NASO_NUMBERS VI:21-VII:89
According to the Midrash, the commandment forbidding the killing of another human being includes the instruction not to cause one’s death: suicide. Moreover, this category includes prohibiting unnecessary risks that may result in death. Israel Gilat makes the excellent observation that, by committing murder, the person is breaching doubly. On the one hand, he violates the “thou shalt not kill”; on the other hand, because of his disobedience, he will receive the death penalty. That is, because of his serious fault, he caused the victim’s death, and his death: the punishment he will receive for the crime is double.
We start from the premise that the body does not belong to the individual; that is, the person cannot exercise his free will concerning survival. It is limited. He or she must go to a doctor when he or she is sick and should not lacerate himself or herself as a demonstration of independence and total freedom. However, the story testifies to several personalities who chose suicide when facing pressing situations. King Saul threw himself on a sword stuck in the ground so as not to fall alive into the hands of the enemy.
The subject of suicide is pertinent because it is related to the Judge Shimshon (Samson), the Nazir (person who promises to abstain from wine and any grape derivatives, not to cut his hair, and not to have contact with a corpse) is most famous of the Tanach, and the state of Nezirut is one of the central themes of these chapters. In the final stage of his life, having lost sight during a celebration of the Philistines, Shimshon requested to be placed between the two columns supporting the pagan temple. With supreme effort, he moved the columns and thus caused the death of the Philistines in the vicinity and, unfortunately, his death.
Several explanations are offered. Perhaps suicide is permitted when death is inevitable. It can be argued that the episodes referred to refer to exceptional situations of a historical moment and, therefore, should not serve as a guideline for the future. In both situations, the consequences could include the death of many because, especially in the first case, the Hebrews would have tried to rescue King Saul after he fell into the hands of his enemies. As for Shimshon, he managed to eliminate many enemies of the Jewish people who might otherwise have caused many deaths.
A shameful and tragic event for humanity from the time of the Holocaust testifies to the suicide, en masse, of a group of young Jewish women who chose death instead of submitting to the rape of their bodies and subsequent murder at the hands of the Nazis. The decision of these young women was a demonstration of courage sustained by their unwavering faith.
It is pertinent to mention the case of the inhabitants of Masada, who chose suicide when they were besieged by the enemy who began to climb towards the summit, announcing the inescapable end of the fortress’s defense and the death of its inhabitants. In this regard, one can cite the famous opinion of the Chief Rabbi of Israel, Shlomo Goren, who considered this suicide not only permissible but perhaps obligatory due to the probability that when captured by the enemy, the inhabitants of Masada would then be forced to violate the ordinances (commit incest, publicly denying the existence of God, murder), and to avoid this transgression, a person must choose death. Many scholars challenged Goren’s view; however, his sentiment points toward considering suicide as a valid option under certain circumstances.
MITZVA: ORDINANCE OF THE TORAH IN THIS PARSHA
CONTAINS 7 POSITIVE MITZVOT AND 11 PROHIBITIONS
1. Numbers 5:2 Sending the ritually unclean individual out of the field of the Divine Presence.
2. Numbers 5:3 The ritually unclean individual must not enter the Temple.
3. Numbers 5:6 Confessing sin.
4. Numbers 5:15 Comply with the laws of Sota (wife suspected of committing infidelity).
5. Numbers 5:15 Do not include oil in the offering of the Sota.
6. Numbers 5:15 Do not include species in the offering of the Sota.
7. Numbers 6:3 The Nazir should not drink wine or other strong beverages derived from grapes.
8. Numbers 6:3 The Nazir should not consume fresh grapes.
9. Numbers 6:3 The Nazir should not consume raisins.
10. Numbers 6:4 The Nazir should not consume the grape’s seed.
11. Numbers 6:4 The Nazir should not consume the rind of the grape.
12. Numbers 6:5 The Nazir must not shave his hair.
13. Numbers 6:5 Allow the hair of the Nazir to grow long.
14. Numbers 6:6 The Nazir must not enter the enclosure where a corpse lies.
15. Numbers 6:7 The Nazir must not acquire ritual impurity through a corpse or any other source of ritual impurity.
16. Numbers 6:13 Shave the hair of the Nazir and bring his offering (at the end of the period of his promise of Nazir, or if he acquires ritual impurity).
17. Numbers 6:23 Reciting the blessing of the Kohanim.
18. Numbers 7:9 The tribe of Levi must carry the Aron HaKodesh, Holy Ark on their shoulders.
