The little Jewish child in the United Kingdom, Alta Fixler, was taken off life support yesterday and died. Her parents battle to save her and leave her on life support, even by moving to another country, failed and the courts ruled against their efforts and challenge and ordered life support to be stopped.

Rav Nosson Tzvi Finkel, the rosh yeshiva of the Mir Yeshiva, passed away yesterday.

I did not know Rav Finkel personally, though I saw him a number of times at various occasions. Not normally one to announce deaths, especially of people I did not have a personal relationship with, even if only briefly, I do want to relate for a moment to Rav Finkel's death.

Many are passing around the now famous picture of Rav Finkel as a high school senior in the Chicago Hebrew Academy, later to become known as Ida Crown Hebrew Academy, a co-ed school. He is a sharp looking and handsome young man, and it is shocking for many to learn he comes from such a "modern" background. The picture has some shock value, but it also serves to increase people's admiration, considering the background he came from and what he eventually became. it is not the typical ArtScroll rosh yeshiva story of a son of rosh yeshiva who became the next rosh yeshiva.

What I want to relate to, and, again, I did not know the rosh yeshiva personally at all, is his Parkinsons affliction. No matter how many times I saw him, I was amazed each time by how he was able to overcome his disease and still be so involved, responsible for everything in the yeshiva, still travel, still fundraise, go to events and give shiurim. A disease which can be so crippling, and in him one could see how he had deteriorated so much and how it affected him so seriously, yet he never let that slow him down.

People who overcome their challenges, their limitations, and succeed, and excel, despite those challenges and limitations, and they don't let themselves be taken down, those are the people I admire the most.
Rav Finkel was one of those men.
Yehi Zichro Baruch.

A sad story was just reported in the newspapers, of a young woman, a 25 year old Haredi woman, who was diagnosed with a cancerous tumor in her uterus.

For months the doctors have been trying to convince her to agree to undergo the only procedure they say will save her, as her situation has been continually deteriorating, which is to remove her uterus. She has been refusing because she has not yet had children and sees no point in living if she cannot have kids. She continues to refuse any treatment, and will not give up on her uterus, until she has a kid.

Without receiving any treatment, her situation has deteriorated even more and she has recently been hospitalized as a result of her illness.

The doctors, with no other choice available to them, have decided to fight her wishes. They are convening the ethics board of the insurance fund she is part of, to see if they can find a way to get her the treatment she needs.

The ethics board has decided to contact her rabbi, a hassidic rebbe, to ask him to persuade her to accept the treatment, as her life is in danger if she does not.

The rebbe is being consulted and no decision has yet been arrived at. She continues to prefer to wait for a miracle, while the doctors continue to look for ways to convince her to undergo the treatment.

One can be critical of her and say she is doing the wrong thing, and she clearly is from an objective point of view, and should immediately undergo the treatment. Adoption is always an option, surrogacy is an option, and other options are available. Life does not have to end at the uterus. Who inculcated in her the idea that without bearing a child life is not worth living?

One can be critical, but who knows what is going through the head of a terminally ill patient. She has so much on her head, such heavy decisions to make. I hope she comes to her senses, or someone brings her to them, and she accepts the treatment she requires.

She should have a refuah shleimah.

Very frequently, after someone passes away, people collect money for the family.

Last week a mother of 10 tragically passed away in her sleep in RBS. A daughter is about to get married, and people around the neighborhood have gotten together to raise money for them.

Often fliers are placed in mailboxes calling for people to donate to the families of someone who just passed away.

It made me wonder - if these families need money, and we need to collect for them, why does it take a death for us to help? If they do not need [financial] help when alive, why do they suddenly need it after a death? And if they do need help from the community, why are we not helping them when they are still alive and only after death?

It must be a sign that mashiach is coming.

Just the other day up north a "premee" baby died, and when later being prepared for burial, came "back to life" (the baby had a pulse and was breathing). The baby died, again, shortly after.

Today, in another episode of the dead returning to life, rumors have it that Shlomo Dweck, the informant in the NJ money laundering/organ selling case, has announced he will be going to be menachem aveil his father who is sitting shiva for him.

This week a man named Avraham Gershkowitz passed away in Ramat Gan. He died at the ripe old age of 105 years old.

You know how whenever they find a real old person they ask him/her what the secret of their longevity is? You know how these old people always give answers like a glass of milk a day, or no smoking, or eating broccoli or no alcohol or boring stuff like that that make you unsure of whether it is actually worth living that long if you have to give up all those bad things?

You know what I'm talking about, right?

Well, they asked (before he died) Gershkowitz what the secret to his longevity is.

He did not say going to shul every day (as the study that recently came out suggests). He did not say a glass of milk or veggies or brussel sprouts (but those are veggies). He did not say to stay away from shady tattoo parlors with unsterilized needles, nor did he say to avoid hard liquors.

Fatty red meat. A glass of beer. The secret to a long life. He said eating fatty red meat and drinking beer was the secret to his long life. Someone who lives well, will live long.

Who woulda thunk it?

I saw this article (more or less) in the newspaper this morning on the way to work. The article I saw actually said the guy was suing, while the link says he is considering suing.

Anyway, the story goes that this guy in England was diagnosed with serious pancreatic cancer. It was decided that he was terminal and he was told he would not live out the year.

The guy decided to live his life as if every day would be his last, as he had good reason to believe it would be. He dipped into and spent all his savings, figuring he would not need them for much longer anyway. As he spent his last pennies, he realized he has already outlived expectations. Turns out he does not have cancer after all and the "tumor" was just an inflammation.

Oops. Sorry, sir. We misdiagnosed you. You will live after all.

What would you do? A sigh of relief would probably be in order. Maybe even a whoop of joy.

This guy, John, decided to sue the hospital if he cannot come to an agreement first.

Considering he spent all his money and has nothing to live with based on their error and misdiagnosis, he figures they should be responsible for the fact that he spent all his money, and they should cough up some dough.

He probably does not deserve anything. How he chooses to live out his days and spend his kids inheritance is his own problem. Maybe he should have been more responsible. Maybe look for treatment by other methods or other doctors. It is nothing new that doctors are sometimes wrong. Maybe he should have considered saving some just in case.

The doctors should settle with him and offer to kill him since that is what he was hoping for anyway... :-) He seems kind of upset and disappointed that he is going to live.

I have since seen this discussed by A Bisele Babka and DaBoysof905.