Sanctity of Life (Edexcel GCSE Religious Studies B): Revision Note

Nature and importance of Pikuach Nefesh

• Judaism teaches that life is sacred and a gift from God

• God is the creator of all life and humans are made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27) 

• Therefore every life must be valued and preserved

• One of the Ten Commandments is:

• The Torah teaches that only God as the creator has control of his creation and only he should decide when life should begin or end

• The Tenakh also teaches this idea

• The book of Job explains that whatever comes to life or dies is by the will of God

• Jews believe in an idea known as pikuach nefesh

• This is the idea that saving a human life is more important than any mitzvot or religious consideration

  • If there is a danger to life, all other considerations are secondary to ensuring that the life is safeguarded

• The Torah teaches

• This means that in a case of life or death, Jews should disregard religious laws and instructions

  • For example, a doctor can break the Sabbath laws to save a person’s life

  • Food that is not kosher can be eaten to survive

• In the Talmud Yoma, rabbis discussed several instances where the laws of the Sabbath may be broken to save a life, including:

  • rescuing a child who is drowning

  • breaking apart a wall that has collapsed on a child to save that child

  • breaking down a door that is closing on a child

  • extinguishing a fire that threatens a person’s life

• The Talmud explains pikuach nefesh using these terms:

• The Talmud adds the idea that a person should live by the law, not die because of it 

Importance of the principle of Pikuach Nefesh for Jews today

• Because of the importance of the belief in pikuach nefesh, many Jews aim to have a career where they can help in the saving of life, whether it be human or animal

  • Careers such as health worker, aid worker, and police or fire officer all help towards pikuach nefesh

• Pikuach nefesh is an important consideration in cases of medical ethics and Jews may have a divergent (different) understanding of how it applies when making certain moral and ethical decisions

• Abortion is not allowed because of the belief in the sanctity of life 

  • However, because of pikuach nefesh, some Jews would say that if the mother’s life is at risk, the abortion should be allowed

• Artificial methods of contraception are not allowed by Orthodox Jews because of the sacred nature of the male seed

  • However, because of pikuach nefesh, some Jews would allow the use of condoms to prevent the transmission of diseases such as HIV which could be life-threatening

  • The Jewish Aids Trust promotes the use of condoms in these situations

• Organ donation is not permitted by some Orthodox Jews because of a mitzvah that prohibits any disturbance of a dead body

  • However, some Jews would say that because of pikuach nefesh, organ donations should be permitted to save the life of a living person

• These types of situations are all cause for much debate.

• Modern life is complicated and therefore there are differing opinions on how best to apply pikuach nefesh to different ethical situations and where the mitzvot should still take priority

  • Orthodox Jews often take a more strict view on the interpretation of pikuach nefesh

  • However, this is not always the case - often these decisions are very personal and made by each Jew according to their own interpretation