Rabbi Yehuda Meshi-Zahav, the founder and chairman of ZAKA spoke to Arutz Sheva recently about a painful topic – suicide in Israel, including the Chareidi community.

“The numbers speak for themselves. We work with this every day. Around 500 Israelis commit suicide every year. In the past, they thought that it stemmed from the availability of weapons in the army and now it’s become clear that particularly in the army, there’s a decrease in suicides in recent years.”

“We see that it happens in all sectors – rich, poor, Chareidim, secular, young and old. There’s also the fact that 6,000 people a year arrive at hospitals following a suicide attempt so there are thousands whom we succeed in saving.”

Regarding suicide in the Chareidi sector, he said: “We know that someone who took his life is buried outside the cemetery. In actuality, in all the years since Zaka was founded, there was only one incident of kevura outside the cemetery. The family isn’t guilty and there’s no reason to punish them twice. Furthermore, the halacha says that maybe he did teshuva at the last minute.”

“There’s an advantage in the Chareidi community over the general community – the community support is inestimably greater than the general population. We’re familiar with many incidents of people with suicidal thoughts – when they mentioned these thoughts to a friend or Rav or Rebbe, they knew how to get a professional involved. The Chareidi community has the benefit of its social structure but it’s impossible to say that the phenomenon doesn’t exist.”

Meshi-Zahav also mentioned the phenomenon of “second-generation suicide” – when people who lost relatives to suicide commit suicide themselves in its wake – which in his opinion needs to be researched. “There are those who commit suicide on the kever of their relatives. Sometimes it stems from feelings of guilt that they didn’t realize [their relative] was in distress and provide support.”

“Once I was driving and I saw a car signaling behind me to stop. I realized the driver wanted to speak to me and I stopped on the side of the road. He told me, ‘I’ve been looking for you for a long time already. I want to consult you about something important and personal.'”

Meshi-Zahav accompanied the man to his house at a nearby yishuv, where the man lived in a large villa. “He showed me one room and another room and then another room and said: ‘This is my son’s room – a 16-year-old who committed suicide. He got involved in a cult and at a certain stage, they told him his time is up and he jumped from Azrieli [complex of skyscrapers in Tel Aviv]. My whole life is dark and it’s only a question of time until I follow in his footsteps.'”

“I utilized all my experience, I connected to him. We became friends until today and now his view has completely changed. This was a father that felt pangs of guilt that he didn’t realize that the cult was controlling his child – so much that he decided he wanted to commit suicide also. I’m not talking about one or two incidents. We’re familiar with enough incidents that research should be conducted on this phenomenon.”

Meshi-Zahav mentioned that at times suicide can be caused by a crisis – social, medical or financial. He concluded with a call to creditors – private or commercial – not to pressure people who can’t repay their debts, noting the Torah prohibition of creditors pressuring those who owe them money. “Money isn’t everything. Someone who owes money and can’t repay it didn’t do it purposely. Don’t pressure too much – it can lead to suicide and the destruction of families.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)