Lunch-and-Learn with Rabbi Mark Washofsky

The Death of King Saul and Physician-Assisted Suicide: An Exercise in Rabbinical Thinking

What does Jewish law teach us about enabling the terminally ill to die more quickly and with less suffering? Rabbis are often called upon for counsel on this difficult question, yet the sources of Torah do not provide them (and us) with a clear and ready-made answer. Accordingly, rabbinical responsa on the subject must interpret those sources to arrive at a solution. In our session, we’ll explore how one Reform responsa does it. And we’ll ask: just how good and persuasive is this rabbinical reading of the texts? Could we do better?