Just to add a word to Ms. Schwartz’s comments, specifically one of the last points she makes:
“Violating shabbos for any reason-even saving a Jewish life, is not simple. The gemara in Yoma 85a[-b], brings 7 different pessukim in attempts to find the source for pikuach nefesh on shabbos. Though the gemara concludes with "Ve'chay bahem"-ve'lo she'yamut bahem, as the ultimate source, the fact that all 7 are quoted may imply that we need the weight of all 7 to justify violating shabbos at all. The Gr"a says that there is no greater sin then violating shabbos”.
I think this point is a particularly important one because it frames the discussion in a whole different light. Because of the naturally unpleasant reaction this Halacha engenders both by us Torah observant Jews (as discussed by Mrs. Appel), as well as those less familiar with Torah law, the question is usually asked and answered with the focus being on why and how the Torah could even entertain the possibility that a non-Jew be allowed to die simply because a Jew refuses to do melacha on Shabbat. I think perhaps that we should look at the issue differently. It is not that we love the non-Jew any less, but that we love the Shabbat more than almost anything else- to the extent that the Gemara (at least in its most basic understanding) needs to find a source which would allow us to violate Shabbat under any circumstances even to save the life of a Jew. Chazal were aware that pikuach nefesh doche Shabbat applies under all circumstances and yet they struggled to find a suitable source for why. Once we are no longer dealing with a Jew though, and our arguments and our sources which allow for the desecration of Shabbat disappear, we must then ask the question again this time relying on new sources and other rationale.
“Violating shabbos for any reason-even saving a Jewish life, is not simple. The gemara in Yoma 85a[-b], brings 7 different pessukim in attempts to find the source for pikuach nefesh on shabbos. Though the gemara concludes with "Ve'chay bahem"-ve'lo she'yamut bahem, as the ultimate source, the fact that all 7 are quoted may imply that we need the weight of all 7 to justify violating shabbos at all. The Gr"a says that there is no greater sin then violating shabbos”.
I think this point is a particularly important one because it frames the discussion in a whole different light. Because of the naturally unpleasant reaction this Halacha engenders both by us Torah observant Jews (as discussed by Mrs. Appel), as well as those less familiar with Torah law, the question is usually asked and answered with the focus being on why and how the Torah could even entertain the possibility that a non-Jew be allowed to die simply because a Jew refuses to do melacha on Shabbat. I think perhaps that we should look at the issue differently. It is not that we love the non-Jew any less, but that we love the Shabbat more than almost anything else- to the extent that the Gemara (at least in its most basic understanding) needs to find a source which would allow us to violate Shabbat under any circumstances even to save the life of a Jew. Chazal were aware that pikuach nefesh doche Shabbat applies under all circumstances and yet they struggled to find a suitable source for why. Once we are no longer dealing with a Jew though, and our arguments and our sources which allow for the desecration of Shabbat disappear, we must then ask the question again this time relying on new sources and other rationale.
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