Ladaatinfo reports on a lecture delivered by Rabbi Eliezer Berland in which he opined that Maran Hgr"a Ovadia Yosef, z'l had the soul of Mashiach ben Yosef, only this generation did not merit his revelation and the bringing of "geulah."
Rabbi Benjamin Blech writes about a Jewish perspective on assisted suicide, in the wake of Brittany Maynard's tragic death last week.
Let me be clear. Had Brittany Maynard come to me while weighing her decision to ask for my input I would’ve shared with her my ambivalence between faith and feelings. I could understand her fear of facing an unbearable future. I could empathize to the best of my ability with her desire to avoid seemingly certain horrors. Yet to her question – who has the right to tell me that I don’t deserve this choice? – I would have to answer: “Only the One who has given you the gift of life has the right to end it.” Taking the life of another is called murder. It is not because we have no right to take someone else’s life. It is because we have no right to take away life. So too, we have no right to take away our own existence from this earth.
Rabbi Blech reminds readers that he was presented with a diagnosis by a doctor of "a fatal illness for which there is no cure. Research on the Internet informed me that from the time of diagnosis I would have no more than six months to live. That happened almost three years ago. With great thanks to God and in almost all certainty as response to my prayers and the prayers of countless others, I feel fine today and hopefully look forward to the proverbial 120 years of life."
Thankfully, Rabbi Blech did not choose to end his life and is still writing in his inimitable fashion and imparting words of wisdom to his avid reading audience.
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