5

Is one allowed to be a firefighter if he might be required to work on Shabbat? or is he allowed to, in order to save lives?

msh210
  • 73,729
  • 12
  • 120
  • 359
daniel
  • 181
  • 3
  • http://judaism.stackexchange.com/a/7129/759 – Double AA Oct 30 '12 at 23:50
  • 1
    @DoubleAA, I don't think that's the same thing -- finding yourself in that situation might be different from choosing an occupation that you know will place you in that situation. (That said, I know enough Jewish doctors who do or did do rotations in hospitals to suspect that this is permitted, though I don't know under what circumstances.) – Monica Cellio Oct 30 '12 at 23:55
  • I you are a allowed to break shabbat to save lives, but is someone allowed to pursue a job (firefighting) that he knows will cause him to be mechallel shabbat? – daniel Oct 30 '12 at 23:57
  • http://he.wikisource.org/wiki/%D7%9E%D7%A9%D7%A0%D7%94_%D7%90%D7%91%D7%95%D7%AA_%D7%90_%D7%99%D7%93 Who else do you want to do the work? (If you have more info please [edit] it into the question.) – Double AA Oct 30 '12 at 23:58
  • 1
    Also, welcome to Mi Yodeya! I'm glad to see you've registered your account and I look forward to seeing you around. – Double AA Oct 31 '12 at 00:01
  • Do you live in a place with a majority of Jews? – Ariel Oct 31 '12 at 00:09
  • No.............. – daniel Oct 31 '12 at 02:10
  • 1
    @Ariel It's not about where he lives, but what the question he is asking is. Any lemaaseh question should be posed to his personal Rabbi. – Double AA Oct 31 '12 at 03:36
  • 2
    The issue isn't just about placing oneself in an occupation where you must break Shabbos to save a life, you are also expected to save property. – Yirmeyahu Oct 31 '12 at 04:26
  • 3
    @Yirmeyahu We generally assume nowadays that any significant fire is a threat to life because it can easily spread to other buildings. But yes, answers that touch on that would be good. – Double AA Oct 31 '12 at 04:41
  • 1
    @DoubleAA, fine but that is part of the answer, not a negation of the question – Yirmeyahu Oct 31 '12 at 04:46
  • related: http://www.algemeiner.com/2012/10/29/from-long-island-to-israel-orthodox-woman-firefighter/ also: http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/article.php?p=4012 – Charles Koppelman Oct 31 '12 at 19:06
  • Perhaps שלומ בית could influence the necessity to perform the job, and thus the job-necessary function of saving property. – Zachariah Nov 01 '12 at 03:00
  • Hi Daniel, and welcome! Since your comments seem to reveal more details on the situation, I would recommend editing the question as to include these. – JNF Nov 01 '12 at 06:29
  • @NewAlexandria It would be hard to use Shalom Bayit to justify violating clear Biblical prohibitions. – Double AA Nov 01 '12 at 16:33
  • @DoubleAA i'm contemplating a scenario where one sees no other option for family livelihood. I think it's off-topic from this question+thread. Then maybe there is Pikuach Nefesh for one's children. Situational at most, and one would endeavor to move on from such a job. – Zachariah Nov 01 '12 at 16:48

2 Answers2

4

When I was an EMT I lived in a place where there were many Jews in the rescue squad. The local rabbis told us to arrange a rotation which ensured that there was always someone to answer calls but that we didnt have more people than we need.

I would say that Jewish firefighters should try not to be on-call on shabbat but if they need to respond to life threatening emergencies they must.

Eytan Yammer
  • 1,652
  • 13
  • 9
  • This sounds like a huge risk to me. Weren't you ever short a person? – Charles Koppelman Oct 31 '12 at 14:50
  • But what about the duty to extinguish a fire to save property, either after the people have been brought to safety or to save an empty building? What if there no significant danger of it spreading? – Seth J Oct 31 '12 at 18:21
  • if we were ever short we had mutual aid from other neighboring towns. there were also backups on call. – Eytan Yammer Dec 02 '12 at 03:02
  • tAs far as I know there is no permission to extinguish fire to save only property. If ther eis a danger of spreading or to life and limb (which there almost always is) then of course the fire must be extinguished. – Eytan Yammer Dec 02 '12 at 03:03
0

As far as I know, since Fire-Fighting is all about rescuing lives (~ Pikuach Nefesh, פיקוח נפש) then it has priority over all other Mitzvas.

Source from Wikipedia: Here.

Felix
  • 101