Suicide In Light of Chana (of seven sons fame)

Chana is one of the figures associated with Channukah. I’m sure just about all of you know the story, but for the few that might not, I’ll summarize.

A woman named Chana was brought before the local Greek administrator of Eretz Yisroel. Her oldest son was told to bow down to the local idol. His refusal earned him his execution. The second son likewise refused and was also executed. Each son in turn was given the chance to worship idolatry, refused and died.

After the last son died, Chana, grief-stricken went up to the roof of a building and told HKBH* that whereas Avraham was willing to sacrifice only one son, she gave seven. She then threw herself off the roof of the building, killing herself.

It’s possible to postulate that seeing her sons executed drove her mad. I can’t imagine that I’d be in any proper frame of mind if, God forbid, the same thing happened to me. In fact, I’d be surprised if any person could think completely rationally after experiencing what she experienced.

That aside, however, what if she was rational? There’s no explicit passage that indicates that she did, in fact, lose her mind. What if she did know what she was doing? There is (to my knowledge) no indication anywhere that Chana is criticized for her act of suicide. On the contrary, she is often held up as an example to emulate (in her raising her children with the proper values — not in her suicide, of course).

Assuming her actions to be rational(and I grant that it’s only for the sake of argument), how can she be held up as a positive role model when suicides are condemned so harshly?

The Wolf

* In some versions, she told her youngest son before his execution to relay this to Avraham when he got to heaven.

EDITED