The Sick Person on Yom Tov - Rabbi Eyal Peled shlita

00:02 Speaker 1 You’re listening to “Lema’an Yishme’u,” a podcast from Machon Halacha Chabad.

00:09 Speaker 2 Doing melacha for someone who is ill. When we talk about someone who is ill, we know that on Shabbos there’s the rabbinic decree—actually, no, we’re not talking about a decree. We’re talking now about doing melacha for someone who is ill: turning on a light for them, heating a stove for them, cooking for them, and the like. So, broadly speaking, the rule is the same as on Shabbos. I may not do melacha for someone who is ill; a melacha prohibited by Torah law is forbidden. We’re talking about someone whose illness is not life-threatening. If the person does meet that definition—they’re bedridden, their whole body has become weak, and so on—then I may do melachos prohibited by rabbinic law for them. That’s the basic rule: a rabbinically prohibited melacha, what’s called a shevus, is permitted for someone whose illness is not life-threatening. The Alter Rebbe writes that it should be done with a shinui, in an unusual manner. In fact, the Alter Rebbe also permits melachos prohibited by Torah law if they’re done with a shinui where it isn’t possible to have a non-Jew do them, and so on. But rabbinically prohibited melachos are permitted for someone whose illness is not life-threatening. What happens, though, is that the category of rabbinic prohibitions takes on a different form on Yom Tov. That is, many melachos prohibited by Torah law on Shabbos are, on Yom Tov, prohibited only by rabbinic law. We need to pay attention to that. The most prominent example, perhaps, is kindling a fire. We’ve learned that on Yom Tov you may light one fire from another, but you may not create a new fire. Yet even creating a new fire is prohibited by rabbinic law, not Torah law. According to the vast majority of halachic authorities, it’s a rabbinic prohibition because it creates something new. So when we’re dealing with someone who is ill, we may kindle a fire for their needs. What does that mean in practice? Let’s take a few simple examples, from which we can apply the principle further. For example, calling a doctor for

02:14 Speaker 2 the patient. Now, I don’t know whether making the call and operating the telephone involve kindling prohibited by Torah law. Presumably, the lights involved aren’t subject to the Torah prohibition against kindling. But even if they are—even if a spark or something else is ignited—on Yom Tov that’s only a rabbinic prohibition, so doing it for someone who is ill is permitted. The only thing is that, as we said, I need to do it with a shinui. So I may call a doctor to come see the patient, and ideally I should make the call with a shinui. Likewise, if, G-d forbid, someone is lying ill in a bed like the ones we know from hospitals, where you can press a button to adjust the bed’s position, I may do that on Yom Tov. Of course, once again, all of this applies when there’s no other option. If I can call a non-Jewish nurse or someone else to do it, then of course I should. But if no one is available, it’s permitted. I should also try to press the button with a shinui. Although pressing the buttons creates kindling and the like, it’s permitted because, again, that is only a rabbinic prohibition—a shevus permitted for someone who is ill—and ideally I’ll do it with a shinui. There’s a very important, central question when we discuss doing melacha for someone who is ill. Until now, we’ve talked about melachos that are prohibited on Yom Tov. The question is about melachos permitted on Yom Tov for food preparation: cooking, kindling a fire, most forms of grinding, kneading, and so on.

04:11 Speaker 2 All these melachos are permitted on Yom Tov for food preparation. The question we face is whether we may also do them for someone who is ill. What’s the problem? The question is whether the needs of someone who is ill count as a need shared by everyone. As we said earlier, melachos permitted for food preparation are also permitted for other bodily needs, under the principle that since they were permitted for food, they were permitted for other purposes too. As we’ve discussed in halacha, a melacha such as kindling a fire isn’t permitted only for food; since it was permitted for that purpose, it was also permitted for other bodily needs, such as heating and laundry. So now the question arises: I want to kindle a fire for someone who is ill. An ordinary person who feels well doesn’t need this fire. Why would they need the extra warmth now? It would bother them. Only the patient needs it. So is the patient’s need one that’s shared by everyone? Ordinary people don’t need it. We’re talking about an exceptional person, someone especially sensitive who needs something specific. Can I do a melacha for that person? There are indeed many halachic authorities who maintain that I cannot do even otherwise permitted melachos for someone who is ill on Yom Tov. They include Shmiras Shabbos Kehilchasah, Responsa Chelkas Yaakov, and others. They follow the view that even melachos normally permitted on Yom Tov may be done for someone who is ill only under the same conditions we discussed for doing otherwise prohibited melachos for them: if the prohibition is only

