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giving birth experiences difficulty breathing, or a patient in a cooked on Pesach by a gentile is forbidden to write with, since it was
surgical unit or urological unit suffers from chest pain or abnor-
malities in their heartbeat, they will alert the internal physician
on call.
My question is: Am I to come to the hospital by foot or by car?
How am I to return home, being that I am liable to be called on my
beeper while on my way home, and can possibly receive several calls
on the same day?
Dr. Rimon Ephraim, Internal medicine specialist,
Kaplan Hospital, Rechovot
1 AnsweR
In Tractate Yoma (85a) it says that when it comes to pikuach nefesh,
we do not follow the rule of the majority. Therefore, if a child is found
in a city of mostly gentiles, and it is not known if he is Jewish, we
desecrate Shabbos on his behalf, and one clears away the rubble from
the building that collapsed on him.
However, we do not desecrate Shabbos to prevent danger which is
not at all present. One of the sources for this rule is the Gemara in
Tractate Shabbos (45a), where it is recorded that Rav was asked: Is one
permitted to move the Chanukah menorah after it is extinguished, out
of fear of the Persian people who forbade the Jews to have fire in their
houses? Rav answered that it is permitted to move the Chanukah me-
norah after it is extinguished because during a time of danger we can
rely on Rav Shimon, who permits moving it.
HaGaon Rav Akiva Eiger asks (in his Responsa, first edition #60):
In situations of danger or possible danger, all Torah laws are suspend-
ed. If so, why do we have to rely on Rav Shimon’s ruling? He answers:
Since there is no actual danger, but rather just a small possibility of
danger, it is necessary to rely on Rav Shimon. We can explain that
the Jews who lit the Chanukah lights probably posted guards outside
to protect them from their oppressors. Therefore, the possibility
of danger was very slight. Even if the oppressors had entered their
homes to investigate, the Jews could have hidden their menorahs, and
238 1 Medical-HalacHic Responsa of Rav ZilbeRstein
8
not disqualified from consumption by a dog before its time. Likewise,
the Imrei Binah (Dinei Pesach #8) disagrees with the Mekor Chaim
as well. According to them it is prohibited to swallow a medication
compounded by a gentile on Pesach.
In the case of pikuach nefesh requiring medications containing
chametz compounded on Pesach, it is preferable that a gentile make
the medication, since according to the Mekor Chaim, if food became
disqualified for a dog to eat on Pesach, it is permitted. The Responsa
Sha’arei De’ah (Litwin, Vol. 2 #37) writes similarly. If a Jew compounds
the medication, even if the chametz is disqualified for consumption,
this does not help on Pesach itself.
Rav Dr. Moshe Rothschild related that once a great Torah scholar
sent him a patient who suffered from high blood pressure on Pesach,
and he gave him medications. The next day they brought him to the
hospital, paralyzed. The reason for this was because after they gave
him the medications, the patient vomited them, because, in his fool-
ishness, he wanted to prevent himself from eating chametz on Pesach.
The Torah scholar said to him – I should have turned on the electric-
ity on Yom Tov for the patient, in order to show him that he is defined
as dangerously ill. Then he would have agreed to take the medication!
1 SuMMaRy and Conclusions
1. Medications contaning chametz ingredients which were com-
pounded before Pesach: If they are not bitter and they have a
taste, such as sucking pills, syrup, and the like, they are allowed
only for a dangerously ill patient if it is impossible to heal him
any other way.
2. If the medication is bitter, and the primary medical ingredient
in it is not chametz, it is permitted even for a patient who is
not in danger. If the primary medical ingredient is chametz,
according to the Chazon Ish it is forbidden for a patient who
Medications that Contain Chametz 2 215
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