...Continued from previous week
1) All Jewish lives that are in danger must be saved, regardless of the individual's level of observance or religiosity (See Chazon Ish Yoreh Deah 2:28)
2) The Chazon Ish (ibid.) explains that nowadays we cannot deem any individual a total Mumar (apostate; one who rejects the core principals of the Torah) and thus we must look at every Jew as part of Am Yisroel and must do whatever necessary to save his life, even on Shabbos.
3) The Shabbos is violated to save the life of a baby born prematurely. This is the case even for a baby born in the 7th month, as it is deemed a full-fledged life. (See Talmud Shabbos 135a)
4) Even for a baby born in the 8th month we violate the Shabbos to save his life, so long as his hair and his nails have formed. (See Chazon Ish Yoreh Deah 155:4 that this is the case either because we deem it a Safek if he is perhaps still in the 7th month, when he has the status of a life, or perhaps because the nature nowadays is different than Talmudic times, and thus even an 8th month baby can survive, unlike in Talmudic times.)
5) We must violate the Shabbos for a baby born prematurely, even earlier than the 7th month, in order to get him into an incubator, where according to the doctors this baby will be able to develop properly and live. (Ruling of Rav Shlomo Zalmen Auerbach Zatzal quoted in Shmiras Shabbos K'Hilchasa Perek 36:24)
6) However, if the premature child is born with deficiencies that make the doctors say there is no chance of survival, we do not violate the Shabbos, in this case, to extend the life temporarily.(ibid.)
7) If someone is ill and it isn't known if his situation is deemed life-threatening, a doctor should be consulted to make the determination if Chilul Shabbos is warranted on the patient's behalf. We follow the doctor's determination to violate the Shabbos even if the doctor is not a Shabbos observant person himself. (Shulchan Aruch Siman 328:10)
8) If no doctor is readily available, or if the situation is frenzied and a decision must be made immediately, we can rely on the advice of someone who is not a doctor, yet is familiar with the patient's medical conditions and the like, and violate the Shabbos for the patient, if he/she deems it necessary.
However, the Poskim say that the above mentioned person (who is not a doctor or a medical expert) may only be relied upon to deem something serious enough to violate the Shabbos, if he/she is a Shabbos observant person, as otherwise they may say that the Shabbos be violated due to their lack of understanding of the importance of Shabbos observance. (See Rama ibid.)
If, however, the situation is such that we can see the aforementioned non-doctor really believes that the patient's life is in danger, and is not just saying it due to his lack of understanding of the importance of Shabbos observance, here too we can follow his directions and violate the Shabbos due to a safek of Pikuach Nefesh. (See Shmiras Shabbos K'Hilchasa Perek 32:10)
9) If the patient himself says that he knows his situation is life-threatening, we violate the Shabbos for him on his direction, even if the doctors do not concur, as we trust a person to know his own body and its reaction to sickness. (A term referred to in halacha as Lev Yodeah Moras Nafsho. See Biur Halacha Siman 328:9 Dibur Hamaschil V'Rofeh)
10) If two doctors are in disagreement about the severity of the patient's situation, where one says he is in a life-threatening situation and the other says he is not in any immediate danger, if both are equally expert doctors, we deem it a Safek Pikuach Nefesh, and indeed we violate the Shabbos for this patient.
If, however, one of the two doctors is a bigger specialist (in the field that this patient's illness is, or even if he is known as a better doctor) we follow the direction of the more experienced doctor, regardless if he says to go ahead and violate the Shabbos or if he says to not go ahead and violate the Shabbos. (See Shulchan Aruch Siman 327:10 and Biur Halacha Dibur Hamaschil V'Im. See also Shulchan Aruch Siman 618)
To be continued next week B’Ezras Hashem
