[Avodah] pikuach nefesh

[kennethgmiller at juno.com]

R' Joel Rich mentioned:
> There was a quote in the New Jersey Jewish News that his
> Rabbi told Rahm Emanuel that it was permissible to take a
> conference call on Rosh Hashanah about the bailout package
> because "I felt it was a case of Pikuach Nefesh".  

I would like to remind the chevra that according to my understanding, RSZA, Rav Moshe Heinemann, and others, hold that speaking into a telephone on Shabbos is "only" a d'rabanan, because the electricity's main function is something other than heat or light. According to this shita, such actions are mutar on Shabbos even for needs which are less than a full-blown Pikuach Nefesh, and certainly so on Yom Tov.

(For more info about Emanuel's rabbi, see the shul's bio at http://www.asbi.org/harav/index.htm)

Akiva Miller


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