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The Outstretched Arm
Ira R. Byock, M.D.
Spring 2001
The Outstretched Arm
is a newsletter of the National Center for Jewish Healing, New York
In the Spring of 2001 Issue,
Director Simka invited a number of writers in fields of Jewish studies,
philosophy and palliative care to comment on the meaning of the Talmudic story of
the Death of Rabbi Judah HaNass. Below is the story as
presented to commentators and to readers.
Dr. Byock’s response follows.
Praying for Healing into
Death
(Rabbi Judah was suffering
from a severe and painful stomach disease.)
On the day that Rabbi was
dying, his devoted students and colleagues decreed a public fast and offered
prayers for heavenly mercy. Furthermore,
they announced that whoever said that Rabbi Judah was dead would be stabbed with
a sword.
The Rabbi's handmaid
ascended the roof and prayed:
"The immortal beings in
heaven desire Rabbi to join them,
When, however, she saw how
often Rabbi Judah resorted to the privy,
"May it be the will of the
Almighty that the immortals may overpower the mortals.
Watching the rabbis
incessantly continuing their prayers for heavenly
Comment: Ira Byock, MD
Death is an unwanted
intruder in our lives. Particularly when death approaches someone we love, we
cling to any remnant of life. But we are mortal – and as much as we’d like
to deny it, illness, dying, death and grief are part of the fullness of life.
In the story of Rabbi Judah
HaNassi’s death, we glimpse the paradox of illness as a gift, a way God has
given us to prepare for death. The progressive symptoms and disability of
illness can help the person who is forced to confront death gradually adjust to
leaving this life. In the process a persons’ family and friends may come to
realize that death is not only an enemy to be battled, but also the inevitable
and natural culmination of life. This insight allows those of us who struggle
against the pain of looming loss to loosen our selfish hold on the person who is
suffering, allowing him or her to leave with our love and our blessing.
In momentarily distracting
the Rabbis from prayer, the handmaiden acted out of love for Rabbi HaNassi. She
performed a mitzvah.
Ira Byock, M.D., Research
Professor of Philosophy, University of Montana, Missoula.
He is author of Dying Well
(Riverhead 1998)
The Outstretched Arm
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