Pikuah Nefesh

Jewish Value: Pikuah Nefesh

Jews have an obligation to save another person. It is rooted in a principle of halakhah (Jewish law) called  , pikuah nefesh, saving a soul. Protecting a human life is a major Jewish obligation. Our rabbis learned this lesson from two different places in the Torah. Leviticus 19:16 says, “Do not stand idly by the blood of your neighbor.” In a midrashic collection, Sifra, we are taught that “Do not stand idly by the blood of your neighbor” means “Do not watch without doing something when your neighbor’s blood is shed. If you see someone in danger of drowning in the river, being carried away by wild beasts or being attacked by robbers, you must try to rescue that person.” (Leviticus 19:16)

The second verse, Leviticus 18:5, reads, “You shall keep My Laws and My rules, you shall act on them, you shall live by them.” The key words here are “Live by them”. In the Talmud we are told “You shall live by them, but you shall not die because of them” (Yoma 85a). This teaches a second meaning of pikuah nefesh: that one may abandon most mitzvot in order to save a life.

Pikuah Nefesh Text: Frozen Hillel

It was reported about Hillel the Elder that every day he used to work and earn one tropik (a small coin).

Half of it he would give to the guard at the house of learning; the other half was spent for food for him and his family.

One day he found nothing to earn, and the guard at the house of learning would not permit him to enter. He climbed up and sat on a window to hear the words of the living God from the mouth of Rabbi Shemayah and Rabbi Avtalion. That day was the eve of Shabbat, also the winter solstice, and snow fell down on him from heaven.

When the dawn rose, Rabbi

Shemayah said to Rabbi

Avtalion: “Brother Avtalion, on every day this house is light, and today it is dark. Is it perhaps a cloudy day?”

They looked up and saw the figure of a man in the window. They went up and found Hillel covered by snow. They brought him inside, bathed and anointed him, lit a fire, and placed him next to it. They said, “This man deserves that the Sabbath be broken for him.” Lighting the fire violated the rules for Shabbat (Yoma 35a). “Break one Shabbat for his sake, so that he may keep many Shabbatot.” (Yoma 85b)

This story is an expression of the Leviticus 18:5, which reads: “ You shall keep My Laws and My rules, you shall act on them, you shall live by them.”

What is the moral of this story?