Suicide and the World-to-Come

In 1880 the Jewish community of Iraq was forced to confront a sharp increase in antisemitic persecution. Not all of the country's Jews were prepared for this new phenomenon and the result was a number of suicides. The Iraqi rabbinate, both shocked and determined to put an end to the needless taking of life, declared from all the synagogue pulpits that those who commit suicide have no share in the world-to-come. This idea was certainly not unknown to either the masses or the rabbis, who probably believed it to be found somewhere in talmudic literature. However, although it does not appear there, the rabbinic maxim is very well known. Since this notion has played a central role in many rabbinic discussions about the status of suicides, it is worthwhile to trace its origin

Antisemitism · Archaeology · Commit · Judaism · Maxim · Persecution · Phenomenon · Political science · History · Law · Philosophy · Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and Political Violence