God's Gift

When I was much younger, for a while at least and without any evidence to support my theory, I was dumb enough to think I was 'God's gift' to women. 

But then I came to realise, bit by bit, that women had minds of their own and that I was an arrogant 'dickhead' to think in such terms, which I suppose is all part of growing up, for the male of the species at least. 

Now I don't share the Chief Rabbi's views about God or religion, so my only question to him is: "So where does he get off thinking that he has the right to tell me how to live or end my life?"

In other words while I respect his views and beliefs, why doesn't he respect mine? 

Ephraim Mirvis: Instead of promoting assisted dying, we should help the living

The Bill before the House of Lords fails to recognise that life is a gift from God and not ours to cut short

Danger ahead: estimates of life expectancy can be no more than educated guesses Photo: ALAMY

By Ephraim Mirvis - The Telegraph

In the light of our experience, Jews are particularly sensitive to the moral dangers of euphemism. We have seen prejudice cloaked in principle, bias masquerading as high-mindedness, and genocidal intentions dressed up in scientific, eugenic and economic language – most infamously as the “Final Solution”.

While I appreciate the honest and empathetic intentions that have led Lord Falconer to propose, and others to support, the Assisted Dying Bill, which is to receive its second reading in the House of Lords tomorrow, I am profoundly disturbed to see that it applies the neutral term “assisted dying” to killing, and that it contemplates permitting doctors to administer “medicines” which are, in essence, poisons.

In the light of Jewish tradition, this Bill seems to me to be misguided and dangerous. There is no greater value in Judaism than the sanctity of life. Life is the most precious of gifts. It is a gift from God and it is not ours to cut short. Life has an absolute value and its preservation takes precedence over other commandments. This is my guiding principle in approaching this life-and-death question.

As Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, has written so eloquently, our compassion must be extended not only to the particular suffering individual we see before us, but also to many others currently out of sight. We must be concerned with all those who might be affected, and that includes the old, the infirm and the most vulnerable.

I am, of course, aware of the limits built into the proposed legislation and the sincere arguments in its favour. The Bill purports to limit its scope to cases of terminal illness, to apply only to individuals with a clear and settled intention to end their own lives, to introduce an element of medical oversight and to make no fundamental change to other legislation. All of these asserted protections are profoundly problematic and fallible.

Sadly, ours is a society in which many old people suffer ongoing abuses of trust, often at the hands of family and so-called friends, with roughly half the cases having a financial motive. As a Rabbi, I often come face to face with the feelings of isolation and worthlessness that the old and the terminally ill encounter. The right response is to offer as much hope, encouragement and support as possible, not to snuff out whatever light they see at the end of the tunnel. In such circumstances morale enhances life; despair extinguishes it.

I share the archbishop’s rational and compassionate fear that the passing of this Bill will add to the pressure on the most vulnerable among us to relieve the financial and care burden on their families by opting for an exit. The very availability of such an option, an implicit endorsement by society of the view that those without long to live might not be worth sustaining, represents a betrayal of trust.

No one can know for certain how long an individual life may last; estimates of life expectancy can be no more than educated guesses. Accordingly, no one can know for certain how much or what quality of life is discarded when the most permanent of solutions is invoked based on the best information available at the time.

Jewish tradition teaches that one can merit a place in the heavenly world to come through the work of a single hour. Ben Azzai, the second-century Talmudic sage, taught us to despise no one, for there is no person who does not have his or her hour. He also taught that an individual is capable of love (of God) up to the very last breath of the soul. It is presumptuous to write a person off as incapable of further function or significance. I have often witnessed many remarkable individuals showing such dignity, determination and strength in the face of their greatest challenge. In some cases, their last hours were their finest in terms of the inspiration they provided and the example that they set.

This Bill would fatally compromise the relationship between doctor and patient. Judaism has always reserved the highest respect for doctors. Human beings are partners of the Almighty in bringing life into the world and we are his partners also in healing. Signing off the self-destruction of another human life is the antithesis of the sacred trust that the ill invest in the medical profession.

Palliative care and support can make a world of difference to both the emotional and spiritual health of the afflicted. While I recognise the honourable motivations of the proponents of this Bill, I believe it will hamper society’s ability to discharge its duty of neighbourly love and compassion. The focus of this initiative is profoundly misguided. Instead of promoting assisted dying, we should be concentrating our attentions on assisted living.

Ephraim Mirvis is Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth