Question: My daughter has been assigned to interview a living person and write that living person’s obituary! I was horrified when I heard of this assignment. She feels it is “creepy’ and I feel it is in some way against Jewish law to write about a person as if they are already dead! She even said to me if something happened to that person, she would feel more than awful. Is it against a Jewish Law to do this. My instinct tells me it would be.

Answer: Thank you for your question. Although writing an obituary for a live person is not against Jewish law, it certainly is against Jewish sensitivities. Our Rabbis teach us, “Al Tiftach Peh L’Satan”- which means we should not leave an opening for the Satan to harm someone by talking about such potential harm that could occur, and this would seem to fit the bill. The assignment can just as well be written about someone who has already passed away, or an imaginary person. However, if the teacher insists that it be done in the way, and the interviewee has no problem with it, it cannot be said that it is against Jewish law.

Take care,
Rabbi Aaron Tendler