Question: Recently, a friend of mine committed suicide. Has he sealed his fate? What does Torah teach on this matter? Please be brutally honest.

Answer: I’m afraid that I’m in no position to give you an complete description of the religious implications of suicide, but I can share a few ideas.

First of all, while suicide is indeed a terrible sin, there is, nevertheless, recognition within Torah thought of both occasional, extenuating circumstances (like the countless Jews of Medieval Europe who took their own lives rather than face forced conversion), and of the horror of mental illness. In that light, for instance, even responsible rabbis will often allow depression-related suicides full funeral services and burial rights. We humans don’t tell God what to do in His world, but the Torah law does reflect the way God wants us to think…

Also, a single act – even a sinful one – should be seen in the greater context of a person’s whole life. We believe that God is the True Judge, and rewards and punishes with perfect precision. How, then, could He destroy a soul for the act of a moment and ignore a lifetime of noble struggle and growth?

By no means am I minimizing the significance of this desperate act (and of its implications – like the many potential good acts that will now never be done), but I don’t feel it’s correct to suggest that it’s the only factor at issue.

I hope that everyone touched by your friend will find answers to their questions and grow closer to our God as a result.

With my best wishes,

Rabbi Boruch Clinton

[Editor – See here for another post on suicide.]