LEV211 A fundamental Jewish concept gleaned from several chapters in this volume is that there is no higher priority in Judaism than the value of life. If the man's life is indeed in danger, then Maimonides (and normative Jewish law) rules that a Jew can violate every one of the Commandments in the Torah, except for the three cardinal sins (adultery, idol-worship, and murder) in order to save a human life--any human life, even a sick one (Maimonides, Hilchot Yesodai HaTorah 5:1-2). This is based on [this] verse that commands a Jew to stay alive in order to observe the commandments. The Talmud interprets this command to signify that it is preferable to violate one commandment like Shabbat in order to keep many more Sabbaths in the future, and uses the Torah phrase, "You shall live by them," to deduce that you shall not die by them (i.e., the commandments) (Yoma 85b).