Is Choosing Death Ever Kosher?

This class continues with further analysis of the meaning behind “the voice of Jacob vs. the hands of Esau”. Then a shocking story about a ship filled with hundreds of beautiful young Jewish girls and boys who chose self-inflicted death rather than lives of coerced-immorality; followed by a haunting tale of a holy woman and her seven sons who chose death over abandonment of their Jewish faith. We’ll delve into the gut-wrenching dilemma of death by choice, and how far one is permitted to go to avoid sinking into the depths of spiritual depravity. These Talmudic narratives of martyrdom and loyalty to faith under the harshest of conditions will inspire even as they touch a very sad cord.