[Avodah] Assisted Suicide

[Harry Maryles]

Richard Wolberg <cantorwolberg at cox.net> wrote:
  Someone wrote: Me- why? In fact couldn't one argue that the prayer to the
creator is more effective and thus more of a life shortner?
  That may be true, but the Creator has a right to do whatever He deems perfect... It reminds me of the person who says he prayed to God for something and was not answered. That isn't accurate. God DID answer and the answer was "No."
  --------------------------
   
  I have heard this Hashkafic statement more times than I can count. And I have a problem with it.
   
  When someone says he prays for something and wasn't answered, he means that he did not get the results he prayed for. If for example a parent prays that  a certain treatment to succesfully remove save a child from a serious disease, and then that child dies, is saying that the prayer was answered in the nefative the right thing to say? 
   
  Of course it was answered in the negative. The parent realizes that. The child died!
   
  When an indvidual says his prayers weren't answered, he means that what he was praying for was denied. Telling a greiving parent who lost a child that his prayers were indeed answered but in the negative is not going to make him feel any better. What exactly is the point of saying that? 
   
  One of the purposes of prayer is that we can change the 'mind' of God. If we Daven, God will hear us and cure the patient. If the patient then dies, is it appropriate to say that God answered our prayers? I don't think so. I can't imagine a greiving parent who after losing a child will say God answered his or her prayers!
   
  HM


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