In the news report that I saw, a reporter went around telling people about the availability of this new blood test and asking them: Would you take it? Would you want to know how much longer you have to live? What would you do (differently) if you knew when you were going to die? There were some interesting answers to the last questions, but what was even more interesting was this: no of those questioned wanted to take the test and to know how much longer they would live.
I have asked myself these questions many times. There is a famous midrash about the way in which the dor hamidbar died: Every year, on Erev Tisha B'Av, all the men would dig graves for themselves and lie down in them. In the morning, those who were supposed to die that year had died. Everyone else got up and knew that they would live for at least another year. Since the onesh was on those between the ages of 20 and 60, you knew that as you approached 60, you were going to die soon.
So I have pondered, is that kind of definite foreknowledge a good thing or a horrible thing? On the "good" side, if I know exactly how long I have to live, then I can make sure to both compose my "bucket list" of what I want to do before I die and take the time to do what I have set out for myself. I won't have to worry about dying on any random day because I know when I will die. On the other hand, all fantasies of immortality (and don't we all have them?) will be robbed from me, and I will have no escape from the relentlessly ticking time-clock that is my life. What would be the point of living if I know exactly when I am going to die? It is a terrifying thought.
So what would you do? Would you choose to know when you are going to die? And if you did know, what would you do with the time that you had left?
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