Stop Assisted Suicide S138 in NY Senate

 בס"ד

May 5, '25/  Achrei-Mos Kedoshim 5785

"Lo Sa'amod All Dam Rei'echa" (Kedoshim 19:16)

¶¶¶ Urgent Public Alert: ¶¶¶

Re: Stop Assisted Suicide S138 in NY Senate, ASAP

To All New Yorkers, and anyone else in contact with them:

Rav Shamshon R. Hirsch (d. 1888 CE) ZY"A taught us: The Truth never lost due to its opposition. The only times Truth has lost beyond recall were when its' advocates failed to properly articulate it and fight for it (see Collected Writings, vol.6, p.104).] One relevant example is lethal "Assisted Suicide" legislation, which preventably passed in NJ about seven years ago - by one single vote in each house of the Legislature.

Serving as a Shelucha DeRabbonon on this for many years, I ask you to publicize that in the wake of passage of Assisted Suicide by the NY  Assembly last week 81-67, we must unrelentingly fight it in the State Senate, where we have a fighting chance. This bill, S138, would enable doctors to give poison to "terminally" ill people who allegedly want to kill themselves.  This is state-sanctioned shefichus domim - downright murder. It would also invariably result in many others being killed as well 

Therefore, in line with the repeatedly published Psak (Rabbinical statement) against all forms of Assisted Suicide legislation (attached, and available on request - text 845-642-1679), which has been signed by a broad range of Gedolei Rabbonim, every voting-age New Yorker is urged to tell their own State Senator the following:

"Assisted Suicide is Assisted Murder, and that's what the legislators are supporting by allowing S138 to pass. Please vote and lobby against this barbaric bill."

For anyone who's senator is considering voting for this bill, please add:

"IF you would vote for this deadly bill, we will vote against you, even if you direct taxpayer money to our community organizations."

If you don't know who your legislators are, just call the NY Senate Switchboard: 518-455-2800, 9am-5pm.

Secondly, please urge all Democratic state senators not yet sponsoring this bill to oppose it (for a list, see below, or email TorahJewsForDecency@gmail.com) - since passage of this bill would ultimately result in the killing of many people who never wanted to die, including those incapable of making such decisions. 

Thirdly, urge all Republican state senators you can to actively expose the deceptive deadliness of this bill -- even according to the standards of those who support helping kill people who truly wish to kill themselves.

Do not be sidetracked by claims of various (flimsy) protections in the bill. All of them can be removed quietly within a few years. In fact, their presence in the bill actually makes it easier to pass it, R"L.

Now is the time to act decisively. The Orthodox Union, Agudath Israel, and Rabbinical Alliance of America all came out against this bill. All Orthodox leaders, advocates, and politicians need remember:

"יש קונה עולמו בשעה אחת"

עבודה זרה י"ז  --

Good Shabbos,

Rabbi Noson Shmuel Leiter,

Executive Director,

Help Rescue Our Children

845.642.1679

Direct: 771.215.8892

Israeli Helpline: 03.721.3337

torahjewsfordecency@gmail.com

Tomim Tih'yeh [countering "New-Age" infiltration]: 

