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will not be punished for his suicide because he was acting under com-
pulsion and was not in control of his actions. Although no allowance
exists for committing suicide out of shame, it is possible that he will
not be punished by Heaven as a murderer. This is similar to the Yad
Avraham’s assertion (Yoreh De’ah 345) that a person who killed him-
self out of fear of severe suffering and torture, is [nonetheless] buried
honorably and is mourned, as with all other deceased Jews.

See also maseches Moed Katan (9b) where Rabbi Shimon bar Cha-
lafta blessed Rav’s son, “Neither shame [another] nor be shamed.”
Rav told his son, “He gave you a great blessing because Hashem
yisbarach conferred this blessing upon His people Yisrael twice, as it
says, ‘You shall eat, eating to satiation and you shall praise the Name
of the Hashem, your G-d, who has dealt wondrously with you and
My people shall never be embarrassed, and you shall know that I am
within Yisrael and that I am Hashem your God and there is none
besides and My people shall never suffer shame’” (Yoel 2: 6-7). [The
power of embarrassment is also evident elsewhere.] See Taanis (23a):
“They did not accord him the honor he was due; he was dismayed; he
prayed for mercy and he died.” Tamar too, was prepared to have her-
self cast into a fiery furnace in order not avoid embarrassing Yehudah.
We see that embarrassment [in Tamar’s case, even someone else’s] is
harder to bear than death.

There are thus grounds for leniency in the question regarding
the bank clerk, because the crime of stealing and embezzlement of
public money is viewed very seriously in that country. The Tumim
(Choshen Mishpat 133:5) explains the halachic principle, “People are
not presumed to be thieves” as follows: “We do not suspect that a
person has stolen because this uncommon, and he is afraid of being
caught, [for] what will he do about his embarrassment when everyone
scorns him?”

To summarize our discussion of the first point:

1. From the comments of the poskim it appears that the sit-
uation of a person who is ready to commit suicide is not

380 1 Medical-Halachic Responsa of Rav Zilberstein