Questions tagged [health-safety-shmira]
NOTE: For professional medical advice, please contact your physician.
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Vaccinating and religious exemption [duplicate]
Unfortunately, there is a measles outbreak in some east coast cities where some parents refused to vaccinate their children claiming religious exemption.
Since the situation has been declared an ...
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2answers
116 views
If meat is proven carcinogenic - would it be permissible to eat meat?
Based on research by many parties, including the World Health Organization, it appears that some processed (and red) meats are (or may be) carcinogenic. For example, in this article on the WHO's ...
3
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1answer
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Would popping pimples be considered “etching” the flesh in the sense that it can sometimes leave scarring?
I was curious if there was a decision which relates to pimples specifically.
Pimple popping and skin care have become a major topic on many parts of the internet. You typically see people using ...
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1answer
61 views
Can you kill person A to protect yourself from B?
So it's really difficult to think of a practical example of this, but imagine there were some scenario in which, G-d forbid, you needed to kill a non-guilty party in self-defense. If one were in this ...
3
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1answer
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How did the Cohanim walk around the Mizbeach?
I'm finding it very difficult indeed to understand how the Cohanim walked around the Mizbeach on a ledge which was only one Amoh wide but was also six Amos above the floor... Seems to me that they'd ...
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Can someone confiscate something from someone else if he knows that person might endanger himself otherwise? [duplicate]
Let's say your close friend is a chronic alcoholic. He cannot control himself and when he drinks, he becomes violent and may harm himself or others in his way.
You're in his home, and he is now sober....
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2answers
127 views
Why are junk foods, which are poor for your health, certified kosher?
Why do rabbis allow hechsherim on junk food and other foods which are clearly bad for you health? Many products are clearly not good for you such as soda pop, baked goods with trans fats, food with ...
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2answers
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Releasing terrorists in exchange for remains of past victims
What would be a halachik justification for mediating a deal involving releasing terrorists, who may well murder more victims, in exchange for remains of past victims?
Related: Why is the head of the ...
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1answer
496 views
What level of danger is required for HaGomel?
The Gemara says that four have to say Hagomel:
One who went overseas
One who went into a desert.
One who was [deathly] ill.
One who was in prison [on a capital crime].
To what level of danger must ...
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Does one say this prayer for medical procedures on a procedure that gives guidance rather than help?
Shulchan Aruch (OC 230:4, as explained by Magen Avraham ibid. :6) paskens that when one undergoes a medical procedure he should say the following prayer:
יהי רצון מלפניך ה׳ אלקי שיהא עסק זה לי ...
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1answer
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Why do we refer to HaShem as a Rofei Chinam?
Shulchan Aruch (OC 230:4, as explained by Magen Avraham ibid. :6) paskens that when one undergoes a medical procedure he should say the following prayer:
יהי רצון מלפניך ה׳ אלקי שיהא עסק זה לי ...
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1answer
120 views
Air purifier with LED sensor on Shabbat
Would one be allowed to use an air purifier with an LED smell indicator sensor on Shabbat if bringing in odors near the purifier with outside food or other odorous things could or most surely would ...
4
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1answer
122 views
Non-Jews touching Jews For Medical Care in an Emergency [duplicate]
I come from a family of female nurses (Christian.) Would it be allowed for them to give aid or help to the Orthodox community in an emergency since hand shaking is not allowed - we would not want to ...
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0answers
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Health blessing
where does it say in Gemara (I remember it was in the gemara) that the main blessing we get from HaShem is health, because w/o it we can't enjoy the other blessings?
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1answer
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Looking for a kosher hot plate for Shabbos and Yom Tov
Does anyone know of a kosher hot plate that can be safely left on for the duration of Shabbos, Yom Tov, or a 3 day Shabbos and Yom Tov and will not become a fire hazard?
Every product should be and ...
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1answer
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What is the Hebrew pasuk for “your body is a temple”
What is the Hebrew pasuk for "your body is a temple"/your body is G-D's resting and is holy it needs to be nourished, etc.?
