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Lord, is more stringent than pikuach nefesh. Moreover, even the three b. What is the meaning of an eye that “rebelled” (i.e. disengaged
cardinal sins that are not set aside for pikuach nefesh are suspended itself)? Rashi writes that the eye “wants to go out, like a man
for chillul Hashem. How do we know that this applies to idolatry? In who rebels and wants to get out”?
Tractate Sanhedrin (107a) Dovid Hamelech seeks to worship idols in c. What would be the meaning of “an eye that split,” which is
order to prevent a public chillul Hashem. Chushai the Archite’s count- viewed as dangerous?
er-claim to Dovid is that if he worships idols, the name of Heaven
#
will be desecrated even more. It appears from this that in basic I received the following answer:
halachah, chillul Hashem sets aside idolatry. We know that this applies To the honorable Rav, shlita,
to forbidden relations as well. We learn this from Queen Esther, who 1. ‘Shuryayna de’aina belibba talya’ can be medically
offered herself in order to save the Nation of Israel. This was also a defined as the ocular cardiac reflex, meaning that if one
matter of chillul Hashem: There can be no greater desecration of the presses on the eye or pulls on the muscles of the eye, this
name of Hashem than the destruction of his chosen nation. Likewise causes a slight change in the tempo of the heart.
regarding murder, we learn from Tractate Yevamos (79a) that the 2. An “eye that rebels and wants to get out,” can perhaps
children of Shaul were killed even though it says (Devarim 24:16) be explained as an eye that suddenly emerges from its
that fathers shall not die for the sins of their sons, for it is preferable socket (exophthalmos) because of a process of crowding
to remove one letter from the Torah than to desecrate the name of in the eye socket.
Hashem in public. · Orbital cellulitis is an acute inflammation of the eye
The Chazon Ish continues and says: If the boundaries of pikuach sphere and socket.
nefesh are broadened and relate to a situation of uprooting the halachah · Thrombosis of the cavernous sinus.
completely, it becomes a matter of chillul Hashem. Then we say that a · A growth in the eye socket which causes sudden
desecration of the name of Hashem sets aside pikuach nefesh. This is bleeding in it, such as rhabdomyosarcoma.
a matter for the Torah scholars of the generation, who can rule with · After a wound in eye-socket, which causes bleeding,
their discerning vision, and they are the ones who should determine puts pressure on the eye and causes it to protrude
halachah in each situation, based on the time and circumstances. (exophthalmos).
3. An eye that “split” refers to the melting of the eye

socket.
I wish to tell a story that actually happened, in the Unit-
ed States. A woman underwent surgery on the retina in
Can one refrain from placing a baby in a Gas one eye, by a Jewish ophthalmologist with an international
Proof Tent in order to calm his parents? reputation. The surgery was successful, but the medical
healing process could take several months, and there was
1 Question no way of knowing how much vision she would have in the
eye. Four days after the surgery, the patient committed sui-
In line with the current security situation, Homeland Security guide- cide. She left a letter saying she does not know if her vision
lines dictate that when the sirens are sounded one has to put babies will improve, and she doesn’t want to bother her husband,

276 1 Medical-HalacHic Responsa of Rav ZilbeRstein Shabbos in an Ophthalmology Department 2 305