Tomim1679@gmail.com

Presentations on New-Age dangers: 605-313-6831 ext. 2

Heard weekly on New Jersey's WSNR Radio 620AM, co-hosting the renowned Levin At Eleven program, every Thursday evening, 11pm to midnight (ET).

~~~~~~

These are the 15 Democratic NY senators who (so far) have NOT co-sponsored s138:

Monica Martinez (Dist. 4)

martinez@nysenate.gov

518-455-2765

Siela A. Bynoe (Dist. 6)

Bynoe@nysenate.gov

(518) 455-3260

Toby Ann Stavisky (Dist. 11)

stavisky@nysenate.gov

(518) 455-3461

Joseph P. Addabbo Jr. (Dist. 15)

addabbo@nysenate.gov

(518) 455-2322

John C. Liu (Dist. 16)

liu@nysenate.gov

518-455-2210

Roxanne J. Persaud (Dist. 19)

Persaud@nysenate.gov

518-455-2788

Kevin S. Parker (Dist. 21)

parker@nysenate.gov

(518) 455-2580

Andrew Gounardes (Dist. 26)

gounardes@nysenate.gov

(518) 455-3270

Brian Kavanagh (Dist. 27)

kavanagh@nysenate.gov

518-455-2625

Cordelle Cleare (Dist. 30)

cleare@nysenate.gov

518-455-2441

Andrea Stewart-Cousins (Dist. 35)

scousins@nysenate.gov

(518) 455-2585; (518) 455-2715

Jamaal Bailey (Dist. 36)

senatorjbailey@nysenate.gov

518-455-2061

Shelley Mayer (Dist. 37)

smayer@nysenate.gov

518-455-2031

Patricia Fahy (Dist. 46)

Fahy@nysenate.gov

(518) 455-2225

April Baskin (Dist. 63)

Baskin@nysenate.gov

(518) 455-2426

=====================

For those so inclined, here's a list of all of the email addresses for the NY State Senate:

addabbo@nysenate.gov

ashby@nysenate.gov

bailey@nysenate.gov

borrello@nysenate.gov

brisport@nysenate.gov

brouk@nysenate.gov

bynoe@nysenate.gov

canzoneri@nysenate.gov

chan@nysenate.gov

cleare@nysenate.gov

comrie@nysenate.gov

cooney@nysenate.gov

fahy@nysenate.gov

fernandez@nysenate.gov

gallivan@nysenate.gov

gianaris@nysenate.gov

gonzalez@nysenate.gov

gounardes@nysenate.gov

griffo@nysenate.gov

harckham@nysenate.gov

helming@nysenate.gov

hinchey@nysenate.gov

hoylman@nysenate.gov

jackson@nysenate.gov

kavanagh@nysenate.gov

lkrueger@nysenate.gov

lanza@nysenate.gov

liu@nysenate.gov

baskin@nysenate.gov

martinez@nysenate.gov

martins@nysenate.gov

mattera@nysenate.gov

may@nysenate.gov

smayer@nysenate.gov

murray@nysenate.gov

myrie@nysenate.gov

oberacker@nysenate.gov

omara@nysenate.gov

ortt@nysenate.gov

palumbo@nysenate.gov

parker@nysenate.gov

persaud@nysenate.gov

ramos@nysenate.gov

rhoads@nysenate.gov

grivera@nysenate.gov

rolison@nysenate.gov

chrisryan@nysenate.gov

ryan@nysenate.gov

salazar@nysenate.gov

sanders@nysenate.gov

spanton@nysenate.gov

sepulveda@nysenate.gov

serrano@nysenate.gov

skoufis@nysenate.gov

stavisky@nysenate.gov

stec@nysenate.gov

scousins@nysenate.gov

tedisco@nysenate.gov

District22@nysenate.gov

walczyk@nysenate.gov

leawebb@nysenate.gov

weber@nysenate.gov

weik@nysenate.gov

### end ###

Americans used to be steadfast in their support for Israel. Those days are gone

 https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cr4n90g6v9qo

But opinion polls suggest support for Israel among the American public is dwindling.

A Gallup survey taken in March this year found only 46% of Americans expressed support for Israel (the lowest level in 25 years of Gallup's annual tracking) while 33% now said they sympathised with the Palestinians - the highest ever reading of that measure. Other polls have found similar results.

Surveys - with all their limitations - suggest the swing is largely among Democrats and the young, although not exclusively. Between 2022 and 2025, the Pew Research Center found that the proportion of Republicans who said they had unfavourable views of Israel rose from 27% to 37% (younger Republicans, aged under 49, drove most of that change).

Sinas Chinom II - Netziv

Netziv (Introduction to Bereishis): Bereishis was called Sefer HaYoshor (the Book of the Upright) by the prophets. This is because it is about the Avos—Avraham, Yitzchok and Yaakov who were called Upright by Bilaam. We need to understand why he singled them out by the title Upright instead of other descriptions such as tzadik or chasid? Furthermore, why is Bereishis singled out with this description of Upright? Another question is why Bilaam asked that his end should be like those who have such a description? The praise of Uprightness is to reinforce G-d’s judgment in destroying the Second Temple which as a generation of tzadikim and chassidim and those devoted to