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...
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Rabbi Yosef Sprung
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...
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 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 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...
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)...
