Q&A: Lice
Lice
Question
Hello Rabbi!
I wanted to ask whether it is permissible to kill a louse on the Sabbath. Beit Hillel said that it is permissible to kill a louse on the Sabbath because it is not a “creature.” But today, when we know that a louse is in fact a creature, should killing it be prohibited?
Answer
In my opinion, definitely.
Discussion on Answer
Why would it be a rabbinic prohibition?
You could say that it does not meet the halakhic definition of a creature, but that it would still be appropriate to prohibit it rabbinically, because in the end a person feels that this is killing.
The fact that it would be appropriate to prohibit it does not make it a prohibition. When the Sanhedrin prohibits it, then it will be a prohibition.
But I already wrote that this is the ordinary Torah-level prohibition of taking a life. So what exactly is the discussion here?
Do you mean that it is a Torah-level prohibition, or only prohibited rabbinically?