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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38 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 ...
1
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0answers
44 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 ...
8
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0answers
69 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 ...
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1answer
23 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 ...
3
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0answers
26 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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0answers
88 views
How would Jewish tradition view the Thai soccer coach?
Hot topic in the press these days is the question of a soccer coach who put his team in a life threatening situation but then put his own life in danger to save them (see https://www.usatoday.com/...
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1answer
56 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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vote
2answers
104 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
votes
1answer
49 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 ...
3
votes
1answer
121 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 ...
7
votes
2answers
202 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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vote
1answer
97 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 ...
3
votes
1answer
152 views
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
93 views
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 ...
3
votes
1answer
187 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 ...
6
votes
1answer
105 views
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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0answers
89 views
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 ...
4
votes
1answer
210 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 ...
6
votes
1answer
93 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 ...
4
votes
1answer
89 views
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 ...
8
votes
1answer
335 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 ...
4
votes
2answers
278 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 ...
9
votes
2answers
97 views
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 ...
3
votes
3answers
122 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 ...
4
votes
1answer
167 views
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 ...
2
votes
1answer
114 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 ...
3
votes
1answer
405 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 ...
6
votes
0answers
203 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 ...
0
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0answers
58 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 ...
5
votes
0answers
55 views
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 ...
6
votes
3answers
255 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 ...
2
votes
2answers
141 views
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 ...
4
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0answers
72 views
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 ...
1
vote
0answers
56 views
Is it permissible to travel to a 'dangerous' place, if so, what is the shiur?
There is a mitzvah to guard your soul diligently. I am pretty sure this is applied to guarding your physical body from injury.
My question is, may one travel to a place that others may consider ...
7
votes
1answer
483 views
Is sky-diving forbidden because of the risk to one's life?
Is sky-diving forbidden since it might be considered a risk to once life and is not a necessary activity (like e.g., driving a car would be)?
The Torah says (Dvarim 4:15) "guard your souls" and ...
5
votes
2answers
146 views
What should I do if I don't know whether I'm in a pikuach nefesh situation?
Suppose I find myself in a situation where I am not sure whether my life is sufficiently in danger to warrant halachot of pikuach nefesh to come into play. What should I do in this case? Am I supposed ...
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votes
2answers
164 views
Driving in a Blizzard after Shabbat Begins
Someone is driving and stuck in a blizzard on the highway when Shabbat begins. It would most likely be life threatening to leave the car on the side of the highway and walk in a blinding blizzard. It'...
4
votes
1answer
276 views
Is one allowed to carry a gun for self-defense if local secular law prohibits it?
There is a rule of Dina D'Malchuta Dina - the law of the land is valid, providing that it does not conflict directly with Torah laws.
There is a Torah law of Venishmartem lenafshotechem (Devarim 4:15)...
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0answers
137 views
Can a Jew tell a Gentile to fix his ambulance on Shabbat?
I Understand that a Jew is not allowed to ask a Gentile to do work for him specifically on Shabbat.
Thus, one cannot bring a car to the Gentile mechanic on Friday and tell him specifically, "Fix my ...
5
votes
1answer
113 views
Shaas hashmad and Arab terrorism
There is a halachik principle brought down in the Talmud and codified in halacha known as shaat hashmad - a time of forced religious persecution. Generally, the rule is that any commandment of the ...
1
vote
1answer
200 views
Can I donate blood on yom tov?
The next blood donation clinic at my university is on Rosh Hashana and not for particular recipients. Would donating blood be halachically sound?
I don't think I could anyway because of all the ...
8
votes
1answer
117 views
Performing a C-section in the Time of Chazal
The Mishna (Bekhorot 8:2) refers to two children born to the same mother, the first by C-section and the second by regular delivery. The Rambam famously comments that it seems exceedingly strange to ...
4
votes
2answers
331 views
Is an on-call doctor allowed to read non-emergency text messages on Shabbat?
My shul has a few doctors who carry their cell phones with them. When their phones buzz (B"H, they are smart enough to put the phones on vibrate mode while davening.) with a text message, they, of ...
5
votes
2answers
175 views
Halachic issues with using a frozen river as a mikvah
One hears a lot of legends about women who went to extraordinary lengths to go to mikvah in difficult times. One popular story is about a woman who would make a hole in a frozen river and tovel in the ...
2
votes
1answer
182 views
Marital relations if pregnancy is potentially life-threatening?
A while ago, I was poking around the Catholic section of Reddit, since I was curious about how the topic of birth control might be handled within it. In a comment to one post, someone stated that his ...
0
votes
1answer
160 views
Is there any obligation for a Jew to save a gentile's life?
Does "al taamod al dam rei'echa" refer to only Jews? Does anyone interpret it as meaning a gentile (who is not an idoloter)?
3
votes
1answer
218 views
Water left unopened
According to this article from the Kof-K one is obligated in covering water bottles, but we dont practice today as snakes are not common, but what if i lived in a desert like city, like Phoenix ...
3
votes
2answers
106 views
May one say a prayer while driving?
In the vein of this question How to say Tefilas HaDerech while on the road alone -- I am wondering whether it is appropriate to say a prayer or make a brocha while concurrently operating a car. ...
5
votes
2answers
995 views
Mosaic Law and ISIS
Recently I had a conversation about ISIS with a friend who is Catholic by faith, he said that ISIS should be stopped but that we (The US or any other foreign power) should not kill them, whereas I ...
4
votes
1answer
222 views
How to say Tefilas HaDerech while on the road alone
My question applies to circumstances in which one is driving an extended distance by oneself. They also apply primarily--though not exclusively--to people who do not have the Tefilos HaDerech ...
