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147

DEUTERONOMY | 4:15 guard — DEUT111 One is not permitted to do damage to one'...

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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Source KeyTAMARI
Verse4:15
Keyword(s)guard
Source Page(s)299-300

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