learning Torah—however they were not Upright in the mundane world. Therefore, because of the baseless hatred in their hearts to each other they suspected that whomever they saw who did not conduct himself according to their opinion in Yiras Shamayim—that he must be a heretic. Consequently, this led to much killing and all the evils in the world until the Temple was destroyed. Thus, there was an acknowledgement of the Uprightness of G-d’s judgment in that He would not tolerate tzadikim like these. Rather he wanted tzadikim who were upright in the world. Because even if the non-upright tzadikim were motivated by religious consideration—such conduct destroys the world. Therefore, this was the praise of the Avos that besides being tzadikim and chassidim and lovers of G-d to the ultimate degree they were also upright. That means that they conducted themselves in relation to the peoples of the world—even the debased idol worshippers with love and were concerned about their welfare in regards to the preservation of Creation. This we see in the pleading of Avraham for the people of Sedom—even though he had total hatred for them because of their wickedness—nevertheless he wanted them to live

Netziv (Devarim 32:5): It is known that the destruction of the First Temple was because of idolatry, sexual immorality and murder which angered G‑d. The destruction of the Second Temple was because of sinas chinom. We have explained in Bamidbar (35:34) that they were involved in the study of Torah and serving G‑d nevertheless most of the killing was done for the sake of G‑d. In other words they would label as a Sadducee (heretic) anyone who transgressed any of the commandments. They would then have them punished as a heretic and thus their conduct was very destructive – even though they thought they were motivated by concern for the honor of heaven. … Thus the problem of the Second Temple was that ostensibly good deeds were now mixed with bad motivation. Thus it was hard to separate the good from the bad since the bad was done for the sake of heaven.

It’s not too late to save the U.S. economy

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/05/05/trump-tariff-trade-china-economy/

President Donald Trump probably said it best last week as the stock market swooned when the government reported a surprising economic contraction in the first quarter: “This is Biden’s Stock Market.” By Friday, it had jumped back, recovering the ground it had lost after Trump pummeled the world with tariffs on “Liberation Day,” April 2. The S&P 500 is now down only 5.2 percent since Trump’s inauguration and 1.7 percent since Election Day last November.

This is largely because the economy is still pretty much President Joe Biden’s, driven by the same dynamics underlying the growth that came during the second half of his administration, as the Federal Reserve steered the economy toward a soft landing from a bout of high inflation in 2022. In April, Trump’s economic actions sent stocks, Treasurys and the dollar into a tailspin, but because he then suspended most of his tariffs for 90 days, the trouble died down. As a result, Trump’s effect on the economy has not actually shown up yet.

Republicans grow antsy after Trump comments on tariffs, recession

 https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5284295-trump-tariffs-recession-republicans/

Senate Republicans on Monday grew increasingly nervous after President Trump’s comments over the weekend that some of his tariffs could be permanent and that things would be “OK” even if the U.S. experienced a short-term recession.

Republicans have been on edge for weeks as the Trump administration’s hemming and hawing on tariffs have created instability in the market and questions about the White House’s handling of the economy.

Pete Hegseth Had at Least 12 Signal Chats for Pentagon Business

 https://www.newsweek.com/pete-hegseth-had-least-12-signal-chats-pentagon-business-report-2068301

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth discussed Pentagon business on at least 12 separate Signal app chats, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday, citing people familiar with his management practices.

Israel, US joint counterstriking Houthis in Yemen following Ben-Gurion Airport hit

 https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-852751

