Questions tagged [pikuachnefesh-danger-life]
Situations in which a life is threatened; most (though not all), Jewish laws are suspended in order to save a life.
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What determines whether things which are forbidden because of a danger are still prohibited once we know there's no danger?
There are certain things which are prohibited because of danger, many of which are listed here. A good number of them are confirmed by modern science to not cause any (physical) harm (ex. meat and ...
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1answer
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How the 72 hours straight fast was possibly allowed?
We know that the danger of fasting two consecutive days is the reason Yom Kippur (and all other fasts) is not celebrated two days outside Israel.
And still Ester commanded on the 3-day fast (Ester 4,...
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If Mordechai knew he would endanger the whole nation would he bow to Haman?
If I understand the plot correctly, the story of Haman's hatred to Mordechai and the whole Jewish people started with Mordechai disobeying the king's laws.
First, did Mordechai (as a prophet) know he ...
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79 views
If a Jew was in a dire situation and had to eat the flesh of a pig, would they be required to kill the pig through Shechita?
This question is with regards to the limits of Pikuach Nefesh in a life or death scenario.
Jewish law states that we have the ability to break the rules during situations where lives are in the ...
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Bloodletting - purely “scientific” or some tradition?
Bloodletting (הקזת דם) was a very commonplace medical procedure in the Mishnaic times (see Shabbos 129).
It is widely accepted that the ancient healers believed that:
"... many diseases were ...
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2answers
628 views
Why is one not obligated to give up his life rather than violate Lashon Hara?
The Gemara in Erchin 15b compares Lashon Hara to the Big Three:
תנא דבי רבי ישמעאל כל המספר לשון הרע מגדיל עונות כנגד שלש עבירות עבודת כוכבים וגילוי עריות ושפיכות דמים כתיב הכא לשון מדברת גדולות ...
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kill him or I kill both of you
in the talmud Sanhedrin 74a it says that if someone is told: "kill him or I will kill you", then one is not allowed to kill him and must die rather than transgress the prohibition of murder.
But what ...
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What's worse: eating a cheeseburger or eating pork?
Both eating a non-kosher cheeseburger and pork are assur, but suppose one is stuck on a desert island and has only these two options (the bun has already been eaten).
What should one do? Is eating ...
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1answer
108 views
Birkas Hamitzvah on food which is normally assur, but allowed due to pikuach nefesh
From Making a bracha on food which is normally assur, but allowed due to pikuach nefesh, if you eat normally forbidden foods because of pikuach nefesh, you make a bracha on them.
Does the same apply ...
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Can the 10 commandments be violated to save a life?
According to a book I'm reading (Judaism: Everything You Need to Know About: Jewish Religion) and various other Jews I have talked to say, you can violate the 10 commandments to save a life.
Is this ...
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Moshe and filicide
In Exodus 2:3, baby Moses's mother, unable to further hide him from the authorities, puts him in a box in or near the river. An abandoned baby will soon die. How could / why did she trade in the ...
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Pikuach nefesh vs. muktzeh on Shabbat
I am reading the memoirs of a rabbi, who spent roughly 10 years in the United states in the '50s and the '60s. He claims that after the Kennedy assassination the atmosphere was so strained that he was ...
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1answer
79 views
Is it permissible to violate Shabbos to prevent one from becoming homeless?
I have heard many times that the concept of the "hashkama minyan" in America began because frum people went to work on Shabbos in order to not be fired and feed their families, and wanted to daven ...
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179 views
When can trade secrets be disclosed?
Does this story in the Talmud imply that Jewish law says it's OK to disclose trade secrets if it can be argued that it saves lives?
Rabbi Yochanan was sick with scurvy, and he went to a certain non-...
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Getting a shot on Shabbat to prepare one to save a life after Shabbat
Related
Can we violate Shabbos to inject a vaccine?
This is not a current situation, but reflects a real set of circumstances that does actually happen.
Assuming (as the linked question does) that ...
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1answer
218 views
Is an accidental murderer allowed to stand and fight the Goel HaDam?
