{"id":10292,"date":"2014-05-08T00:03:20","date_gmt":"2014-05-07T21:03:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/?p=10292"},"modified":"2020-09-15T12:32:16","modified_gmt":"2020-09-15T09:32:16","slug":"15-08-03","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/15-08-03\/","title":{"rendered":"03. Someone Sick with a Life-Threatening Illness"},"content":{"rendered":"

Someone for whom fasting is liable to cause death has a mitzva to eat and drink as needed, since saving life overrides the mitzva of fasting \u2013 and all mitzvot<\/em> in the Torah \u2013 as we read, \u201cYou shall keep My laws and My rules, by the pursuit of which man shall live; I am the Lord\u201d (Vayikra 18:5). Our Sages infer: \u201c\u2018By which man shall live\u2019 \u2013 and not die\u201d (Yoma<\/em> 85b). The mitzvot<\/em> were given to promote life, not to cause death (Peninei Halakha: Shabbat<\/em> 27:1 n. 1). If one is uncertain whether his life is in danger but is \u201cstringent\u201d and does not eat and drink, he is a sinner, as he violated the Torah\u2019s commandment to preserve his life. Of him, the Torah says (Bereishit 9:5), \u201cBut for your own life-blood I will require a reckoning\u201d (Bava Kama<\/em> 91b).<\/p>\n

Permission to eat is not limited to cases of grave danger. Rather, as long as there is a chance that fasting will cause a person\u2019s death or weaken his ability to fight off an illness that afflicts him, it is a mitzva for him to eat and drink as needed. Even if someone is already gravely ill, if fasting will likely hasten his death, it is a mitzva for him to eat and drink as necessary, for it is permitted to eat and drink on Yom Kippur even to extend life temporarily.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, this should not be taken too far by worrying about remote concerns, for if we were to view every routine illness as possibly life-threatening, it would render moot the halakha <\/em>that someone sick is obligated to fast on Yom Kippur. Furthermore, anyone with the flu would need to be hospitalized, or at least have a doctor check on him twice a day. Were we really to worry about such levels of risk, we would have to forbid travel by car or plane. Certainly, we would have to prohibit cars that have not passed inspection within the last month. We would also have to prohibit hiking and many other activities.<\/p>\n

Rather, the principle is that any danger that people normally treat with urgency and on which they spend time and resources \u2013 like rushing someone to the hospital in the middle of a workday \u2013 is considered life-threatening. To prevent such danger, it is a mitzva to desecrate Shabbat and to eat and drink on Yom Kippur. However, a danger that people do not normally address immediately with the expenditure of time and resources is not considered life-threatening.[4]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n[4]<\/a>. This criterion is imprecise because some people worry more, and others are more nonchalant. This finds expression in all aspects of life: driving style, attitudes toward illness, planning trips, and, consequently, when to rush someone to the hospital. Each person must use his best judgment, as long as it is within the realm of the reasonable. But if one knows that he is an outlier, he must decide based on what he knows most people would find reasonable.<\/p>\n

