the ground. The din caused by the fall of the amphora distracted the disciples from prayer, and at that precise moment R. Judah died and his soul ascended to heaven.
This Talmudic passage teaches that dear though a person's life is, in some cases it is a duty to set a limit to it.
In modern medical language, this goes by the name of “therapeutic obstinacy”, which in a certain sense creates a lack of respect towards the sick person and deprives them of dignity. In the same way it is forbidden to pray for one's own death or that of another, but it is instead permitted to pray for the end of one's own suffering. Biblical or Talmudic examples: Elijah [10] Jonah[11] Choni[12]
There are also examples of prayers for the end of the suffering of others.
The living will
If the body is considered sacred during life, equal attention is right and proper in the moments immediately preceding death and in those immediately following.
It is therefore a duty to respect the individual's will, the “living will”, within the limits permitted by halakhah, that is, as long as the individual's wishes do not conflict with or even violate Jewish law.
Just as it normally happens that a man entrusts his wealth to a person who protects it for him, respecting his wishes, so too could it happen with regard to his own body, at the moment when he becomes incapable of understanding and willing. There is no doubt, however, that this could create problems in the event that the holder of the will were not a trustworthy person. Entrusting one's body into the hands of someone unworthy could generate serious problems.
To cope with laws that recognise and protect the living will, a Commission of American Orthodox rabbis has provided that a man may sign a document expressing his wishes, which are in line with the principles of halakhah, and thus entrust everything to a rabbi of his own choosing, who guarantees him conservation, protection and implementation when it becomes necessary.
[1] Gen., ch. 2 v. 7
[2] Jerusalem Talmud, Nazir, ch. 7, halakhah 2.
[3] Ex., ch. 20, v. 24
[4] Lev., ch. 19, v. 16
[5] Yoma p. 85 a.
[6] Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh De'ah, ch. 336 para. 1.
[7] Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, ch. 2, rule 7.
[8] Cf. Shulchan…op. cit.… ch. 339 para. 1.
[9] Babylonian Talmud, trat. Ketubot, 104 a.
[10] 1 Kings 19 v. 4
[11] Jonah 4 v. 3
[12] Babylonian Talmud, Ta'anit, 23-a
Conference of the Association of Jewish Physicians, Bologna, 18 November 2007 (8 Kislev 5768)
“And the Lord G-d formed man of the dust of the ground”[1] “AFAR MIN HA ADAMA” “Dust from the earth”