신명기 22:2의 Halakhah

Rambam, both in his Commentary on the Mishnah, Nedarim 4:4, and in Mishneh Torah, Hilkhot Nedarim 6:8, declares that the obligation to render medical assistance is encompassed within the scriptural exhortation "And you shall restore it to him" (Deuteronomy 22:2). Although, in context, the verse refers explicitly to restoration of lost property, the Gemara, Sanhedrin 73a, declares that this verse establishes an obligation to "restore" a fellow man's life as well as his property and, accordingly, posits an obligation to rescue a neighbor from danger such as drowning, mauling by an animal or being set upon by bandits. A number of latter-day authorities comment that the accompanying negative prohibition, "You may not hide yourself" (Deuteronomy 22:3) similarly applies to "restoration" of life as well as of property. The Gemara, Sanhedrin 73a, also cites the admonition "Nor shall you stand idly by the blood of your fellow" (Leviticus 19:16) as requiring intervention in the aforementioned situations in order to preserve life.

Judaism, on the contrary, posits a clear and unequivocal obligation to preserve the life of another. The attitude reflected in that requirement is most eloquently captured in a talmudic passage regarding the creation of Adam: "Therefore, only a single human being was created in the world, to teach that if any person has caused a single soul of Israel to perish, Scripture regards him as if he had caused an entire world to perish; and if any human being saves a single soul in Israel, Scripture regards him as if he had saved an entire world" (Sanhedrin 37a). The normative obligation to save the life of an endangered person is formulated by the Gemara, Sanhedrin 73a, on the basis of two separate biblical texts. The first is the scriptural exhortation with regard to restoration of lost property, "and you shall return it to him" (Deuteronomy 22:2). On the basis of a pleonasm in the Hebrew text, the Gemara declares that this verse establishes an obligation to restore a fellow man's body as well as his property. A second source is the command "nor shall you stand idly by the blood of your fellow" (Leviticus 19:16). As indicated by the Gemara, Sanhedrin 73a, the latter obligation mandates not only the rendering of personal assistance, as is the case with regard to the positive obligation applicable to restoration of lost property, but, by virtue of inclusion in the negative commandment, the obligation is expanded to encompass commitment of financial resources for the sake of preserving the life of a fellow man.⁵For sources elucidating the specific application of these obligations to medical intervention see this writer’s “The Obligation to Heal in the Judaic Tradition: A Comparative Analysis,” Jewish Bioethics (New York, 1981), ed. Fred Rosner and J. David Bleich, pp. 1–55; and J. David Bleich, Judaism and Healing (New York, 1981), pp. 1–10.

A latter-day authority, R. Yehudah Leib Zirelson, Teshuvot Azei ha-Levanon, no. 61, asserts that the obligations posited by the Gemara, Sanhedrin 73a, apply under nonlife-threatening circumstances no less than in life-threatening situations. The verse "And you shall restore it to him" (Deuteronomy 22:2) mandates not only the return of lost property but, a fortiori, preservation of life as well. The verse, then, does not refer only to the return of objects of material value. Accordingly, declares Azei ha-Levanon, restoration of health to a person suffering from an illness is assuredly included in the commandment, "And you shall restore it to him."