Q&A: Life-Saving Concern
Life-Saving Concern
Question
Dear Rabbi Dr. Michael Abraham, hello,
I work in coronavirus testing as a lab worker, and my role is extracting the virus’s genetic material. I have been becoming religious over the past two years, and my background in Jewish law is somewhat weak. My workplace operates every day of the week. I would like to know whether, in your opinion, there is a life-saving concern here that would justify working on the Sabbath. I am not familiar enough with the halakhic material, so I would be grateful if you could help me, or, if it is too much trouble, point me to the relevant sources so I can look into it. If there are questions about the nature of the work that could help clarify the issue, I would be happy to answer.
Thank you in advance,
Moshe
Answer
I didn’t understand what the work is. Are you researching the virus or diagnosing people?
But in either case, in my opinion it does not justify desecrating the Sabbath, unless there is something critical about those few hours of work that clearly prevents loss of life.
Discussion on Answer
As I said, in my estimation this does not justify desecrating the Sabbath. But of course I do not fully know the reality on the ground. Does anyone there explain to you why work is needed on the Sabbath? What would happen if you did not work on the Sabbath?
No one gave a reason, and from the outset I asked there not to work on the Sabbath, and they agreed to hire me, which means they knew it would not be essential. I do not think anything would happen if someone received his results on Sunday rather than on the Sabbath. I do not think there is any real life-saving concern here, but as I said, I preferred to ask someone who seemed knowledgeable on the halakhic level.
Thank you very, very much,
Moshe
Hello, and thank you for the quick response.
The work is diagnosis, not research on the virus. I belong to the team that receives all the people’s tests, in order to analyze them and then pass on to the Ministry of Health whether the results are positive or negative.
Moshe