As we know, during times when the Sanhedrin is fully operating, an accidental murderer must flee to an Ir Miklat (City of Refuge). If he leaves such a city or does not enter, he is subject to revenge ...
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1answer
129 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 ...
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Can a Beit -Din force a Jew to save another Jew's life?
A Jew that's terminally ill R"l, and the only treatment is thru a bone marrow transplant. He has a very special type of blood (this is not a biological question).
So theoretically and Halachicly (if ...
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Setting the bar for life threatening situations (VeNishmartem)?
The Halachah says (Rambam Rotzeach-uShmirat-Nefesh 11,5, read on to ch.13, interestingly haMechaber omitted those Halochos):
"הרבה דברים אסרו חכמים מפני שיש בהם סכנת נפשות.:"
"Our Sages ...
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Who is pulled to safety first?
If a group of people are in mortal danger, all of the same gender (cf. Horayot 13a; some suggest that the Mishnah on Horayot is not discussing a case of rescuing from physical danger, cf. Tziz Eliezer ...
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1answer
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Is one allowed to save someone with psychological disorders on Shabbos? [duplicate]
The Halacha is well-known: in general, one violates Torah prohibitions in order to save a life. I will specifically focus on Shabbos in this question, but the question can probably be extended if I ...
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Source for preferring doing melacha which benefits sick person exclusively
I recently heard the following halacha from a talmid Chacham. He said "I remember that this is the halacha, but I do not remember the source".
If one has to do a melacha on shabbos for a choleh ...
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1answer
65 views
Question regarding medical technicians and driving on Shabbos
If an ambulance arrived at a hospital on Shabbos with a Jewish 2 man crew, and the second (non driving) medical technician does not have a driver's license, and there is another (non-medical) person ...
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2answers
123 views
Is stealing food OK?
If you or your loved ones are starving, are you allowed to steal food from those who have more than they need? On the face of it, yes, of course: Pikuach nefesh says you can break any commandment to ...
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1answer
56 views
Does Yehareg v’al Yaavor apply to lo sa’amod?
The Gemara (Sanhedrin 74a) derives that one must give up his life rather than murder someone else because “who says that your blood is redder than his?” That is, who said you have more of a right to ...
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1answer
151 views
Is one obligated in a promise to do an issur made pekuach nefesh?
Chaim has an exotic disease for which the only possible cure is an experimental drug.
The drug company will permit him to enter the study as long as he agrees that if he dies, he releases his body ...
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2answers
225 views
Can commandments be transgressed to prevent future illnesses?
My question is whether or not a commandment can be broken in cases that could prevent an illness (e.g if it was certain that eating pig could prevent a certain type of cancer, consuming freshly ...
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1answer
105 views
Is there a prohibition on eating meat and poultry together?
Although I knew about the prohibition of eating fish and meat together, and also about the quite serious restrictions in my community on eating dairy and fish together, I had never heard that we are ...
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1answer
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Is v'chai bahem a mitzvah?
The passuk says one should "do the mitzvos to live by them" (Vayikra 18:5), from which the Gemara (Sanhedrin 74a) learns that one, in general, must violate the mitzvos rather than die.
Is this a ...
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1answer
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Whose life comes first? Apparently contradictory Rabbinical statements
There seem to be two contradictory statements of the Rabbis.
One is: Sanhedrin 74a
מי יימר דדמא דידך סומק טפי דילמא דמא דההוא גברא סומק טפי
who knows whether your blood is redder than his ...
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1answer
218 views
Back to orthodoxy, can't stop violating a commandment for the sake of someone's life [closed]
There was this mathematician Kurt Goedel who died of starvation because he ate nothing but food prepared by his wife who was hospitalised for a long period. This is a fact. There are people who die ...
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1answer
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Why כאשר אבדתי?
On the verse of Megilas Esther (4:16)
אשר לא כדת וכאשר אבדתי אבדתי
the Talmud (Meg 15a) says that Esther said, she was going to "violate the Law, because now she was going to intentionally" having ...
