When Rabbi David-Seth Kirshner was told, twenty five years ago, that he needed to call home, he knew it was bad news, but what he didn’t expect was that later that day, his parents would answer the phone together so that they could tell him that his older brother, Gabriel, who was 36 years old at the time, had died by suicide. What he also didn’t know, because we never do, is that Gabriel’s devastating death would change their lives forever. 

In this interview, Rabbi Kirshner talks about how each member of his family reacted to Gabriel’s death, and how he, as a religious leader, engaged in advocacy so that he could personally open a constructive conversation about mental health and self-inflicted death. When he became the Rabbi of the Temple Emanu-El of Closter, in New Jersey, his opening sermon was about his brother’s suicide because he wanted his congregation to feel that they could come to him and talk about their struggles. 

He also opened up about the fact that, when Gabriel was a child, he had been sexually abused by a Rabbi, which impacted him immensely. Much to my surprise (and limited knowledge about Judaism), Rabbi Kirshner shared that Judaism has evolved from the all-or-nothing condemnation of suicide to a place of understanding.“Today, all the major streams of Judaism - not the extremes -, there is a sense of compassion, empathy, and understanding not only for the victims of suicide but for the survivors and family members,” he said. 

This has been quite an enlightening interview and it’s part of my efforts to bring religious and spiritual leaders to the podcast so that we can learn about these communities and the way they view suicide. 

If you want to support my work, buy me a coffee. This will help me keep bringing hope to those touched by suicide:  https://bit.ly/3whorPH

If you want to listen to Rabbi Kirshner or contact him, visit: http://rabbikirshner.com/ 

Watch this interview on my YouTube channel "Understand Suicide:” https://youtu.be/uIbME8UYBfk 

Donate to the podcast: https://bit.ly/3maL9RO   

Visit my page www.understandsuicide.com   

Find my book "Understanding suicide: living with loss, paths to prevention:” https://amzn.to/2ANczuR  

Exchange experiences on my Facebook page: https://bit.ly/3h8sIet 

If you need to talk, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on their website or phone: https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/ Phone: 800-273-8255