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ɳ Summary and conclusions

1. By telling the patient that marital relations will not harm
her health, the physician allays her fears and clears her way
to sinning, He is thus apparently placing“a stumbling block
before a blind man,” which the Torah forbids.

2. However, it’s possible that this prohibition only applies to
a person who actively extends the means to sin by giving
his colleague something prohibited, whereas a person who
merely refrains from lying, though doing so would prevent
his colleague from sinning, is not guilty of placing “a stum-
bling block.”

3. It must still be considered whether the physician’s hon-
est response constitutes assisting a sinner in sinning. It’s
possible that he is under no obligation to lie when doing
so is liable to injure his standing or his livelihood5. This is
particularly true when it is not absolutely certain that the
woman will live in a forbidden manner and the physician is
not giving his answer at the time of the sin.

4. It is written in parshas Haazinu (Devarim, 32,10): “He
found him in a desert land and in the desolation of a howl-
ing wilderness. He encircled him, He instilled comprehen-
sion into him; He guarded him like the apple of his eye.”
The holy Zohar interprets this passuk as an allusion to the
sublime mission of the physician, who finds the patient
writhing in pain, like a lone, isolated figure howling in the
desolation of the desert. The physician’s exalted task is to
encompass the patient’s situation and consider which med-
ications will help him and get the patient to understand

5. See also our comments further, siman 286, citing Maharil Diskin’s opinion that
the prohibition of “putting a stumbling block before a blind man” does not apply
if the “blind man” is using financial coercion to force a person to extend the
means of sinning to him.

Giving Advice that will Enable a Sinner to Continue Sinning 2 267