5839 —פקוח נפש פירושו סכנת נפשות ולא יסורים, ו"מדרכי ה'" שברמב"ם הלכות דעות

B"H, 12 Marcheshvan, 5718

Brooklyn.

The Rabbi and Gaon, a G‑d-fearing man, honored and elevated, etc., our teacher Rabbi Alter, may he live

Shalom u'Vrachah!

In reply to your letter of the 2nd of Marcheshvan, with your remarks on what was printed in Kovetz Lubavitch, year 5, issue 1, in the section of Responsa and Explanations, on what is said in Tanya, chapter 24, concerning pikuach nefesh, saving a life.

What you mean is not sufficiently clear in your letter, in that you wish to interpret pikuach nefesh as referring to suffering: whether you intend suffering that ends in death, or not necessarily. In any case, besides the fact that the expression pikuach nefesh itself means only the preservation of life and its loss, this is proven explicitly in several sugyos of the Talmud, and the prototype for them all (Yoma 85a) shows it at both extremes: a doubt of death overrides Shabbos even where there is no suffering; and the case of suffering without death is not discussed at all in that sugya, as it concludes: חלל עליו שבת אחת כדי שישמור שבתות הרבה "desecrate one Shabbos for him, so that he may keep many Shabbosos" (Yoma 85b). And likewise in other places in the Talmud.

b) In the same Kovetz, in the column Mahani Milei Me'alyasa, regarding what I noted on the Rambam, Laws of Character Traits, beginning of chapter 4, that seemingly it should have said "ways of the service of G‑d," and not "ways of G‑d": apparently you wish to interpret my intention as explaining the Rambam to mean that this is the command of ונשמרתם מאד לנפשותיכם "you shall greatly guard your souls" (Devarim 4:15).

But it is obvious that this is not what I intended. Rather, I meant that these words of the Rambam come as a continuation of the end of chapter 3, as is also implied by the opening of the chapter, הואיל וכו' "since, etc.": for he is speaking of what is explained at the end of chapter 3, ולא יוכל לעבוד את ה' והוא חולה, נמצאת שינה שלו עבודה למקום ב"ה "and he would not be able to serve G‑d while ill; his sleep thus becomes service of the Omnipresent, blessed be He," etc. That is to say, the opposite of illness, namely bodily health, is the way by which one will be able to serve G‑d. The Rambam's wording is not like the saying of our Sages, of blessed memory, הדבק בדרכיו מה הוא רחום וכו' "cling to His ways: just as He is merciful, etc." (see Rambam, Laws of Character Traits 1:6; Shabbos 133b), for that can be said with regard to being gracious and merciful, but, as is understood, it cannot be said with regard to bodily health.

With blessing,

M. Schneerson

As to your question on the Shulchan Aruch of the Alter Rebbe, 271:23, on the word "the first" (opinion): Kuntres HaShulchan of Rabbi Naeh has already noted that it should be corrected to "the last." This is also proven from the fact that the Alter Rebbe's wording here is the wording of the Rema on that passage.

Publisher's notes

Rabbi Alter (מו"ה אלתר שי'): Hilewitz, Johannesburg.

Summary

This letter clarifies two notes in Kovetz Lubavitch: pikuach nefesh means a threat to life itself, not suffering, as the sugya in Yoma shows; and the Rambam calls bodily health one of "the ways of G‑d" because it continues his point that keeping healthy is itself service of G‑d, unlike "cling to His ways," which concerns Divine attributes such as mercy.