For the last six years of her life, my mother was incapacitated, lying in bed on a feeding tube in a quiet corner of a nursing home. Beyond her room, a battle raged.

As infections and issues cropped up, the doctors begged us to not pursue aggressive treatments. They said she was already a sick woman and she needed to go. We, however, are Orthodox Jews. Based on consulting with our rabbi, we generally pushed for the same treatment that would be given to any other patient, and the fight went on.

Such an experience changes your mindset. Here is how it improved mine.

Read More:The Comfort of Halacha: What I Learned from my Mother’s Last Years