I am not sure exactly what the phrase is in English but I know its ...
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1answer
92 views
The only mitsva is to get better for person in severe psychiatric episode [closed]
Let's say that someone ch''v suffers from a severe psychiatric disorder, which can alter judgment and reality testing, e. g. Schizoaffective disorder (elements of schizophrenia and bi-polar disorder)...
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1answer
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How to deal with back pain [closed]
Part of the deal with leaning over sefarim for three sedarim necessarily results in painful shoulder knots or other forms of back pain. What do you all recommend for coping with such symptoms, or how ...
4
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1answer
108 views
Could vomit be meaty or milky?
Despite the probable prohibition of eating vomit (see this related question), would it take on the status of its prior-eaten state i.e. milky, meaty or non-kosher (for mixes of milky and meaty)?
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Masturbating to stop prostate cancer
In Judaism it is forbidden to masturbate (link).
This article brings two studies; one suggesting that masturbation can cause prostate cancer and another suggesting that it can help prevent it.
In ...
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1answer
100 views
Hemorrhoids on Shabbos
What are the Halachos about one with Hemorroids on Shabbos?
Is he allowed to use the bathroom/wipe, as this might cause him to bleed?
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1answer
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Priests and leprosy
According to Leviticus 13, priests were to examine potential cases of leprosy.
Wouldn't the process of examination put the priest in danger of contracting leprosy himself?
Did the priests take ...
3
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1answer
445 views
Hormonal manipulation: Taharas hamishpacha vs. the woman's health
I know* it is quite common among observant Jewish couples to use hormonal methods to prolong, shorten, and/or reschedule the woman's cycle to make taharas hamichpacha timing align better with ...
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1answer
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Must one use a separate grill for meat and fish?
As there is a prohibition of mixing meat with fish because of sakana ("danger"), I assume that if one has a small grill, one cannot grill meat and then grill fish (or vice versa) without cleaning the ...
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Is deer antler velvet kosher?
Is deer antler velvet kosher? I'm referring to this:
http://www.esupplements.com/products/dvx-pro-liquid/?mobile=1
Or this:
http://www.esupplements.com/products/deer-antler-velvet-pro/?mobile=1
I ...
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3answers
238 views
Are there any halachic issues involved with using jscreen?
jscreen.org is an organization that provides genetic testing for Jews to help potential spouses better know if their children might have the potential to develop different diseases.
The issue is that ...
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2answers
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Do sefardim need to get genetic testing?
Some ashkenazim carry genes that could lead their children to develop Tay-Sachs disease. For this reason many ashkenazim get genetic testing - I believe that this is dictated by halacha.
Do sephardim ...
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0answers
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Is there a bias against marijuana in the orthodox community?
Note: I'm not trying to promote marijuana. I strongly dislike marijuana and cigarettes and I would never use nor recommend either. I'm concerned about health and the awareness of the dangers of drugs.
...
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Can possibly “meaty” rice be used in sushi rolls?
I know that there is a prohibition to eat meat and fish together. But, I'm not sure if this prohibition applies to these two actual items or to other items that may have touched one of these two.
For ...
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2answers
110 views
What is the basis to allow heart transplatation?
If someone needs a heart transplantation, we first need to take off his old heart. At this very moment, the person is halakhically dead since he/she has no heart. A heart transplantation is therefore ...
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3answers
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Sources discussing losing weight
A big health problem today is not losing weight. Can we find a verse in the Torah or maybe a Rabbi in the Talmud talking about this problem?
They must have had weight problems back then.
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Being treated by a female doctor [duplicate]
Regarding the Issur of שומר נגיעה that prohibits the touching of a woman , would it be permitted for a young man to be treated by a female doctor in an office? Sources are appreciated .
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When one buys a car, does he have to buy the car with the most safety features?
Deuteronomy 4:15 (snip):
וְנִשְׁמַרְתֶּ֥ם מְאֹ֖ד לְנַפְשֹׁתֵיכֶ֑ם
"Watch your lives very much"
The commentary Ha'emek Davar, among others says that this verse teaches us that we are obligated to ...
