Medicine on Shabbat: Difference between revisions
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#It is permitted to violate any rabbinic prohibition to prevent something dangerous to the public.<ref>Gemara Shabbat 42a, Shulchan Aruch O.C. 308:18, Mishna Brurah 408:77</ref> | #It is permitted to violate any rabbinic prohibition to prevent something dangerous to the public.<ref>Gemara Shabbat 42a, Shulchan Aruch O.C. 308:18, Mishna Brurah 408:77</ref> | ||
==Shomer Shabbos Residency== | |||
Is it permissible to join a non-shomer Shabbos residency? | |||
===Discussion=== | |||
One factor to consider is that halacha forbids getting into a situation where it will be necessary to violate Shabbat for pikuach nefesh. This stricture applies even before Shabbos.<ref>Baal Hamoer’s reading to Shabbat 19a</ref> The counter-principle to consider that it is possible that only this doctor will merit to cure a certain patient.<ref>Ran Nedarim 41b s.v. ela</ref> A practical consideration is that taking a Shomer Shabbos residency might mean sacrificing a better education to be an expert in that field of medicine. | |||
====Rav Hershel Schachter==== | |||
Rav Hershel Schachter<ref>[https://www.torahweb.org/torah/special/2007/rsch_shabbos1.html torahweb.org]</ref> holds that if it can’t be arranged to get a shomer Shabbos residency a person should find another profession.<ref> | |||
* [http://themedhc.org/2016/08/22/shomer-shabbos-medical-training-by-akiva-bergman/ Dr. Akiva Bergman] wrote a nice article on the topic clearly showing the numerous issues with the non-shomer Shabbat residency. 1) One has to opt out of a situation in which one will violating Shabbat for pikuach nefesh including treating non-Jewish patients which is only permitted in self-protection (ayvah). 2) Even planning a trip more than three days before Shabbat is a problem since the residency will certainly involve the violation of Shabbat. 3) Even in terms of protecting a Jew that too doesn't serve as a reason to allow pikuach nefesh ab initio according to the Rama. 4) Furthermore, no resident can be sure that he will certainly have a Jew among his patients. His conclusion is that a non-shomer Shabbat residency is seriously problematic.</ref> Rabbi Chaim Jachter<Ref>[https://www.koltorah.org/halachah/shabbat-and-pikuach-nefesh-part-iii-by-rabbi-howard-jachter koltorah.org]</ref> quotes that Rav Schachter gave two reasons. First, a person can’t set himself up to violate Shabbat even in advance of Shabbat since the treatment of many or most patients is not a mitzvah. Additionally, he holds that there is a concern that if one becomes used to doing a forbidden activity when it is permitted, he will continue these activities even when it is forbidden. | |||
====Rav Dovid Cohen and Rav Moshe Feinstein==== | |||
Rav Dovid Cohen<ref>Quoted by Rabbi Raymond and Dr. Sammy Sultan in RJJ Periodical no. LVIII</ref> holds that initially a person should find a shomer Shabbos residency but if it can’t then he can manage with a non-shomer Shabbos residency. Similarly, Rav Moshe Tendler quotes Rav Moshe Feinstein<ref>Quoted by Rabbi Raymond and Dr. Sammy Sultan in RJJ Periodical no. LVIII from Practical Medical Halacha, Rabbi M. D. Tendler and Dr. F. Rosner, p.150, 1998. Complete text available [http://daneisenberg.com/sstshuvahtendler.pdf here]. </ref> as holding that it is permissible to go to a non-Shomer Shabbos residency with better training as long as one keeps Shabbos even in a less favorable environment. If the superior training comes at the expense of breaking Shabbat in a forbidden way, even if it is only a rabbinic ordinance, he must forgo the better training. | |||
===Summary=== | |||
Bottom line, there is a dispute among the contemporary poskim whether a medical student must find a shomer-Shabbos residency or find another profession, or it is permitted to take a non-shomer Shabbos residency. Even according to the lenient view, no transgression of Shabbat is permitted in the name of training to be a doctor. It is just permitted to take the training in a less Shabbos friendly environment and cope with the questions as they arise and only do what is permitted on Shabbat.<ref>[https://www.yutorah.org/sidebar/lecture.cfm/796071/rabbi-howard-apfel/shomer-shabbos-residencies-pt-2-and-trading-call-with-non-observant-jews/ Rabbi Howard Afpel]</ref> | |||
==Related Pages== | ==Related Pages== | ||
