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this type? Are the pains occurring while the patient is at rest or not? her paramour and not her husband and the child might be a mamzer. 6
Are there any risk factors? Her repentance is difficult.
If the physician did not thoroughly question the patient, he did not Likewise regarding our case, we can ask: Perhaps the woman was
do his job properly. If he asked these questions and the answers gave allowed to make her decision based on all those times when her
him the impression that it was not a cardiac issue, I believe there is no husband complained for naught? In maseches Yevamos (121b) Rav Na-
need for him to do teshuvah. chman swore that Chasa who drowned in the sea was dead, because
Dr. Uriel Levinger, most people who drown in the sea are not rescued and one can swear
Specialist in internal medicine, Beilinson Hospital according to the majority.
Does the woman in our case require some atonement, like the
woman in the case of the Tzemach Tzedek? There is a big difference
1 AnsweR between them. It is certain that the unfaithful woman sinned, and
the only question is if the baby was born as a result of the sin, so she
Nachum Ish Gamzu was blind in both eyes, had both hands and legs
amputated, and his whole body was covered with boils. His disciples certainly needs to repent. In our case, however, the wife certainly did
said to him: “Rebbe, you are a perfect tzaddik; why did all this happen what was right and she does not require atonement.
to you?”
He told them: “My sons, I brought this upon myself. Once I was 1 SuMMaRy and Conclusions
walking on the road to my father-in-law’s house. A poor man met
me on the road and asked me to sustain him. I told him to wait until 1. If the woman knows her husband well, and sensed that his com-
I would unload my donkey. I did not have a chance to unload my plaint was false, she does not need atonement. She was not ob-
donkey before the poor man died. I fell before him and said: May my ligated to consider the far-fetched possibility that he was telling
eyes that did not have mercy on you be blinded; my hands that did the truth this time. If there was reason to consider a dangerous
not have mercy on your hands be cut off; my legs that did not have situation since his complaint was a new one, she would require
mercy on your legs should be cut off. I could not relax until I said: let atonement.
my whole body be covered with boils. (Taanis 21a) 2. If a physician knows his patient well and is convinced that there
The Ben Yehoyadah asks: What could Nachum Ish Gamzu have is no danger, he should not desecrate Shabbos for him. However,
done? Did he have bread in hand and refrain from giving it to him? on Yom Kippur, one might be concerned that the fast has influ-
He answers that that poor man was plagued by a ravenous hunger enced his condition negatively.
(a bulmus) that could only be healed by immediate consumption of
food. Nachum Ish Gamzu should have immediately jumped off his
donkey and torn open his sack of food without bothering to untie the
ropes. Since he did not do so, he asked to be punished.
The Ben Yehoyadah teaches us the great importance of the mitzvah
of saving a life, and how quickly one must apply oneself to it. Nachum
Ish Gamzu did indeed engage in this mitzvah of tzedakah, but he sim-
ply did not perform it with adequate speed. Although tearing open
166 1 Medical-HalacHic Responsa of Rav ZilbeRstein Ordering an ambulance 2 175
