Rabbi Yosef Sprung
הרב ישראל מאיר מלכה
Question: Dear Rabbi Sprung, I work in the hospital emergency room. I try to find the time to Daven, but I don’t always manage to due to the intense nature of the work. This is especially common in the winter when...
From the Rabbi’s Desk: Shabbos Showers
Question: Dear Rabbi Sprung, I am a resident in Chutz laAretz. My supervisor allows me to go home for Shabbos, provided that I leave the hospital just before Shabbos begins and return immediately after Shabbos. Baruch...
From the Rabbi’s Desk[1]: In Hot Water
Question: Dear Rabbi Sprung, Last Shabbos, I stayed at my father’s bedside in a hospital (in Eretz Yisrael). As I walked through the hallway, I saw one of the workers repairing the Shabbos urn. The urn in question had a...
Etzem Yom haZeh: A Halachic Guide to Asara b’Teves[1]
On the 10th of Teves, Nevuchadnetzar, king of Babylon, arrived and laid siege to the holy city of Yerushalayim. This marked the onset of the destruction of the first Beis haMikdash, prompting the Sages to designate this...
Ba’Yamim haHem ba’Zman ha’Zeh: Vaccination and Preventive Medicine
Ever since Hashem granted medical scientists the wisdom to eradicate a vast array of terrible, deadly diseases with vaccination, many millions of lives have been saved. Despite this, there is division among the general...
Responding to Psychotrauma on Shabbos
In times of war and terrorist attacks, psychotrauma first responder units play a crucial role in emergency healthcare services. These units consist of social workers and other mental health professionals whose main...
Dementia and Ma’ase Shabbos
Unfortunately, patients with advanced dementia often lose the ability to remember the day of the week, and even when oriented to the day of the week may not recall that a particular action is prohibited on Shabbos. They...
May I Go Home Now? – Part 5
The first four essays in the series extensively reviewed the Halachic issues related to medical personnel returning home on Shabbos after responding to an emergency or completing a shift in the hospital. In this week’s...
May I Go Home Now? – Part 4
The past several essays have discussed the Sugya of Hitiru Sofan miShum Techilasan – the Halachic principle that allows a person who has left the Techum to save lives to return home after completing his mission. As we...
May I Go Home Now? – Part 3
The previous two essays in this series have detailed the Halachos for medical personnel who wish to return home on Shabbos following a life-saving act. We concluded that while some Poskim forbid violating Issurim...
May I Go Home Now? – Part 2
The initial essay in this series discussed the Machlokes between the Rosh and Rambam regarding the application of the principle of “Hitiru Sofan miShum Techilasan” to soldiers who leave the Techum to save lives. The...
May I Go Home Now? – Part I
One of the most frequently discussed topics in medical Halacha is “Hitiru Sofan miShum Techilasan” (“they permitted the end due to the beginning”). Doctors, nurses, and medical personnel encounter many scenarios that...
Shabbos “Speech”
“And Hashem E-lokim formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul (Targum Onkelos – l’Ruach M’malela – a speaking spirit)” (Bereishis 2:7)...
Minimum Necessary
There is a fundamental Machlokes Rishonim concerning Chillul Shabbos for a Choleh sheYesh Bo Sakana. According to one view, it is ideal to perform any necessary actions with either a Shinui or through a non-Jew if this...
“Leisheiv baSukka” Without Eating
The Gemara (Sukka 46a) teaches that “one who enters a Sukka recites a Bracha – Asher Kid’shanu b’Mitzvosav v’Tzivanu Leisheiv baSukka”. There is no limit to how many times one may recite this Bracha each day; one should...
To Fast at Home or To Eat in Shul?
In a previous essay[1], we discussed the question of a Choleh who is restricted to fasting once in ten days. Should he fast on Yom Kippur or Tzom Gedalia? That discussion focused on the important Halachic question of...
