<div dir="ltr"><font size="4"><font face="Arial">RRW:<b> </b></font></font><span><span><font size="5"><span style="font-size: 18px;"><font face="Arial">The concept of </font></span></font></span><span><i><font size="5"><span style="font-size: 18px;"><font face="Arial">Shomer Pesa'im Hashem</font></span></font></i></span><span><font size="5"><span style="font-size: 18px;"><font face="Arial"> only applies to people who cannot help themselves.</font></span></font></span></span><div class="gmail_quote">
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;"><div style=""><span style="font-family: Times;"></span><div><span><font size="5"><span style="font-size: 18px;"><font face="Arial">...there are people sufficiently disturbed mentally where they cannot be held responsible (as we would) for committing suicide. My question is: Why didn't HaShem protect them? To answer He only protects </font></span></font><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><font size="5"><span style="font-size: 18px;"><font face="Arial">fools</font></span></font></span><font size="5"><span style="font-size: 18px;"><font face="Arial"> but not </font></span></font><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><font size="5"><span style="font-size: 18px;"><font face="Arial">mentally ill</font></span></font></span><font size="5"><span style="font-size: 18px;"><font face="Arial"> people would not be a satisfactory answer in our enlightened day and age. Also, to commit suicide is certainly a </font></span></font><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><font size="5"><span style="font-size: 18px;"><font face="Arial">foolish</font></span></font></span><font size="5"><span style="font-size: 18px;"><font face="Arial"> act, so why wouldn't </font></span></font><i><font size="5"><span style="font-size: 18px;"><font face="Arial">shomer pesaim HaShem </font></span></font></i><font size="5"><span style="font-size: 18px;"><font face="Arial">come into play?</font></span></font></span></div>
</div></blockquote></div><br>I think shomer pesa'im H' applies to actions that carry a pretty low risk. For example, riding in a car without a seatbelt or riding a bike without a helmet, or snowboarding. Most people who do this will be just fine, even without Divine intervention. So if a person acts this way out of foolishness, H' protects him. But jumping off a bridge or shooting oneself is an action that carries an almost certain risk of death. I don't think shomer pesa'im H' means that G-d will do a nes to save a person who does something super-dangerous.<br>
<br>Shomer pesa'im also applies only to normal actions that normal people do (once upon a time, this included not using seatbelts and helmets; normal people still snowboard). B"H most normal people do not attempt suicide.<br>
<br>- Ilana<br></div>