Pikuach Nefesch

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Pikuach Nefesh ( Hebrew פִּקּוּחַ נֶפֶשׁ) is a term from Jewish law ( Halacha ) and literally means "supervision / watch over the soul", in a figurative sense "rescue from danger of life". The term originally refers to the permissible breach of the Sabbath laws to save life and can be traced back to the Hasmonean period (167 BC). However, the commandment does not only apply to the Sabbath, but to the entire Halacha.

Sabbath rules

Orthodox Jews do not perform activities on the Sabbath that are defined as work according to the Halacha. Conservative Jews are less strict about some halachic Sabbath commandments. The Sabbath commandment is one of the Ten Commandments that Moses received from God and therefore has a binding meaning for all Jewish schools. According to the Law of Moses, it is a capital crime to deliberately desecrate the Sabbath in spite of a warning (Exodus 31:15). The most important guideline is in the Babylonian Talmud combined list of 39 forbidden on the Sabbath work (melachot) as the work or the work (Ex 20.8 to 11; Dt 5.12 to 15). The definition of work in the sense of the Jewish religion is the creation of a new situation that did not exist before. The ancient rules have since been transposed into modern times by well-known rabbis. That is why this also includes traveling, regardless of the vehicle chosen. The ban on starting a fire now also applies to any operation of live devices, with which neither lights nor any other device may be switched on or operated. The prohibition also includes cooking, television or telephoning, as well as sewing or washing. The regulations apply not only to the Sabbath, but also (modified) for other Jewish holidays such as Yom Kippur , Rosh Hashanah , Shavuot , Simchat Torah and on certain days of Passover and Sukkot .

meaning

Probably the most essential sentence in the Torah in relation to the question of what is allowed and what is not is: “Observe my laws and regulations; whoever lives it will live through it ”(3rd Book of Moses 18: 5). In the rabbinical interpretation it is expressly emphasized that it means: "Live by the laws, not die because of them". This basic principle of Pikuach Nefesch allows the violation of almost all commandments when it comes to life support. Exceptions are murder , prohibited sexual relations ( fornication ) and idolatry (the latter is controversial). Saving lives is thus above the Shabbat laws , which prescribe a rest from work ( Mishnah , Tract Yom 8,6: "Danger to life suppresses the Shabbat (laws)"; Babylonian Talmud, Tract Yom 85a-b). For example, you can drive a woman to a hospital for childbirth on the Sabbath despite the ban on driving, since birth without medical supervision can be life-threatening. The driving ban is lifted even if evacuation from a danger area is necessary, such as the anti-Semitic terrorist attack in Halle (Saale) in 2019 . The same applies to all defense measures in the event of a military attack, such as in the Yom Kippur War . The development of the principle is usually associated with a decision by the Maccabees that enables self-defense on Shabbat (1Makk 2,39-41; cf. also Tosefta, treatise Eruvin 3 [4], 5-8; Mechilta de-Rabbi Ishma ') el Ki Tissa 1).

Fasting may be interrupted or not observed on fasting days if the state of health so requires. According to some halachic scholars, organ donation is a classic example in Jewish law of the obligation to violate a commandment over Pikuach Nefesh. Saving a life can override the prohibition on desecrating a corpse.

The rabbinical sources also mention other dangerous situations that explicitly allow work-related assistance on Shabbat ( shipwreck , snakebite , pain , buried people and the like). The practice of medicine is not only allowed, but, as stipulated halachically in the Shulchan Aruch , an important commandment, a mitzvah . The general ban on working on Sabbaths or public holidays, for which the same regulations apply, does not apply to doctors and dentists . However, this does not mean that they are allowed to hold regular consultation hours, but that they are only allowed to act in emergencies. Their activities are predestined to treat physical or psychological damage to a person. The same applies to rescue workers.

Not only Pikuach Nefesch cancels the Sabbath prohibitions, but also a Safek Pikuach Nefesch ( Hebrew ספק פִּקּוּחַ נֶפֶשׁ), that is, a “suspicion” of Pikuach Nefesch, if not “without a shadow of a doubt”.

Although marriages between Jews and non-Jews are considered fornication and thus also forbidden in the case of the Pikuach Nefesch, Ester's marriage to the King of Persia is not regarded as a sin in Judaism because she remained passive and risked her life in order to destroy the to save the entire Jewish people.

Limits

Orthodox Jews do not regard Pikuach Nefesch as a general exemption from the prohibition of trespassing, but instead demand the lowest possible violation. For example, if you have to drink on a fast day for health reasons and it would not have any negative consequences to take the increased fluid in stages, you should always try to drink small sips every 9.01 minutes. This is derived from the explanation of the Talmud, in which it says for Yom Kippur that a sin offering is due if one has accidentally drunk more than one “cheek full” (“Melo Lugmaw”) of liquid within nine minutes. If necessary, the time interval can be shortened if the state of health requires this.

Ultra-Orthodox Jews interpret the Pikuach Nefesch very strictly and limit it to an actual, concrete danger to life and not to just a possible danger.

Corona virus

Israel's Sephardic Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef has called on Jews to keep their phones switched on on Shabbat: “There is no doubt for all those who have been tested for the coronavirus to keep their phones switched on on Shabbat so that they can be informed of the results “, Said Yosef in a religious law judgment. Even those who have not been tested should leave the phone switched on in the event that an infection in the immediate vicinity is confirmed. In such a disaster, Pikuach Nefesch would apply. Services in synagogues are canceled during the crisis. The Central Conference of American Rabbis and other Jewish organizations such as the Orthodox Union and the Agudath Israel of America also appealed to the faithful to implement Pikuach Nefesh and to follow the advice of scientists in order to save lives. In the Sefer Hasidim, a halachic text from the twelfth century attributed to Rabbi Juda ben Samuel from Regensburg, and the accompanying commentaries, it says that "someone who has an infectious disease must inform his fellow men about it" (Makor Hesed, Sefer Hasidim, 673 , 4). Transferred to the present day, for example, the use of a corona warning app in the case of the COVID-19 pandemic is ethically required - also or precisely because it is less for self-protection, but rather an instrument to protect others.

Web links

Wiktionary: Pikuach Nefesch  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The 39 Melachot , Chabad.org. Retrieved October 17, 2019.
  2. ↑ Jewish Holidays , Chabad.org. Retrieved October 17, 2019.
  3. ↑ Is Organ Donation a Mitzva (a good deed or obligation)? HODS - Halachic Organ Donor Society, Retrieved October 18, 2019.
  4. ↑ Moritz Figdor, Halacha and Questions at the End of Life , Dissertation, LMU, 2016, p. 38 ff. Accessed October 17, 2019.
  5. ^ Pikuach Nefesch , Jüdische Allgemeine, March 17, 2013. Accessed October 17, 2019.
  6. ↑ Yehuda Shurpin: How Could Esther Marry a Non-Jewish King? , Chabad .org.
  7. ↑ Drinking to Yom Kippur in The Magazine of the Orthodox Rabbinical Conference of Germany, 10/2016, p. 9. Accessed on October 20, 2019.
  8. ↑ You can also be reached by telephone on Shabbat , Jüdische Allgemeine, March 20, 2020. Accessed March 20, 2020.
  9. ↑ Malte Lehming: Corona and Judaism: "Saving life has absolute priority". In: Der Tagesspiegel. April 30, 2020, accessed May 1, 2020 .
  10. ↑ Ethical Help , Jüdische Zeitung, June 18, 2020. Accessed June 21, 2020.