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1answer
49 views
The Rambam on health
Does the Rambam talk about health in his Sefer , Mishnah Torah ? I'm thinking maybe he talks about it in Hilchos דעות.
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Does an open wound make one unfit to lay Tefillin?
In order to be fit to wear Tefillin one must have a guf naki, a clean body (Shulchan Arukh, Orach Chayyim 37:2) . Suppose one has an open wound or sore on one's skin and it is actively bleeding or ...
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1answer
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What does the Rambam mean by בשרו חם?
In Hilkhot De'ot 3:7 (3:2 in non-Yemenite versions) the Rambam writes:
For example, a person with warm constitution (בשרו חם) should not eat meat or
honey...
What exactly is meant by "warm ...
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0answers
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Are there any responsa that encourage or require maintaining health insurance?
Are there any responsa in the literature that either encourage or require people to maintain health insurance, perhaps as a fulfillment of the obligation to guard one's health, or in line with any ...
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Does baby toothpaste need a hashgacha?
According to Rav Yisrael Belsky (and based on the reasoning of Rav Yaakov Kaminetsky) toothpaste which contains non-kosher ingredients (such as animal-derived glycerin) is only kosher when the ...
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1answer
279 views
Is there a halacha that prohibits punching or slapping someone?
I assume there must be a law against causing a person very mild physical injury, but I don't know what it is.
1) If the injury may cause enduring harm--like punching someone with the risk of ...
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6answers
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Is it possible that Judaism would one day allow eating pork?
As far as I understand, pork was originally banned from consumption since it was hard to maintain a clean enviroment for pigs in a desert climate (as summarized in the Wikipedia).
Since nowadays ...
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3answers
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Are there any sources that prohibit childhood vaccinations?
The consequences of depressed childhood vaccination rates in some American communities, in the form of a building measles outbreak, have been in the news lately.
All public schools and most private ...
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0answers
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Sources about learning to defend oneself
Does the Torah require one to know how to defend one's self if attacked?
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1answer
351 views
Can I choose not to violate Shabbos for “pikuach nefesh”?
According to the Gemara (Yoma 85a-b) and Poskim (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 328, Rambam, Hilchot Shabbos 2 [English Rambam]), one is allowed to violate Shabbos in order to preserve his life. This is ...
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1answer
1k views
Can we violate Shabbos to inject a vaccine?
Vaccines save lives. I'm not here to argue about that, take it somewhere else. If you don't agree, for the purposes of this question just imagine I'm talking about some medicine that accomplishes ...
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1answer
124 views
Sources for the halachos of medical emergencies on Shabbos
As I've mentioned elsewhere, I'm currently preparing a chabura (presentation) on the laws of medical emergencies on Shabbos.
What sources discuss the halachos of medicine on Shabbos?
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1answer
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May we violate Shabbos to administer morphine?
Morphine has been widely used as a pain reliever for a very long time (according to Wikipedia, it's been in use at least since 1804!). It's even listed (twice!) on WHO's list of essential medicines. ...
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1answer
252 views
Could we drive an Ebola patient to quarantine on Shabbos?
I don't think anybody would argue that Ebola is a חולי שיש בו סכנה (an illness that involves danger to life)1, which means that we not only may but must violate Shabbos in order to provide care for an ...
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1answer
114 views
Does Beis Din have the authority to quarantine?
In light of the recent discussions about the legality of quarantining potential Ebola patients, I was wondering if Halacha has the mechanism for such a thing.
In an autonomous Jewish society, in ...
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1answer
489 views
Leaving cities during plagues
Over the Yomim Tovim I happened to skim through a copy of Rav Hirsh's sefer "Horeb". In one section he discussed a directive from Chazal to leave a city struck with plague. With Ebola having been ...
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1answer
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Tahara procedure for a body with an infectious disease
I've heard that one vector for the spread of Ebola is ceremonial contact that family members have with the body of their deceased relative. That led me to think about how Judaism deals with this issue....