06:10 Speaker 2 rabbinic and it’s done with a shinui, and so on. So these melachos, too, must be done within those same limits. That’s one side of the question. On the other hand, there are other, very important halachic authorities. We’re not trying to rank their importance here, but these are certainly leading authorities: the Pri Megadim, Ksav Sofer, Avnei Nezer, Sdei Chemed, and Imrei Binah. They hold that melachos permitted on Yom Tov may also be done for someone who is ill. In other words, in their view, the patient’s needs count as needs shared by everyone, and I may do melachos for the patient as I would for any such need. We can explain their reasoning. I think the Avnei Nezer puts it this way: “I’m not looking at the patient’s immediate, specific need. This particular fire, right now, may indeed not be needed by everyone; it’s only for the patient. But let’s look at the goal. Why am I doing this melacha? So the person will recover. Health is something everyone needs. Everyone wants to be healthy. So the purpose of this action is to help a person recover, and health is a need shared by everyone.” That, it seems, is the reasoning behind these authorities’ position. So in practice, although the Alter Rebbe apparently doesn’t address this particular point, it seems there is a strong basis for permitting it. After all, these are very important halachic authorities—the Pri Megadim, for instance. It’s known that the Alter Rebbe once said that when the

08:22 Speaker 2 A heavenly voice proclaimed that the halachah follows the Pri Megadim in every case, so the Pri Megadim is a very important halachic authority. There is another explanation that may help make sense of this. The Imrei Binah explains, based on the Chinuch, that the Chinuch holds that activities directly connected with eating and drinking do not have to meet the condition of being needed by everyone. That requirement applies when we are talking about activities that do not involve food and drink—heating, bathing, and things like that. Those must be needs shared by everyone. But when we are talking about activities that enable me to eat and drink, the Chinuch holds that this condition does not apply. Eating and drinking are universal, basic, essential needs, and one may perform melachos for them. So when we look at melachos needed for a sick person, we can say that preparing medicine for him, or something similar, is considered like eating and drinking and would be permitted. That is the Imrei Binah’s reasoning based on the Chinuch’s position. So in practice, there are substantial grounds for leniency here, and it seems that where there is a need, we can rely on the authorities who permit performing melachos on Yom Tov for a sick person. Continuing with the actions and melachos we encounter and want to perform for a sick person, there is another issue. It is not a melachah, but it is a prohibition in its own right: taking medicine on Shabbos or Yom Tov. No melachah is being done; I am only taking medicine. But we know that taking medicine on Shabbos is prohibited. The basis and reason for this prohibition is a decree,

10:27 Speaker 2 the decree against grinding medicinal ingredients. The Sages were concerned that if I were allowed to take medicine, I might also come to grind medicinal ingredients and the like to prepare medicine for myself on Shabbos. That is why taking medicine is prohibited on Shabbos. The question is whether taking medicine is also prohibited on Yom Tov. There is some disagreement about this, but one can say that most halachic authorities follow the Magen Avraham. The Magen Avraham draws an inference from the wording of the Shulchan Aruch in the laws of Chol Hamoed. The Shulchan Aruch says that throughout Chol Hamoed one may take medicine. He infers that taking medicine is permitted specifically on Chol Hamoed, but not on Yom Tov. Otherwise, the Shulchan Aruch would have stated the greater novelty—that it is permitted even on Yom Tov. From this, he concludes that taking medicine on Yom Tov is prohibited just as it is on Shabbos. That is the Magen Avraham’s position, and many halachic authorities agree with him. On the other hand, there are also authorities who take the opposite view. There are not many, but responsa Avodas Hashem and responsa [unclear] permit taking medicine on Yom Tov. Their reasoning is also based on the fact that the entire decree concerns grinding medicinal ingredients, while grinding is, on the Torah level, permitted on Yom Tov. Grinding is a melachah permitted on Yom Tov. So they say this would be a decree upon a decree, since the prohibition on grinding here is only rabbinic. Accordingly, in their view, taking medicine on Yom Tov is permitted. But again, we do not simply rely on this without qualification, because the prevailing view among the halachic authorities is to prohibit taking medicine on Yom Tov. Where there is considerable suffering, though—someone is in significant pain, for example—there is room for leniency, of course after consulting a rabbi. One should call a rabbi or find

