Suicide’s Reward

Nicholas Hughes, the son of poet Sylvia Plath, has killed himself, 46 years after his mother committed suicide and almost 40 years to the day after his stepmother, Assia Wevill, did the same. He was 47.

Suicide is the spilling of one’s own blood thereby cutting short the time given by the Creator to conduct life on earth. Life on earth is different from life in heaven where the consciousness reunites with the soul; on the earth, and only on the earth, there is freedom of choice—in the heavens too much light exists and therefore no choice.

Although suicide is prohibited in the Torah/Teaching, still there are instances where suicide is considered the proper response—for example, if one is confronted with idol worship death, it is preferable to die. But, there is a price to suicide beyond death and that is the imprint on life which is left between parent and child and even from those not directly related as seen form this sad poetic story of those too sensitive for life.

In the Cabala, in particular the Sefer Gilgilim/Book of Reincarnations, much is written about the journeys of the soul—most importantly, the impossibility of escaping this physical world or our spiritual obligation.