Religion & Spirituality - 6 Answers
Random Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
1 :
There are Orthodox Jewish doctors, but to keep the Sabbath day holy they cannot work on the Sabbath.
2 :
Yes. There is an exception to the laws surrounding Shabbat that permit breaking Shabbat to save a life. That exception allows doctors, nurses, soldiers, etc., to still perform their life saving work on Shabbat.
3 :
Doctors work on the Sabbath because of Pikuach Nefesh – – the saving of life – The highest Jewish obligation that overrides almost every other law (Yoma 85b; Sanhedrin 4:5; Baba Mezia 62b).
4 :
And just to add to mama pajama's answer, the three sins which never override other commandments are: 1) sexual immorality (incest); 2) murder; and 3) idol worship (which is why Jews have almost always chosen to die rather than undergo forced conversion).
5 :
You've gotten some good responses. I'll put in the clarification that while observant Jewish doctors provide emergency services on Shabbat, they won't have regular "Saturday Hours", like many non-Jewish doctors, for routine checkups and treatment.
6 :
Some supplemental information to the other answers: There are Orthodox Jewish doctors everywhere who work on Shabbat; Israel, Canada, Europe, etc. Many Orthodox Jewish communities run their own volunteer ambulance service (called Hatzolah, Hebrew for "Rescue"), whose members may be lawyers, plumbers, Rabbis, electricians, etc., who are trained paramedics, EMTs, or other type of emergency responders. They carry walkie-talkies and cell phones at all times, including Shabbat, and when called upon will respond immediately to emergency calls that are potentially life-threatening issues, even on Shabbat, and they drive their cars as well as ambulances for that purpose on Shabbat. Sorry about the run-on sentence.
