Editing Pikuach Nefesh (section)

== Overrides the Entire Torah ==
<blockquote>"One of the Alter Rebbe's sayings: We have no conception of how precious a Jewish body is in the eyes of Hashem." – Translated from Hayom Yom, 29 Elul.</blockquote>The Gemara states that nothing stands in the way of Pikuach Nefesh except for idolatry, forbidden relations, and murder, but the rest of the Torah's mitzvos are set aside when they would cause danger.

The general source for this law is from the verse, "You shall observe My statutes and My ordinances, which a man shall do and live by them." Our Sages interpreted "and live by them" to mean "and not die by them," meaning that human life is more important than fulfilling the mitzvos.

The Rif ruled in his work with the familiar language: "Pikuach Nefesh overrides the entire Torah except for idolatry, forbidden relations, and murder."

==== Shabbos ====
Regarding the laws of Shabbos, there is special attention to the fact that they are set aside in cases of Pikuach Nefesh, as stated in the Gemara: "Desecrate one Shabbos for him so that he may observe many Shabbosos." The source of this principle is derived from the verse "The Children of Israel shall observe the Shabbos." An expression brought in the Gemara on this matter: "For a day-old living child, we desecrate Shabbos; for David, King of Israel, who has died, we do not desecrate Shabbos."

The Rebbe notes that the uniqueness of setting aside Shabbos for Pikuach Nefesh is also evident in the Rambam, who brings the law of setting aside Shabbos in the laws of Shabbos, and does not bring it in the place where he discusses other matters that are set aside for Pikuach Nefesh.

The Rebbe explains that there is an essential difference between setting aside Shabbos and setting aside other mitzvos - from a halachic perspective, for other mitzvos, Pikuach Nefesh '''pushes aside''' the mitzvah because it is greater and more important, whereas with Shabbos, it becomes '''permitted''' from the outset and becomes like a weekday. Therefore, there is a special source for setting aside Shabbos, teaching us that desecrating Shabbos to save a Jew is not a desecration at all, but rather, this desecration is part of observing Shabbos, since the purpose of Shabbos is to express "for it is a sign between Me and you," and when the Torah commands us to save Jewish life, it demonstrates the connection and Hashem's choice of the Jewish people.

The Alter Rebbe further clarifies in Tanya that the reason why Pikuach Nefesh does not override the mitzvos of idolatry, forbidden relations, and murder, while it does override other mitzvos of the Torah, is not because the other mitzvos are less stringent compared to these three mitzvos, but rather it is a divine decree. He proves this from Shabbos, which despite its stringency being equivalent to these three mitzvos, is nevertheless set aside in cases of Pikuach Nefesh.

==== The Reason Self-Sacrifice is Not Required ====
In Chassidus it is explained that the reason why the Written Torah does not command self-sacrifice is because the root of the Written Torah is in the sefirah of Chochmah, as the Zohar states, "The Torah emerges from Chochmah," and since self-sacrifice is not behavior based on reason and knowledge, it is not commanded in the Torah. However, the Rebbe explains that this is only an explanation for why there is no separate mitzvah of self-sacrifice, but the fact that there is no obligation for self-sacrifice due to the severity of each mitzvah itself requires the teaching of "and live by them." However, the root of Jewish souls is higher than the root of the Torah, as the Midrash states, "Two things preceded the world: Torah and Israel, and I do not know which preceded which; I say Israel preceded." Therefore, Jewish souls have the power to sacrifice themselves even though they are not commanded to do so.

==== "Pikuach Nefesh Overrides the Entire Torah" - Permission or Obligation ====
The poskim debate whether it is halachically permissible for a person to "be stringent" and fulfill a mitzvah that is not one of the three severe mitzvos even though it involves Pikuach Nefesh, or whether it is halachically forbidden to fulfill these mitzvos in a situation of Pikuach Nefesh.

===== Even for One Moment =====
It is told that once one of the Mitteler Rebbe's elderly relatives, over ninety years old, fell ill, and everyone saw that her time had come to return her soul to the One who gave it, and this was on Shabbos. A doctor was brought, and since there was no pharmacy in Lubavitch, the Mitteler Rebbe instructed to immediately send a wagon to Dubrovna to bring the medicine prescribed by the doctor. One of those present hinted to him that everyone could see that her time had come, so why go to such lengths, especially on Shabbos? The Mitteler Rebbe answered: They do not know the pleasure Above when a soul remains in a body even for one additional moment, and we are obligated to do everything we can.