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274: DESECRATING
SHABBOS TO SAVE AN
AT TEMPTED SUICIDE

ɳ Question

I would like to know whether according to the Torah it is permitted
to desecrate Shabbos to save the life of someone who harmed himself
with the intention of committing suicide, when there is still a chance
that if he is rushed to hospital they may be able to save his life, with
Heaven’s assistance. Is it permitted to desecrate Shabbos for this per-
son who has intentionally tried to take his own life, or not?

Dr. Joseph Kastner, Specialist in Psy-
chiatry, Neveh On Hospital, Bnei Brak

ɳ Response

We must first discuss whether even on a weekday there is any ob-
ligation to save a person who has knowingly attempted suicide and
we can afterwards discuss whether or not it is permitted to desecrate
Shabbos to save him, as follows:

The Minchas Chinuch (Mitzvah 237:2, Kometz Leminchah), and
Rav Yerucham Perlow (in his commentary to Rabbenu Saadia Gaon,
Positive Mitzvah 28) take the view that even on a weekday there is no
obligation to save an attempted suicide because the obligation to save
a fellow Jew’s life is derived from the obligation to “restore it to him”

Shabbos Desecration to Save a Sinner’s Life 2 269