Abstract
Jewish law on the “end of life” teaches that nobody is expected to suffer and that for certain individuals, death might be better than life. However, these observations need to be illustrated on the backdrop of the prohibitions of direct killing, the public interest in the preservation of life and the integrity of medicine.
Although Israeli law is a secular legal system, a hybrid of common law and continental law, it has developed similar lines of reasoning to Jewish law on matters pertaining to the “end of life”. Israeli judicial processes address “end of life” issues by means of primary legislation, which is quite elaborate. Case law has also developed original and flexible interpretations to ceasing life support in order to benefit certain patients even though it may shorten their lives at times. Contemporary Israeli law contains elaborate structures of proxy and assisted decision making. While these are not formally connected to Jewish law, we argue that rabbinic law is influential in these contexts as well. The paper analyzes the development of Israeli law along these lines, demarcating three major tracks: Jewish Law, Case law and Primary Legislation.
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Notes
- 1.
Steinberg Abraham, “The Hospital, in Halakhic Literature,” Assia II; Schlesinger Institute and Reuben Mas; Jerusalem 1981 p. 146–153. (In Hebrew)
- 2.
Morganstern Aryeh, Redemption through Nature (Maor, Second Edition, Jerusalem 1997) Chapter 16 – The First Jewish Hospital in Jerusalem, pp. 307–326. (In Hebrew)
- 3.
For further information regarding the advancement of the field in Israel, see Mordechai Halperin, Medicine and Halacha in Israel, ASSIA 53–54 (vol. 12, 3–4) (Schlesinger Institute), Jerusalem, 1999 (In Hebrew)
- 4.
Talmud, Sanhedrin 45a.
- 5.
The dying person is alive to everything in the law. Shulkhan Aruch, yureh deeah, 139a.
- 6.
Death of Rabbi Yehuda the President, The death of Rabbi Hanina ben Dosa, The death of the old woman; Barilan 2013.
- 7.
Shulkhan Aruch, yureh deeah, 139a.
- 8.
Tzitz Eliezer, Part 13, chp. 89.
- 9.
Barilan Y.M (2018).
- 10.
Su”t Minchat Shlomo, chp. 91; 24.
- 11.
Barilan Y.M 2018.
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Asman, O., Barilan, Y.M. (2020). End-of-Life Medical Decisions in Israeli Law – How Jewish Law Represents a Balance Between Principlist and Situationist Approaches to Medical Law. In: Emmerich, N., Mallia, P., Gordijn, B., Pistoia, F. (eds) Contemporary European Perspectives on the Ethics of End of Life Care. Philosophy and Medicine, vol 136. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-40033-0_7
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