The air force undertook a joint counterstrike of the Houthis in Yemen along with the US on Monday night following the ballistic missile strike near Ben-Gurion Airport on Sunday.

During the strike, about 20 fighter jets were part of the attack, during which 50 munitions were dropped on Houthi targets in total.

This is the sixth Israeli airstrike on the Houthis since July 2024, following over 400 attacks by the Iranian proxy on Israel over the course of the war.

Triage One patient can only live short time is he ignored for one who might be cured

Igros Moshe (Choshen Mishpat II #73.2) Question: There are two patients  but only one can be treated One can only be helped to extend his life for a short time or only remove the pain and rquires emergency services for that. The second can be cured but it is not clear that he needs emergency services in the hospital There is only a single bed in the emergency room. Which one gets treated? What happens if one gets to the hospital first but treatment hasn’t started? 

Aging, Slurring Trump ‘Lives in Fear’ of Dad’s Dementia

 https://www.thedailybeast.com/msnbc-aging-slurring-trump-lives-in-fear-of-dads-dementia/

However, the 78-year-old’s vitality has visibly waned and he is acutely aware of his mortality, the panelist added. “As I was watching that clip, you know, one of the things that really struck me is, Donald Trump has aged,” he said.

“He lives in fear of going down the path his father went down, which was dementia, followed by Alzheimer’s, into his 90s. And I think he’s carried that burden forever,” the journalist added.

Fred Trump, a real estate developer, died of both pneumonia and Alzheimer’s disease at age 93 in 1999. This was eight years after his first formal diagnosis of dementia.

Trump junior reportedly avoids talking about the touchy subject, partly because he bashed his predecessor Joe Biden for allegedly being cognitively impaired, but also because he fears this could be his fate too, O’Brien said.

Trump wants the credit, but not the blame, for US economy

 https://www.politico.com/news/2025/05/04/trump-wants-the-credit-but-not-the-blame-for-the-u-s-economy-00325501

“I think the good parts are the Trump economy and the bad parts are the Biden economy because he’s done a terrible job,” Trump told host Kristen Welker in an interview that was to air Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “He did a terrible job on everything, from his autopen — which I’m sure he knew nothing about, some of the things he was supposedly signing.”

“But I’ve only just been here for a little more than three months. But the stock market, look at what’s happened in the last short period of time. Didn’t it have nine or 10 days in a row, or 11 days, where it’s gone up? And the tariffs have just started kicking in. And we’re doing really well. Psychologically, I mean, the fake news was giving me such press on the tariffs. The tariffs are going to make us rich. We’re going to be a very rich country.”

But despite the president’s insistence that his policies will work in the long run, Americans aren’t exactly giving him high marks. He boasts just a 39 percent approval rating for handling the economy, according to a CNN poll released early last week.

Does Donald Trump Run the World? Experts Weigh In

 https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-run-world-foreign-policy-2067446

"Nobody 'runs the world' and anyone who thinks he does is a dangerous idiot," Professor Andrew Bacevich, who co-founded the Quincy Institute, a Washington-based think tank which advocates for less interventionist U.S. foreign policy, said.

"The notion that the U.S. 'runs the world' may find favor in Washington but it's nonsense," he told Newsweek. "Worse, it's nonsense that causes all sorts of mischief. For evidence, we need look no further than the Vietnam War."

Praying that a patient die.

Igros Moshe (Choshen Mishpat II #74.4) Question Praying that someone die.  Answer The Ran based on the gemora about Rav Chanina Ben Dosa says one can pray that someone die or at least withold prayer. He is referring to people on a very high level whose prayers are readily accepted. However this is only about prayer. No action is permitted which shortens life even if done for the good of the patient and in fact is murder which is punished by death just as a murder done from hatred or anger