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DEUTERONOMY — 4:15 careful

DEUT99 A person must place himself on a temporary footing in this world and a permanent one in relation to his service [of the Eternal]. With worldly matters, he must be content and satisfied with whatever he happens to find; he must take from what comes his way, shun ease and be prepared to work and toil; and his heart should be secure in its trust in the Eternal, without fear of the consequences that time and its afflictions may bring. But you may object: "We find that the Sages required one to protect himself carefully, wherever he is, and not place himself in danger, even if he is a tzaddik and a man of deeds. And, they said (Kesubos 30a): 'Everything is in the hands of Heaven except [illnesses that result from] the cold and the heat,' and it is clearly written [this verse]: 'You shall be very careful of yourselves.' So we see that one cannot decide to 'have trust in the Eternal' in all circumstances, as it further states: 'Even for a mitzvah [one must be careful not to endanger himself] [see Pesachim 8b]." One has to distinguish between different kinds of fear: there is fear that is appropriate and fear that is irrational. There is "trusting in the Eternal" and there is recklessness. For the Master, Blessed be He, created man with an intelligent mind and the ability to reason, so that he would be able to conduct himself properly and safeguard himself from the noxious phenomena that have been created to punish evildoers. One who chooses to ignore wisdom and is willing to place himself in danger is not displaying trust but rather recklessness. [Such a person] is sinning by flouting the will of the Creator, may His Name be blessed, who wants man to protect himself.

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DEUTERONOMY — 4:15 careful

DEUT100 Eating on Yom Kippur is prohibited only to those who are healthy, while the commandment to seriously ill people is to eat. Thus, a person who is supposed to eat on Yom Kippur, but doesn't, commits as much a violation of Jewish law as the person who is supposed to fast, but doesn't. As Rabbi Israel Salanter taught: "A sick person who is very ill is exempt from all the commandments except one, "And you shall be very careful with your lives'" [this verse].

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DEUTERONOMY — 4:15 guard

DEUT110 A clear distinction must be made between those injuries that are caused by defective equipment or some act of negligence on the part of the employer or are the result of his assets or interests and those in which the employer is blameless. In the former type of case, the worker, like any other injured party, is entitled to the fivefold damages awarded by the halakhah. (These damages embrace loss of income, loss of limb, medical expenses, pain incurred, and the shame resulting from the injury.) Our concern here is solely with the employer's responsibility to share in the social and medical costs incurred in the course of his employment of others but for which he is not directly or indirectly responsible. Our question is to what extent is the worker-employer relationship, extended by the halakhah, as distinct from custom or specific contract, to include such costs. The general halachic principle seems to be that work, just like any other human activity, has its normal element of risk, which has been considered and accepted by the worker upon his acceptance of employment. In other words, the employer does not have any automatic obligations to shoulder the social costs arising out of such risk. This may be seen from the Talmudic discussion concerning a worker who was injured in a tree during the harvesting of dates and olives. The rabbis in that discussion held that the worker, in his desire to earn the wages offered, knowingly took upon himself this risk. [Talmud Bavli, Baba Metzia 112a, as explained by Rashi.] A responsum written in 13th century Spain, rejecting a similar claim for damages, explained that the worker accepted the job despite his knowledge that incidents like this were to be expected in this type of work. [T’shuvot HaRashba 20 (attributed to the Ramban). Also reproduced in the Bet Yosef, Choshen Mishpat, section 188.] Many avenues of employment, however, present elements of risk far in excess of normal, everyday activities. Workers, like all people, are by halachic sources forbidden to place themselves in danger, in accordance with the biblical dictum “And thou shalt surely guard yourselves very much” (Deuteronomy 4:15). Understanding that it is not possible to lead risk free lives, the sages accepted a concept of “normal acceptable risk,” beyond which people were not allowed to place themselves in jeopardy. In our own day [book published 1987-AJL], such industries as coal mining, with its association with black lung disease, or the asbestos or nuclear industries may present an abnormal risk. A labor contract exposing workers to such risk would seem to be contrary to the obligation to guard one's body against harm and therefore not acceptable, even if the workers agreed to it.

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DEUTERONOMY — 4:15 guard

DEUT111 One is not permitted to do damage to one's own body and is required to look after it, since it is a gift from God. Therefore one has the responsibility to refrain from bad habits or from placing himself in danger for the sake of sport or thrills or pleasure, in accordance with the biblical injunction “You shall surely guard your lives very carefully” (Deuteronomy 4:15). On such grounds, for example, cigarette smoking has been forbidden by some present-day halachic authorities. [Assia 35, Jerusalem, pp. 10-15.] Even those who question this ruling hold that it is forbidden in public places, since it damages others. [Iggrot Moshe, Yoreh De’ah, part 2, section 49; part 7; Choshen Mishpat, part 2, section 18. 31] Judaism’s treatment of damage caused by one individual to another does not rest only on the necessity for monetary compensation and for the removal of the cause of damage, irrespective of whether it is to another’s (or one’s own) body or to his property. Great lengths were taken, both in the moralistic literature and in the legal codes, to inculcate in the Jew a duty to prevent damage, even when such damage was not caused either by him or by his property. The halakhic sources stressed that it is a man's duty to prevent his neighbor from suffering loss or from undergoing pain or physical suffering. This is in contrast to many modern societies, wherein people are taught to mind their own business and so to refrain from interfering when others are being caused financial damage or bodily harm. The collective responsibility of Jews for one another, which has been stressed throughout this chapter, makes such an attitude impossible.

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