One who wishes to be stringent and fast even when it is dangerous is not doing a mitzva but rather a sin. One might mistakenly think that this is comparable to a case in which a non-Jew, for his own pleasure, orders a Jew to transgress. In that case, the Jew is not required to sacrifice his life to avoid transgressing, but he may choose to do so in order to sanctify God\u2019s name (Tosafot<\/em>, Avoda Zara<\/em> 27b, s.v. \u201cyakhol,\u201d even though Rambam in MT, Laws of Torah Principles 5:1, disagrees and writes that he may not choose death). In our case (of someone dangerously ill), all agree that he may not fast, as doing so does not involve any element of sanctifying God\u2019s name. Rather, just as God commands him to fast, here He commands him to take care of his health.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Someone for whom fasting is liable to cause death has a mitzva to eat and drink as needed, since saving life overrides the mitzva of fasting \u2013 and all mitzvot in the Torah \u2013 as we read, \u201cYou shall keep My laws and My rules, by the pursuit of which man shall live; I am […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[191],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10292","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-15-08"],"yoast_head":"\n03. Someone Sick with a Life-Threatening Illness - Peninei Halakha<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/15-08-03\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"03. Someone Sick with a Life-Threatening Illness - Peninei Halakha\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Someone for whom fasting is liable to cause death has a mitzva to eat and drink as needed, since saving life overrides the mitzva of fasting \u2013 and all mitzvot in the Torah \u2013 as we read, \u201cYou shall keep My laws and My rules, by the pursuit of which man shall live; I am […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/15-08-03\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Peninei Halakha\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-05-07T21:03:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-09-15T09:32:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"\u05e6\u05d5\u05d5\u05ea \u05d4\u05d0\u05ea\u05e8\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"\u05e6\u05d5\u05d5\u05ea \u05d4\u05d0\u05ea\u05e8\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/15-08-03\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/15-08-03\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\u05e6\u05d5\u05d5\u05ea \u05d4\u05d0\u05ea\u05e8\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8822293bfa4f7cd35b44a3c311851b63\"},\"headline\":\"03. Someone Sick with a Life-Threatening Illness\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-05-07T21:03:20+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-09-15T09:32:16+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/15-08-03\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":648,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"08 \u2013 The Laws of the Fast\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/15-08-03\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/15-08-03\\\/\",\"name\":\"03. Someone Sick with a Life-Threatening Illness - Peninei Halakha\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2014-05-07T21:03:20+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-09-15T09:32:16+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/15-08-03\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/15-08-03\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/15-08-03\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"\u05d3\u05e3 \u05d4\u05d1\u05d9\u05ea\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"03. Someone Sick with a Life-Threatening Illness\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"Peninei Halakha\",\"description\":\"HaRav Eliezer Melamed\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Peninei Halakha\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/10\\\/2020\\\/08\\\/logo-ph-.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/10\\\/2020\\\/08\\\/logo-ph-.png\",\"width\":300,\"height\":64,\"caption\":\"Peninei Halakha\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8822293bfa4f7cd35b44a3c311851b63\",\"name\":\"\u05e6\u05d5\u05d5\u05ea \u05d4\u05d0\u05ea\u05e8\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/4839847e1f630d0e0f5d54879b51b427c551b51611b74d6558e54ff6e69ce498?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/4839847e1f630d0e0f5d54879b51b427c551b51611b74d6558e54ff6e69ce498?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/4839847e1f630d0e0f5d54879b51b427c551b51611b74d6558e54ff6e69ce498?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"\u05e6\u05d5\u05d5\u05ea \u05d4\u05d0\u05ea\u05e8\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/author\\\/shlomit12\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"03. Someone Sick with a Life-Threatening Illness - Peninei Halakha","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/15-08-03\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"03. Someone Sick with a Life-Threatening Illness - Peninei Halakha","og_description":"Someone for whom fasting is liable to cause death has a mitzva to eat and drink as needed, since saving life overrides the mitzva of fasting \u2013 and all mitzvot in the Torah \u2013 as we read, \u201cYou shall keep My laws and My rules, by the pursuit of which man shall live; I am […]","og_url":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/15-08-03\/","og_site_name":"Peninei Halakha","article_published_time":"2014-05-07T21:03:20+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-09-15T09:32:16+00:00","author":"\u05e6\u05d5\u05d5\u05ea \u05d4\u05d0\u05ea\u05e8","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"\u05e6\u05d5\u05d5\u05ea \u05d4\u05d0\u05ea\u05e8","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/15-08-03\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/15-08-03\/"},"author":{"name":"\u05e6\u05d5\u05d5\u05ea \u05d4\u05d0\u05ea\u05e8","@id":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/8822293bfa4f7cd35b44a3c311851b63"},"headline":"03. Someone Sick with a Life-Threatening Illness","datePublished":"2014-05-07T21:03:20+00:00","dateModified":"2020-09-15T09:32:16+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/15-08-03\/"},"wordCount":648,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/#organization"},"articleSection":["08 \u2013 The Laws of the Fast"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/15-08-03\/","url":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/15-08-03\/","name":"03. Someone Sick with a Life-Threatening Illness - Peninei Halakha","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/#website"},"datePublished":"2014-05-07T21:03:20+00:00","dateModified":"2020-09-15T09:32:16+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/15-08-03\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/15-08-03\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/15-08-03\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"\u05d3\u05e3 \u05d4\u05d1\u05d9\u05ea","item":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"03. Someone Sick with a Life-Threatening Illness"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/","name":"Peninei Halakha","description":"HaRav Eliezer Melamed","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/#organization","name":"Peninei Halakha","url":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/08\/logo-ph-.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/08\/logo-ph-.png","width":300,"height":64,"caption":"Peninei Halakha"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/8822293bfa4f7cd35b44a3c311851b63","name":"\u05e6\u05d5\u05d5\u05ea \u05d4\u05d0\u05ea\u05e8","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4839847e1f630d0e0f5d54879b51b427c551b51611b74d6558e54ff6e69ce498?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4839847e1f630d0e0f5d54879b51b427c551b51611b74d6558e54ff6e69ce498?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4839847e1f630d0e0f5d54879b51b427c551b51611b74d6558e54ff6e69ce498?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"\u05e6\u05d5\u05d5\u05ea \u05d4\u05d0\u05ea\u05e8"},"url":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/author\/shlomit12\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10292","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10292"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10292\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10292"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10292"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10292"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}