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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Chayecha Kodmin for countries
Although I am loath to ask a Covid 19 related question, one particular current debate caught my attention.
Most readers are probably aware of the gemara in Bava Metzia 62a where we find the rule one ...
2
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1answer
108 views
If having a beard is potentially dangerous to life, should a Jew shave it off?
There are reports that men with beards may have problems using face masks effectively or getting hooked up to a ventilator correctly. Given the danger posed by the COVID-19 virus, should Jewish men ...
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Virtual minyan? [duplicate]
This question asked whether a virtual minyan, by webcam, say for a weekday service, is valid. The answer was that it was not.
However, under the current social distancing rules for reasons of pikuach ...
2
votes
1answer
93 views
Who can invoke pikuach nefesh?
In today's news (18 March 2020), the Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel ruled that Jews may use their cellphones on Shabbat to receive developments and alerts regarding the coronavirus.
This is an ...
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60 views
The Heinz Dilemma in Halacha [duplicate]
A famous Kohlberg dilemma goes something like this:
Heinz’s wife is dying and there’s a drug that may be able to save her. Jack cannot afford the drug.
Can Heinz steal the drug to treat his wife?
...
0
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1answer
120 views
Was Nazi sadism a case of “surrender your life if they're trying to stamp out religion”?
The Gemara Sanhedrin 74b reads:
נכרי דאמר ליה להאי ישראל קטול אספסתא בשבתא ושדי לחיותא ואי לא קטילנא לך ליקטיל ולא לקטליה שדי לנהרא ליקטליה ולא ליקטול מ"ט לעבורי מילתא קא בעי
If a non-Jew ...
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0answers
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What are the time parameters of “pikuach nefesh” on Shabbos?
This article says:
Any procedure which is necessary to perform for the patient, but it is clear that it does not at all need to be performed on Shabbat, should be delayed until after Shabbat.
How ...
5
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1answer
1k views
Making a pikuach nefesh phone call on Yom Kippur - mitsva or something to be avoided?
Outside of our synagogue on Yom Kippur, someone fainted and a doctor present decided to call an ambulance. At that time, there were multiple people present and one phone.
Should people have jumped to ...
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0answers
14 views
Is one allowed to endanger his life for learning Torah like Hillel did?
The famous story about Hillel's devotion to Torah learning, in Yoma 25b, tells that Hillel endangered his life by trying to listen to Shmayah and Avtalyon in extremely cold weather until he fell ...
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1answer
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Differential Pikuach Nefesh according to Shmayah and Avtalyon?
The famous story about Hillel's devotion to Torah learning in Yoma 25b tells that Hillel endangered his life by trying to listen to Shmayah and Avtalyon in extremely cold weather until he fell ...
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58 views
Can you attempt to rescue someone if you're outgunned?
Principle : Yehareg velo yaavor for murder - you can't kill a person to save your life.
Reason : We don't know whose life is more important ('whose blood is redder').
Implication: You can't kill ...
9
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1answer
2k views
Can one extinguish Shabbat candles after dark if you a worried about an animal knocking it over and causing a fire?
If one lit Shabbat candles before dark, had them burning during dinner, and now wants to go to bed, but is worried that a cat or a dog might knock them over and cause a house fire; is it permissible ...
4
votes
1answer
63 views
Custom to specifically have whiskey after fish because of danger
The Rema (YD 116:3) says to eat something and drink something between having fish and meat.
Many have the custom to specifically make a lechaim between fish and meat, meaning they have something ...
6
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1answer
200 views
Desecrating Shabbos to ask a Gadol to daven for a patient?
Can you desecrate Shabbos by sending a letter/leaving the Techum to ask a Gadol to daven for a patient whose life is in immediate danger?
6
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2answers
145 views
How much effort should be expended searching for the missing?
Say a Jewish person gets pulled out to sea while rescuing someone from drowning and goes missing, lost at sea. And then a search for him or his body by the Jewish community, supplementing official ...
2
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1answer
81 views
Pikuach Nefesh on Shabbos priorities: efficiency vs transgressions
When in a life-endangering situation on Shabbos,
what takes precedence - efficiency or amount of transgressions?
For example:
in Jerusalem, one can call an Arab taxi driver and wait for 5-10 min or ...
8
votes
2answers
298 views
Old fashioned telephone vs. Uber App on Shabbos
From Rabbi Moshe Heinemann:
Riding to the Hospital
A woman need not spend Shabbos/Yom Tov at a
location close to the hospital or arrive at the hospital before labor
starts to avoid riding on ...
2
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1answer
141 views
Saving a non-Jew from drowning
Some Boston-area yeshivah students recently saved a man from drowning who they didn't know was a Nazi supporter. In a comment on the story, someone claimed that the Halakhah (i.e. Jewish law) says to ...
4
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1answer
158 views
Stealing an idol-worshipper's only food to save yourself
In a desert where there is no water, can one take (steal) water from an idol worshipper causing him to very likely die, to be able to stay alive? I know the answer when one has no personal use for ...
4
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0answers
77 views
Is grinder biohacking permissible?
Grinder biohacking involves implanting DIY cybernetics or chemicals into one’s own body which ostensibly give one superhuman abilities. For example, some companies sell implantable NFC/RFID chips to ...
2
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0answers
60 views
May a E.R. responder or on-call cop be a Shat"z?
Is a shul allowed to ask an on-call cop or E.R. worker, etc. to be a shat"z (shaliach tzibbur) if there is a fairly high likelihood that may be asked to leave on an emergency in the middle of davening?...
2
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1answer
107 views
Does a child's life take precedence over a parent's life?
The Talmud in Bava Metzia 62a brings a scenario where if two people were traveling in the desert and one has a flask of water but there's only enough water for one of them to reach civilization alive: ...
6
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0answers
57 views
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 ...
5
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1answer
88 views
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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0answers
39 views
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 ...
4
votes
1answer
101 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 ...
2
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0answers
196 views
Is the base for bloodletting in the Talmud purely “scientific” or traditional?
Bloodletting (הקזת דם) was a commonplace medical procedure in the Mishnaic times (see Shabbos 129).
It is widely accepted that the ancient healers believed that:
"... many diseases were caused by ...
3
votes
2answers
655 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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1answer
62 views
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 ...
4
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3answers
258 views
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 ...
6
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1answer
146 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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3answers
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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 ...
6
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2answers
169 views
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 ...
10
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3answers
165 views
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
91 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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2answers
357 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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0answers
81 views
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 ...
15
votes
1answer
260 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
142 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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0answers
49 views
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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0answers
57 views
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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0answers
130 views
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 ...
2
votes
1answer
53 views
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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0answers
35 views
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
75 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
171 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 ...
3
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1answer
71 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 ...
4
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1answer
168 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 for ...
7
votes
2answers
250 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 ...
1
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1answer
110 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 ...
