[Avodah] pikuach nefesh?

[Zev Sero via Avodah]

On 19/01/17 19:32, Micha Berger wrote:
> On Thu, Jan 19, 2017 at 01:31:15PM -0500, Zev Sero via Avodah wrote:
> :> Riding in a car with a non-Jewish chaufeur would be a shevus.
> :
> : It's not even 100% clear that it would be a shevus, especially if
> : they're not in a car of their own.  The secret service chauffeur
> : will be working regardless of whether they're in the car or not.
> : Even if they are on their own, that car would probably be driving
> : someone else if they were not there.
>
> But he opens the door and thereby turns on the light for you. He is
> driving a particular route for you.

Why does it matter what route he takes? It's the same melacha no matter 
what the route is, and he'd be opening the door for whoever his 
passenger was.    He's doing it because it's his job, and he's employed 
by the Secret Service, not by you.  You're just literally along for the 
ride.  It's not as if he's driving you around all day to wherever you 
want to go, so you determine how much melacha he does.  It's more like 
riding  bus or train that would be going whether you're on it or not. 
But leravcha demilsa, if I were asked I'd advise inviting one of her 
non-Jewish brothers to come home with them, so that everything can be 
attributed to him, and ner le'echad ner lemei'ah.  Later he can get a 
car home.



> : The situation here is not so clear because it's not as if Trump will
> : disown them if they politely say they have to leave the inauguration
> : early....
>
> However, it may impact their effectiveness with the people Mr Trump
> will be dealing with.

I don't see how.  Those people know that this is the president's 
daughter and son-in-law, and will treat them the same regardless of how 
early they left the inauguration.


> Like my case with the autocrat... Regardless of what PE Trump may
> think, if when visiting Jordan, the royal kitchen makes a mistake
> with the chicken they bought from one kosher vender and the chesse
> they bought from another... may they eat it and risk offending
> King Abdullah?

This is more a shayla for an Israeli ambassador than for them.  Yehuda 
Avner a"h probably asked this shayla at some point in his career.  If 
this was a serious risk then I can easily see room for a heter.


-- 
Zev Sero                May 2017, with its *nine* days of Chanukah,
zev at sero.name           be a brilliant year for us all