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Fast days for a person with an eating disorder
Does anyone know of a posek who has written about people with eating disorders (I know there are many types of eating disorders) or people who have recovered from an eating disorder regarding whether ...
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1answer
293 views
Why isn't walking through a metal detector allowed on Shabbat because of pikuach nefesh?
I saw a few weeks ago that there are no security checks at the Kotel for religiously dressed Jews on Shabbat. This is to avoid having to walk through a metal detector, apparently.
My question is, why ...
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1answer
102 views
Pekuach nefesh and punishment
The Sanhedrin is in place.
There is a plague going round and only one doctor has the skills to cure it. Unfortunately, this doctor is a wanton desecrator of Shabbos and has violated it in the ...
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1answer
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May one change a dying battery on a defibrilator on Shabbat?
A shul keeps a defibrilator in a closet. While passing the closet on Shabbat, someone hears the machine beeping. He opens the closet, and sees a warning light saying "low battery".
The shul has many ...
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1answer
380 views
Permission to Drive on Shabbat for the President's Daughter
A few news sources have been reporting on Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner's having been granted rabbinic permission to drive on Shabbat after Ivanka's father's inauguration as president. (See, for ...
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2answers
323 views
Stealing cigarettes
Say that Reuven smokes. Shimon knows that smoking causes lung cancer, and has tried everything he can think of to help Reuven stop. For that matter, he's gotten the other ten Shevatim, the Avos, and ...
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2answers
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Did the Jewish soldiers fast before war?
The Mishna Berura in תרפו, ב talks about how in the days of Mordechai and Esther the Jews must have fasted because it was a time when they needed mercy just like when the Jews went to war against ...
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3answers
130 views
spiritual danger or physical danger?
Around the time of the Holocaust many people in Eastern Europe decided it was better to stay in Europe despite the grave physical dangers (sakana nefashot) rather than leave to America due to the ...
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3answers
588 views
What's a better choice: Treif meat or human flesh?
If one is stuck on a deserted island with no kosher food and he has a choice between eating human flesh of a dead person or the flesh of a non-kosher animal, which is preferable to eat?
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1answer
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Killing a Rodef and collateral damage and suicide
Similar but an extension of Killing Civilians in a defensive war
On September 11, 2001, there was a military pilot in an unarmed military jet who considered flying into one of the hijacked planes in ...
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1answer
119 views
Settling in the dangerous areas in the West Bank
Why is it permissible (or is it permissible) to live in communities in the West Bank that are situated in very dangerous areas even if it constitutes a danger to your own life and the life of your ...
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1answer
459 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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231 views
May one ride in a utilitarian car?
A new study has confirmed the obvious: people want to survive:
even though participants approve of autonomous vehicles that might sacrifice passengers to save others, respondents would prefer not ...
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64 views
political assasination and rodefs
The classic example of a roded is a murder chasing you with a knife but sometime politicians can threaten life with bad policy.
E.g. Governor of Michigan Wants to use Flint River
Eg politician wants ...
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Judaism and 'Hospice Limited' Care
Let me preface this by saying that I am sure there are many cases in which hospice is likely the best/only place for a person nearing the end of their life-- the only place where their intense medical ...
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3answers
310 views
Acceptable to receive transplant of organs grown inside pigs?
If scientists could grow human organs inside of pigs, would it be halachically acceptable to receive a transplant of such an organ?
A recent article in National Public Radio about US and British ...
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2answers
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Giving away olam haba to save someone's life
In the book about Reb Aryeh Levin, "A Tzaddik In Our Time," (by Simcha Raz), Reb Aryeh says that he learned a lesson about self-sacrifice (messirut nefesh) from 2 students of the Vilna Gaon who were ...
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1answer
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Does a dead man walking get saved on Shobbos?
There's a man who's חייב מיתה by the kingdom. He's in jail waiting to be executed when he slips and falls and bashes his head on Shobbos.
There a guards that could save him.
Do the guards have to ...