12:32 Speaker 2 a rabbi, explain the situation, and the rabbi can permit it if he sees a need. Similarly, consider someone who began taking medicine before Yom Tov. On Shabbos there is some question about this. We generally say that if I started before Shabbos, I can continue on Shabbos, but what about cases where, seemingly, nothing would happen if I did not take it on Shabbos? There are certain medicines that, once I have started taking them, I need to continue; stopping could cause harm. But there are medicines I took before Shabbos, yet who says that pausing on Shabbos would cause any harm? So there is room for a question here. On Yom Tov, however, we can be lenient, since there are authorities who permit taking medicine on Yom Tov. The Tzitz Eliezer in particular has a lengthy responsum on the subject. He understands that the prohibition applies only to preparing the medicine. He adds various other grounds for leniency regarding taking medicine on Yom Tov. One can understand the prohibition as applying when I prepare or make the medicine on Yom Tov, while taking the medicine itself may be permitted. There is also room to say that if the medicine has an immediate beneficial effect and one feels some relief, it counts as a Yom Tov need, which provides another basis for leniency. So what practical difference does this make? If someone has at least taken the medicine before Yom Tov, then even regarding the decree against grinding medicinal ingredients—the concern that he might come to grind them—there is strong reason to say that, having already started before Yom Tov, he is not quite so, as they say, desperate

14:19 Speaker 2 about it. He already feels calmer; he has already begun treatment. So there is less reason to decree against it out of concern that he might grind medicinal ingredients. Compare that with telling someone to start taking medicine on Shabbos: because he is so anxious about it, he might come to grind medicinal ingredients. But once I started before Shabbos or before Yom Tov, the concern that I might grind them is weaker, and there is certainly room to permit it. Someone who took medicine before Yom Tov may continue on Yom Tov. Along similar lines, certain medicines are considered common remedies. People take them in all sorts of situations, and some take them regularly—Acamol, aspirin, and the like. With these medicines, we need to bear in mind that the decree against grinding medicinal ingredients is somewhat open to question nowadays. The Ketzos Hashulchan already discusses at length whether this decree is applicable today. None of us has a pharmacy at home. In the past, people really did grind medicinal ingredients. Today, medicines are made in pharmacies by professionals, not privately at home. So the question is whether the decree still applies. One could say that even today there are people who make medicines at home using old-fashioned methods, so there is still reason for concern. Nevertheless, the concern is weaker. Therefore, as the halachic authorities write, whenever there is another factor supporting leniency, another reason to be lenient in a case of doubt and the like, this consideration can also be included, and one may be lenient. So with common medicines such as Acamol and aspirin, the inclination is that there is more room for leniency. If someone has a headache and wants to take Acamol, the inclination is to permit it. This is based

16:08 Speaker 2 on the considerations we mentioned: that the decree against grinding medicinal ingredients is weaker nowadays, and that there are opinions permitting medicine on Yom Tov. Taking all this into account, one can be lenient with common medicines such as Acamol and aspirin, which are not even so clearly defined as medicine anymore. They are more something that helps a person function. So there is room for leniency. Similarly, suppose someone asks us, “I have medicine that I need to take on one of two days, one of which is Yom Tov and the other Shabbos. Which day is better for me to take it?” We would tell him to take it on Yom Tov, again because some halachic authorities permit taking medicine on Yom Tov. The same applies to vitamins. According to the Alter Rebbe, vitamins are problematic, even though this is not a sick person but someone who wants to strengthen his constitution and his body. The Alter Rebbe regards this as problematic, and one needs to be careful about it on Shabbos. But on Yom Tov we can be lenient. Many halachic authorities maintain that taking vitamins is permitted even on Shabbos, so on Yom Tov we have still more room for leniency, especially if the vitamins serve as a substitute for food. If someone knows that he does not eat vegetables or something like that and takes vitamins as a food substitute, there is no problem at all: it is considered just like eating, like food in every respect. Similarly, of course, medicines to prevent pregnancy and the like are not considered problematic. They do not present an issue of taking medicine: this is not an illness, and the medicine is not treating an illness. It…

17:57 Speaker 2 That would also be permitted. One more point about this: on the second day of Yom Tov, you may take medication as usual. All the restrictions and issues we discussed apply to the first day of Yom Tov. On the second day, those restrictions do not apply, and you may take medication as usual.