Halakha, Suicide and Social Policy
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.64166/p0v4rm34Abstract
Rabbi Raphael Ben-Shimon (chief rabbi of Cairo 1891-1921) successfully applied halakha (Jewish religious norms) in a radical manner, in order to suppress a growing incidence of suicide among young Jewish men in late 19lh century Cairo. In this paper, I present and analyze Rabbi Ben-Shimon's reasoned justifi- cation of his policy, bringing to bear not only halakhic material, but also, inter alia, historical studies of Egyptian Jewish social his- tory, studies on suicide in 19th century Europe (including Durk- heim's classic work), the findings of a little-known paper on suicide in Egypt by Rene Maunier (1930) and anthropological studies on honor and shame.
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