Page 259 - 20818_park-c_efi

beginning of the war, but has risen as the number of truly urgent calls The case in question is similar to a rabid dog. There is a mere pos-
has decreased. sibility that it is a rabid dog, coupled by the mere possibility that it
My questions are: will bite someone. We do not hurry to desecrate the Shabbos in such
1. Is it permissible to answer the phone on Shabbos in order to a situation, and therefore they should also not perform an autopsy on
provide this therapy? the dead woman.
2. If there is a missile attack on Shabbos, and we are supposed to 
open the clinics, can the staff drive their private cars or ride taxis
to the clinics?
I know of cases where people died of heart attacks caused by the Starting the Engine of an Ambulance on Shabbos
pressure of the war. so that it is Ready for Immediate Departure

Dr. P. Rubiroth, Community Center for 1 Question
Mental Health, Jaffa
Director of the pediatric and toddler mental health clinic In one of the Israeli neighborhoods there is a Magen David Adom
station with an ambulance prepared to service many of the surround-
1 AnsweRs ing settlements. The engine needs to be turned on every few hours,
so that the battery and the starter not malfunction, in which case it
Fear is halachically viewed as a danger to life, and one desecrates Shab- would take about an hour to fix them. The dispatcher wants to know
bos for it, especially in cases involving babies and children. It says in if it is permissible to start the engine every few hours on Shabbos,
Tractate Yoma (84b) and in the Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chaim #328:13, since it is possible that an urgent call will come in suddenly from one
Mishnah Berurah 38): “If a door was locked, with a child inside, one of the settlements, or, so long as they have not yet received such a call,
breaks down the door and takes him out… lest the child be terrified is it prohibited to start the engine?
and die.” This shows us that fear in a child is viewed as pikuach nefesh.
Fear can be considered a danger for adults as well. As explained 1 AnsweR
in Tractate Shabbos (151b), it is forbidden to sleep in a house alone.
The Meiri adds that likewise, anything that will cause a person to It is probably prohibited, since there is no patient presently in need
experience fear is forbidden. A person knows, according to his nature, in front of us. The Chazon Ish has established that (Tractate Oholos
what will cause him to be afraid. Nonetheless if he finds himself #22:32) pikuach nefesh cannot be invoked for future events. We are
in that sort of situation he should fortify himself with bitachon in not experts about the future, and sometimes what we believe will be
Hashem. It seems that the reason why it is forbidden to place oneself life-saving is ultimately the reverse and boomerangs. Therefore, we do
in a situation of fear is because this is a danger to life, and the Torah not rule on possibilities of future events.
warns us to safeguard our lives. The Chazon Ish was already asked: How far is the limit of pikuach
In Responsa Tzofnas Pane’ach (Vol. 1 #39), it says: A person who nefesh? As stated in Sefer Pe’er Hador (Vol. 3, p. 185) he was asked: Is
is frightened at a time of tumult from gentile armies or thieves is one allowed to fix a fire-engine on Shabbos before the call comes in to
allowed to violate Shabbos prohibitions and to flee, even if there is no extinguish a fire, in a large city, such as Tel Aviv? He answered that

272 1 Medical-HalacHic Responsa of Rav ZilbeRstein a Far-fetched Concern of Pikuach Nefesh 2 245

# 20818_efi-ab - 20818_park-C_efi-ab | 9 - B | 18-08-20 | 13:46:24 | SR:-- | Magenta #20818_efi-ab - 20818_park-C_efi-ab | 9 - B | 18-08-20 | 13:46:24 | SR:-- | Yellow 20818_efi-ab - 20818_park-C_efi-ab | 9 - B | 18-08-20 | 13:46:24 | SR: