TRUST YOUR OWN JUDGEMENT START WITH YOUR OWN IDEAS WE'LL HELP YOU FINISH Visit 11 ate ginishing gouch We Have It All... 1,1,7IALLTE_RE1.1)216f21129 1 142f2OrlteztJ and E.6107441012 • Thousands of Domestic and Imported Designer Fabrics to Choose From • Custom Finishes: Faux, Marbleizing, Etc. eudtom ( Warf CO0E711291 CIMCI ( WindOW- glEatn213211 . II . • NI MI ■ ■ OM •• In ■ ■ ■■ 7 ■■ • 11 IN N ■■ IE. .. ilntezioT _E61.912 Coowlination .S 1 t.of2 in gOT OLVI, OTCO2C1 02F-121)29 THE DE TRO IT JEWIS H NEWS c_S72thaf6. anc 1 ..114E,E1 °La, iNcolzatin9 10 ..S7Lciff ( Wctifin9 0q.16,161T0t: t in nzati49 ToLvz.``,2Ean2,0072."! ginishin g 1204 gouch ,s. ( WoodaTawi, cRoy atOalz U.u.i.t cArcyttfi of 696) 3 13-51/8-95 /5 LETTERS page 6 Factionalism Vs. Klal Yisrael After reading articles and let- ters in The Jewish News, we find ourselves astounded and deeply disappointed by atti- tudes expressed by some mem- bers of the Orthodox community. As members of that commu- nity we agree that Torah is def- initely the focus of our lives. But so too are other Jews. If we contend that problems of the modern world do not af- fect us, that we need not deal with the problems of child abuse, that AIDS and drug ed- ucation is meaningless for our children, regardless of the num- bers, that it is worthless to com- municate with our neighbors who are not as observant as we claim to be, that the only thing that matters in life are the numbers of mitzvot we do, then we sadly do ourselves and our community a disservice. We demand tolerance from others, yet we are intolerant. We — all of us — are responsi- ble for one another, regardless of religious barometers. We must learn that sinut hi- mum (causeless hatred) is as destructive today as it has ever been. We must come to realize that every Jew, every person is as important as the next. We must learn to communi- cate and to love one another. As Jews, we are commanded to do no less! Larry and Rita Winer Oak Park Suicide And Torah The Jewish News carried an interesting presentation of the Jewish tradition's strong op- position to suicide, authored by Rabbi Herschel Finman (Jan. 8) It is a fine and timely article, for we live at a time when the general culture is once again accepting, or even glorifying, suicide. The Jewish tradition, as Rabbi Finman rightly notes, considers suicide a crime akin to murder. But I believe the article is in- complete in one area. Rabbi Finman asserts that "dying for the sake of heaven" is "the only exception" to the universal con- demnation of suicide in Jewish sources. There is, however, one other situation in which at least some Jewish sources counte- nance suicide. According to Bereshit Rab- bah 34:13, King Saul was jus- tified or excused for his suicide (this story is told at the end of the first book of Samuel). De- feated in battle, surrounded by his enemies, sure that his fuH ture was to be displayed as a trophy of war and then tor- tured to death, Saul fell on hi:\ sword. The rabbinic text does not specify which of the horrible conditions of Saul's situation was sufficient to allow his sui- cide. To take it as a precedent, one would have to decide. In fact, a rabbi did have to decide. In the final days before the destruction of the Ghetto at Kovno, a certain Jew, expect, ing the Nazis to murder his family before his eyes, and then to murder him, asked Rabbi Ephraim Oshry whether it would be right to kill himself. The essence of the rabbi's re- sponse: "In our present case, where certainly he will be hor- ribly tortured as King Saul would have been, it appears/ that it would be permitted for him to commit suicide." Rabbi Oshry did not want his re- sponse published at that time, lest it discourage other Jews, who were also trapped by the cruel Nazis. The point of departure fog Rabbi Finman's article is sui- cide driven by medical con- cerns. It might be argued that Rabbi Oshry's acceptance of suicide to avoid torture should: be limited to situations in I which the torturers are evil human enemies. However, if a disease, or thL treatment for the disease, promises a patient horrible, painful and degrading suffer- ing followed by imminent death, that does seem to be the equivalent of being tortured to death. We should work to make this a rare situation. Dying patients ought to have adequate pain, medication, attentive medical care, and the presence of affec- tionate friends or relatives, so that these patients do not reach the despair of King Saul or of Rabbi Oshry's interlocutor. Be that as it may, it seems that legitimate fear of torture" may be recognized in Jewish law, along with "dying for the sake of heaven," as a valid rea- son for suicide. -; Eliezer Finkelman Berkeley, Calif Letters Policy Letters must be typewritten, double-spaced, and include the name, home address, daytime phone number and signature of the writer. Brief letters (Less than a page), arriving by noon Tues- day, will be given prefer- ence.