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DEUTERONOMY | 22:2 return — DEUT1103 Non-therapeutic life–saving intervention...

DEUT1103 Non-therapeutic life–saving intervention is Talmudically mandated on independent grounds. The Talmud, Sanhedrin 73a, posits an obligation to rescue a neighbor from danger such as drowning or being mauled by an animal. This obligation is predicated upon the scriptural exhortation with regard to the restoration of lost property, "And thou shalt return it to him" [this verse]. On the basis of a pleonasm in the Hebrew text, the Talmud declares that this verse includes an obligation to restore a fellow-man's body as well as his property. Hence, there is created an obligation to come to the aid of one's fellow man in a life-threatening situation. Noteworthy is the fact that Maimonides (Commentary on the Mishnah, Nedarim 4:4; cf. Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Hilkhot Nedarim 6:8), going beyond the example supplied by the Talmud, posits this source as the basis of the obligation to render medical care. Maimonides declares that the Biblical command and "and thou shalt return it to him" establishes an obligation requiring the physician to render professional services in life-threatening situations. Every individual, insofar as he is able, is obligated to restore the health of a fellow man no less than he is obligated to restore his property. Maimonides views this as a binding religious obligation.

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Source KeyROSNER-BLEICH
Verse22:2
Keyword(s)return
Source Page(s)23
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