<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"
"http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd"><html><head><title>[Aspaqlaria] Rav
Yisrael, Epidemics, and Priorities</title><link rel="stylesheet"
href="https://www.aishdas.org/asp/wp-content/themes/my_hueman/style.css"
type="text/css" media="screen" /><meta http-equiv="Content-Type"
content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body>Aspaqlaria has posted a new
item, '<a href="https://www.aishdas.org/asp/rys-epidemics-priorities">Rav
Yisrael, Epidemics, and Priorities</a>'<br>
<br>
<font size=+1><br>
<div class="pf-content">
<p>On the topic of people insisting on maintaining risky behaviors during the
corona pandemic…</p>
<p>Too many of us are placing minyan, attending weddings or funerals, and
other such <em>mitzvos </em>ahead of safety. Despite the fact that we all
know, that risk to life comes first. “וחי בהם – ולא
שימות בהם”. (“‘And you shall keep My statues and My
law] and you shall live by them’ [<a
href="https://www.sefaria.org/Leviticus.18.5" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer
noopener nofollow">Vayiqra 18:5</a>] — and not die by them.”
–<a href="https://www.sefaria.org/Sanhedrin.74a.13" target="_blank"
rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">Sanhedrin 74a</a>)</p>
<p>And many people responding to this reality invoke the famous story about
Rabbi Yisrael Salanter encouraging eating on Yom Kippur during a cholera
epidemic. That R Yisreal stood up at the bimah in Vilna and declaring it
permissible not to fast today, invoking the above about “וחי
בהם”.And then, to set an example, he made Qiddush and ate.</p>
<p>(At least, that is the more popular version, testified to by students of R
Yisrael and found in most academic versions. In another version, he left food
available in the shul, but didn’t go so far as to eat himself.)</p>
<p>But Rav Yisrael Salanter didn’t apply this principle about safety to
overriding every mitzvah.</p>
<p>Because Rabbi Dov Katz records that during the same epidemic, Rabbi Yisrael
and the members of his kollel taking care of those who got the disease. Rav
Yisrael even rented a building to set up a 1,500 bed hospital, and raised
other money in addition to tend to their patients.</p>
<p>Yes, it’s true that “וחי בהם” places life ahead of
<em>mitzvos</em>. It is also true that we follow Rabbi Akiva, that if lost in
a desert with someone else, and you has enough water that you somehow
(miraculously) knew was only enough to save one of you, that “חייך
קודמים” (your own life comes first – <a
href="https://www.sefaria.org/Bava_Metzia.62a.2" target="_blank"
rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">BM 62a</a>).But when it comes to the
mitzvah of saving others’ lives, risking your life is not only
permitted, it is meritorious. (Although admittedly not obligatory.)</p>
<p>And in reality, that is what we are speaking about here too. Most of the
people attending unsafe minyanim and otherwise ignoring medical guidelines are
only adding a minimal risk to their own lives. It’s the lives of those
more medically fragile who are facing the real risk when their community
becomes the local hotspot.</p>
<p>And so, the message Rav Yisrael left us is even more poignant. While our
own lives are a higher priority than eating on Yom Kippur, we are allowed and
encourage (although again, not obligated) to make others’ lives even a
higher priority yet!</p>
</div><br>
</font><br>
<br>
You may view the latest post at<br>
<a
href="https://www.aishdas.org/asp/rys-epidemics-priorities">https://www.aishdas.org/asp/rys-epidemics-priorities</a><br>
<br>
You received this e-mail because you asked to be notified when new updates are
posted.<br>
Best regards,<br>
micha<br>
micha@aishdas.org</body></html>