Recap of August 11 Session (Parshat Shoftim)

Eli Reich started the discussion by reviewing works he is reading about the development of Jewish intellectual thinking through history, with a particular focus on the Enlightenment era. We spent some time dealing with opinions espoused by Spinoza and Mendelsohn about applying rationality to try and prove that what the Bible says is correct. It is well-known that the Enlightenment ushered in an era wherein traditional religious belief came under attack and religious thought was relegated to being purely a matter of faith that does not stand up to scientific reasoning.

This was an entree to David’s review of some his father’s work on religion and the scientific method. David’s father, Rabbi Dr. George Natan Schlesinger, Z”L wrote extensively on this topic. David read a small excerpt from an article entitled, “The Surprise of Our Lives,” published by Bar Ilan in 1987. The thrust of the article is that scientific reasoning leads us to propose causes for observed phenomena that determine the observed outcome rather than ascribing the outcome to pure chance. This is especially the case when the outcome would constitute a significant surprise – or highly improbable event – if things were left to chance. This is a precursor to the Argument from Design, or the Anthropic Principle, which the group intends to pursue further in the coming weeks.

We then moved the discussion to the weekly Torah portion, Shoftim.

David related a thought from Rav Yissachar Frand about the juxtapositioning of the command to set up a justice system with the prohibition of worshipping and Asheira (tree that is worshipped as an idol). The idea of observing the beauty of a tree in order to recognize the greatness of its Creator is a positive one. However, elevating that creation to a god status is a distortion, and a misuse of the tools we are given to achieve a greater awareness of our Creator. Worship of nature by necessity brings along with it a subscription to one of the main features of nature, namely, the survival of the fittest. This is the point where the Asheira issue relates to a justice system. Without a true justice system, human affairs would also be settled by survival of the fittest. In any conflict, the strong would prevail rather than justice prevailing.

Efroni raised a question on the prohibition against a king seeking to gain too many horses being linked to not going back to Egypt. Slava suggested that the linkage relates to horses being a major feature of ancient Egyptian culture. The idea of this linkage is to tell us that a king must be very careful not to do things that would lead Israel to be influenced by aspects of foreign cultures that are antithetical to Torah.

Other parsha thoughts were offered by Efroni, Yaki and David W. [Please contribute details.]

We spent the rest of our time learning from Pninei Halacha (R. Eliezed Melamed) the laws of Shabbat as they relate to saving lives.

We learned that there is a fairly broad definition of what constitutes a life threatening situation. This includes all situations that are commonly known to be life threatening, any time a medical professional would suggest there is a life threatening situation, any time the sick or injured person believes that his or her life may be in danger (even if the experts says there is no danger). In addition to broad definition, we treat any doubtful situations as life-threatening, and we avoid wasting any time by looking up laws, seeking out Halachic guidance or finding a non-Jew to perform any of the required activities (unless the non-Jew is present and asking him to do what is needed does not introduce any delay or unnecessary risk).

We learned about driving the patient to the hospital. You drive on Shabbat the same way you would drive on a weekday (e.g., don’t think about coasting, if it’s night time, turn on the headlights). After the patient is dropped off, move the car out of the ER drive-up lane so that others can get it, and go to a parking space. When it comes to turning off the engine, if there is a non-Jew readily available to do that, it’s preferable to ask him/her to do it. However, if no one is available, do it yourself so you can quickly go back to the ER and be with the sick or injured person.

This led to the Halachot of accompanying someone to the hospital. Rav Melamed’s position is that it has been observed that when a patient has an advocate, he/she receives better care than if left alone in the hospital. This gives the advocate the status of someone who is contributing to a life-saving effort, and therefore permits the advocate to ride to the hospital, and is why you can turn off your car to get back into the ER quickly if there in not a non-Jew available to do that.

We also covered Halachot that deal with what you can bring to the hospital, what do if you are discharged from the hospital while it is still Shabbat, and what to do if the patient demands more than one advocate.

The above represents our discussion. No specific Halachic rulings are intended or should be inferred. The Halachic portion of the discussion, while representing fairly clear Halachic guidance on the subject of saving lives, should be reviewed. We encourage people to develop good knowledge about how to handle life-threatening situations before such situations should arise (i.e., study the Halachot and confer with your local Halachic authority, but not during the situation!).