A Call to Action: The Power of Saving Lives on Yom Kippur

We're unfortunately still in the midst of a conflict. Jews are defending against ruthless enemies from both the south and north, day and night. Fighting happens even on Shabbat if it means saving lives. But remember, it's not just guns and tanks that save lives—any form of assistance counts.

The halacha dictates that when a life is at risk, "he who asks is reprehensible": one mustn't hesitate to question if it's "really" a matter of life or death or only "possibly". First, do whatever you can. If someone faints, G-d forbid, you call an ambulance first; only then do you inquire if they're in danger. It's the way to go.

Because, thank G-d, we encounter fewer life-threatening situations in daily life, awareness isn't always high. When asked why he seems lenient when advising people not to fast, the Brisker Rav responded: I am not lenient; I am stringent about preserving life.

Over a century ago, a dangerous epidemic hit Lithuania. At that time, physicians proclaimed that fasting posed a danger, as the body needed to be strong and nourished to combat the outbreak effectively. Approaching Yom Kippur, it was hard for Jews to digest this. Not to fast on the holiest day due to a potential epidemic? That's flawed thinking: even if you can handle illness, perhaps your father, an elderly Jew, might catch it from you, G-d forbid. Fasting when the doctor advises against it is not "piety"; it's a disregard for the severe prohibition of risking lives.

So, that year, after the morning prayers of Yom Kippur, the young prodigy Rabbi Yisrael Salanter ascended the platform of the Kovno synagogue, before a crowd of senior scholars and community leaders. He made kiddush over wine, ate, and urged everyone present to join him. This is what the mitzvah of preserving the lives of Israel looks like!

In the year 1919, after a pogrom against Ukrainian Jews, Rabbi Moshe Karelitz stood on the platform during the midst of Shabbat services and urged the congregants to head home and return with funds for the families urgently in need. His brother, the Chazon Ish, justified this action, stating it was the best way to gather maximum aid at that time.

Rabbi Yechiel Yaakov Weinberg recounts his time in the Warsaw Ghetto, where the distress and horrendous suffering inflicted upon the Jews sometimes belittled the value of saving a life in the eyes of some. But he couldn't tolerate this. One Shabbat, two Jews lay severely faint at the synagogue exit, evidently from lack of food. Rabbi Weinberg rushed home, gathered all the money he had, and stood at the synagogue's entrance saying: Jews, don't walk on; help them, and I will cover the cost. He tried to instill the proper perspective: saving a life overrides Shabbat, and any action that aids in saving lives is an obligation.

Interestingly, the threat of forced conversion is also considered life-threatening by the halachic authorities. There was a case of a man whose daughter was kidnapped by Christians attempting to convert her, and the city's rabbis permitted violating Shabbat to pursue them for her rescue, as through this, she would merit observing many Shabbats to come.