Wednesday, December 15, 2010

A Matter of Life or Death (IV) – How?


The next issue that must be discussed is how to violate shabbos.  As we said before, it is permitted to violate even a Biblical prohibition to save a life; however, it is often not necessary to do so.  If it is possible to save the life by only violating a Rabbinic prohibition, one is obligated to do so.  In such a case it is prohibited to violate a Biblical prohibition.

Sometime, however, one must violate a Biblical prohibition.  Even so, there is often a way to make it less severe.  The Rama (O”Ch 328:12) rules that, when possible, it is best to violate the prohibition with a shinui.  This means that it is best to be done in an unusual manner, something that downgrades a Biblical prohibition to a Rabbinic one.  The Rama has a caveat, that this is only if doing so will not result in a [significant] delay in the procedure.  If it will, one is permitted and obligated to violate the prohibition in the standard way.

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