A landmark letter on MAID, approved recently by Toronto's main Orthodox rabbinical council—also called the Vaad HaRabbanim—is sounding the alarm about what the group notes is the increasing prevalence of medically assisted death making "inroads" into the local Jewish community. Citing the figure of 5,000 patients in Ontario in 2023 who the council describes as being "euthanized by medical practitioners", the leading Orthodox rabbis said they need to take steps to "curb this disturbing trend": going forward, they will not officiate at the funerals of MAID patients and will refuse to permit MAID patients to be buried in plots in their synagogues' cemetery sections.
The letter was adopted a while ago, but had not been made public. The CJN received a copy of it in the summer of 2026. On August 28, one of the Vaad's presidents, Rabbi Yacov Felder, sent the MAID statement out in an email blast to his own congregation, Shomrai Shabbos Chevrah Mishnayos.
On today's episode of The CJN's North Star podcast, host Ellin Bessner unpacks the Vaad HaRabbanim's MAID policy on funeral rites. She hears their wider concerns about the proliferation of MAID over the past decade and discusses the reaction to the statement coming from other rabbinical leaders, starting with Rabbi Jennifer Gorman, the current president of the Toronto Board of Rabbis.
Gorman's group of 56 rabbis has now issued its own new statement in response to what she called the Vaad's "surprising" and "harsh" approach to Jews and their families, whom her board feels are entitled to be treated with compassion—even though their statement does not endorse medically assisted death.
We also hear from Montreal Orthodox leader Rabbi Reuben Poupko, who explains why – despite his own strong opposition to MAID – he believes the Toronto Vaad’s approach stigmatizes people who choose MAiD and penalizes their families.
Related links:
Read our full-length print feature on this controversial Vaad HaRabbanim of Toronto statement on MAID burials, in The CJN .
Listen to Rabbi Louis Sachs, now of Beth Sholom Congregation in Toronto, and Dr. Karen Devon, a surgeon at Women's College Hospital, discuss Jewish approaches to MAID and whether Ottawa should expand it for mental illness, on The CJN’s North Starfrom 2024 .
Read more about how Jewish nursing homes are or are not permitting residents to undergo MAID, which has led to a court case in Vancouver, in The CJN from 2020.
Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Izzie Helenchilde (producer and video editor),l Michael Fraiman (executive producer), Alicia Richler (editorial director)
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