End of Life Issues
Halachic Resources and Forms

As in each of life’s challenges, confronting one’s mortality, or the death of a loved one, requires us to react and express ourselves as Jews. Jewish law and custom not only accompany us through the burial and grieving process, but also delineate a number of guidelines that must be followed when confronting the many complex issues that may arise at the end of life.
For example, while Jewish law often grants patients the independence to make personal choices, those choices must still be considered within the parameters of halacha. As the recent case of Terri Schiavo has illustrated, it is crucial that patients express their medical treatment wishes while still able to do so. Assuring one’s preference that halacha plays a central role in such decisions can be achieved by signing a halachic living will.

A living will (sometimes known as a “health care proxy” or an “advanced directive,” depending on its specific contents) is a legally binding document intended to ensure that, if the individual is ever unable to communicate his or her choices, the patient’s choices will be followed with regard to medical care, medication, and resuscitation. In addition, a living will provides for the designation of another competent adult to serve as a health care agent, authorized to make medical decisions in situations not specifically addressed in the living will. A halachic living will is designed to reflect one’s preference that all medical decisions are made in accordance with Orthodox Jewish law. This objective is accomplished by requiring the health care agent to consult with Orthodox rabbis, preferably specifically identified by the patient.

For your consideration, attached are links to two forms of the halachic living wills. The first, published by the Rabbinical Council of America (the “RCA”), contains a detailed form, listing potential medical situations in which Jewish law allows each patient to make a personal choice. The patient must indicate his or her preference for each potential case. The RCA form specifies that a rabbi chosen by the patient must be consulted in any circumstance not addressed in the form.

The second version is published by the Agudath Israel of America, and is a simpler form. In this form, the patient merely indicates his or her desire that Orthodox Jewish law govern all health care decisions. The Agudah’s living will requires the health care agent to consult with a rabbi of the patient’s choice in every medical situation in which the patient is no longer able to make his own decisions.

You are strongly urged to consult with your local Orthodox rabbi to determine which form is right for you.

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