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where he was born and bred has good air for him, is he exempt from A) He will give a bad name to other physicians who were not
his oath? recommended but are no worse - or perhaps even better - than
The answer: the ones who were recommended.
…The forced circumstance of the air, as described, is B) There is an aspect here of “Do not put a stumbling block before
certainly called oness (forced), and is enough to exempt a blind man” (Vayikra 19:14). Possibly giving the public inaccu-
Reuven from his oath because it is well known that for rate advice about a physician is no small matter. It can cause
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most people the air in the place where they grew up is people loss of money and inappropriate treatments.
good for them and better than the air of other places, and C) Even if the person publicizing the rating has supporting evi-
a change in air is certainly damaging to one’s health. How- dence for his recommendation, based on the opinions of expert
ever, if someone swore that he would live in another place physicians in the field, he is not allowed to rely on this to cause
…he is obligated to keep his oath and we do not say it is damage to other physicians. Perhaps what he heard is not com-
an oness. The air will not harm him or kill him. The same pletely accurate?
law applies regarding diet. Some people eat only healthful
foods. It is known that some foods are not healthful, such Even a person who is truly an expert in medicine and knows the best
as salted fish and salted meat. Even so, if someone swore physicians has no right to publicize the names of the experts, for sev-
that he would eat salted fish or meat, we do not say that he eral reasons:
shouldn’t eat them because he is accustomed to eating only A) He will cause a loss of livelihood to other physicians who are
healthful things. also good, if not outstanding. The Mishnah warns us (Avos 4:8):
But if he has a known illness where the expert physi- “Do not make yourselves like court judges.” This sort of ranking
cians say that if he goes to live in that place the extreme differs greatly from a market survey. While in business the price
heat will harm him in a way that may endanger his life, it is a big determining factor for success, for a physician, it is his
is truly a situation of oness for him. Regarding Yom Kippur quality that one is ranking. One who does this may be liable by
we say that “If a physician says he has to eat and the patient a Heavenly Court to pay the physician who incurred a loss.
says he does not, we feed him according to the physician’s
words” (maseches Yoma 83a). In any event, we would need Our Sages, on the contrary, sought out the benefit of
two witnesses who know the physicians and can testify physicians, and were exceedingly careful not to impinge on
that they speak the truth and do not frighten a patient their livelihood. In maseches Shabbos (133b) it is related that
unneccessarily. Rava once publicly taught in the city of Mechoza how to
prepare the bandage to be applied to a baby after circumci-
We learn from the above that if Reuven does not have a known illness, sion. When the sons of Manyumi, the physician, heard this,
then even if living in another city will harm him, the oath he took is they rent their garments. “Do not fear,” Rava assured them.
still valid. And if we say that there is a prohibition against ignoring “I left one type of remedy unrevealed.” We learn from the
the physician’s advice, how is the oath valid; after all, he is vowing Gemara that it is forbidden to reveal a remedy that serves
against the Torah? From this we understand that there is no Torah as someone’s livelihood. The Sefer Chinuch Beis Yitzchak
prohibition involved in disregarding the physician’s words, unless a (Orach Chayim #34, s.v. darash) explains that Rava allowed
188 1 Medical-HalacHic Responsa of Rav ZilbeRstein Rating physicians publicly 2 217
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