Life is holy and sacred and if people do you no harm - and I mean no harm whatsoever, they neither try to kill you or take your land and they harbour no hate against you, there is no reason why you shouldn't save their lives. I absolutely insist that all innocent and good people deserve medical treatment. And Jewish doctors should give medical treatment even on Shabat to everyone - non Jews included. If Shabat is so "sacred" that the sanctity of life can be sacrificed, then I don't see how Rabbi Yosef can consider himself a good human being. Try not to be a "good Jew". Try to be a good human being. If you are a good human being, then it naturally follows that you will be a good Jew as well. To be a "good Jew" is less about following traditions and engaging in very boring religious Halakhic intellectuall discussions and hair splitting, and more about good intentions and good deeds. After all - it is the content of man's character that makes man good - not black ink on white paper.

For the first time ever, I have a true understanding of the "Good Samaritan" parable of the Christians. In that story, a man is robbed and beaten on a lonely road. Two high ranking Jewish leaders pass him by and won't touch him... (perhaps under the inspiration of this Rabbi's spiritual forefathers??? ).... But the unclean Gentile Samaritan stops to help. To be more specific, the Samaritan treats the man's wounds (that's medical care!) The Samaritan then takes the injured man to an inn and shells out some cash so he can be cared for. This "Good Samaritan" is honored for what he did. Maybe these Rabbis ought to be data-mining the New Testament for ideas? Because this "don't help Gentiles" nonsense makes you look really bad. Disclaimer: I'm a Gentile, my doctor is Jewish, and neither of us has a problem with that.

Rabbi Amar would sternly disagree as would Maimonades. This is not Torah: this is straight forward, taliban nonsense. NO ONE SHOULD LISTEN TO THIS MAN AND HIS HATEFUL, PREJUDICE MINHAGGIM. WHAT A DISGRACE!!!!!!!!

I suspect there are deep psychological issues with this man; we Jews always side with Hillel, Ramabam; this man sounds far more like a Sadducee than a true rabbi. I wish he would shut up, he is stoking the fires of hatred against the Jews. If such a law were true; I would toss my Jewish heritage in the garbage. You can save an animal on Shabbat but not a human being? This rabbi needs to keep his mouth shut and stop damaging the reputation of the Jews and Judaism. What an averah this man put on his own head. Shame on him for the insinuation in ANY WAY, SHAPE OR FORM. Disgusting!!!

Thos is a Jewish site and has nothing to do with your NT stuff.Your stuff is not scripture but Christian nonsense.

Matthew 12:10; Mark 3:2, John 9:14–16

he shows a way to do it w/o violiating halacha. for all those idiots who only read the headline.

Shows again that religion and belief in a god has no value . Certainly not in the 21st century . The only thing this guy achieves is distancing more and more sane people from it .

Lev.19: 33 "'If a foreigner stays with you in your land, do not do him wrong. 34 Rather, treat the foreigner staying with you like the native-born among you - you are to love him as yourself, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt; I am ADONAI your God His comments will only fuel the fire of those who hate Jews, and make improving relations more difficult for those who love Jews.

The kindest thing I can say about this rabbi is that he is probably senile.

to be were he is? he is dangerous for the jews. This are the kind of declarations who bring us a lot of fans over the world. Is that was necesary? Oi vey .

This great humanitarian is past it. I would like to see him in need of health care and have a gentile refuse to treat him because he's a Jew. This is pure putrescence. Will no other rabbi censor him? What has become of our religion if he can make such a horrific statement and the entire religious establishment remains silent on this?

This is nothing new. No doctor operates alone. There is usually a team of medics. The headline is misleading. Also when a patient arrives in an emergency room one doesn't ask whether he is Jewish or Gentile. Further, the Chasam Sofer clearly permits a Jewish doctor to do anything to save a Gentile life on Shabbat, if there is no Gentile doctor on the scene. Further, today's Gentiles are not in the Biblical category of idol worshippers because Muslims and Christians believe in G-d and accept the seven Noahide Laws.

The amount of ignorance shown by most of the talkbackers here is somewhat horrifying. Many including yourself obviously didn't read the article, or if you did then didn't understand it. Take a look at talkback #35 What the Rabbi wrote is contained in the Mishnah and has nothing to do with senility or his personal views. Michael

Perhaps all those non-Jewish professors who teach Jewish doctors around the world should stop teaching them, then we would see how well Jewish doctors would do!! Religious Zealots should leave the medical profession alone with this attitude - we should be THANKING G-D for the cooperation of doctors from ALL religions to allow science and medicine to move forward and improve - how many jewish families have benifitted from medical inventions by non-jews? This man is a raving idiot - period!

...with such leaders!

Ovadia Yosef is an Evil man. Most people here will tell you that they don't like him or that he is an insane old man. BUT the issue I have is that a country is not only what it does/says, but especially what it tolerates and lets happen.... So, why is this man allowed to sy such shameful statements?!

Judaism is founded on TORAH. The Talmud itself derived from TORAH, it is NOT Ha-Shem word, man. If you reject Talmud you're still a Jew. If you reject Tthe TORAH, you're not Jewish anymore. This said, religious rules should NEVER be allowed to forget one basic reality: we're all human beings all created equal. If a religion forget this, maybe is time to reform or change it.

Am so tired of reading those who will never understand, those who blast R. Ovadiah Yosef based on a secular newspaper article. Kavod to commentator 69 for reading the full article. In line with other great Sephardi rabbis, R. Yosef finds a leniency that overcomes a halachic stringency, and his solution contrasts with the typically scary headline Ynet assigned to this report. At least, this time, Ynet provided a hint at a fuller context!

He is continually coming out with repulsive interpretations he clearly has missed the big picture... Not that he doesn't look cool in that turban and Sasha Baron Cohen dark glasses...

Question: Is a distinction being made, either in these posts, or Mishnah or Gemerrah, between a life threatening condition and one that is not life threatening? Comment: (re:#45 and others I may not have read) The Talmud is commentary and deals with rabbis in different generations discussing, arguing, and in most if not all cases, not agreeing with each other. I can accept that "Judaism is defined by the Talmud". I cannot accept that every single sage in the Talmud agrees with R. Yosef.

Rav Ovadia Yosef was searching for a Halachic way to enable the Gentile patient to be treated by a Jewish physician on Shabbat. The headline to this story is misleading and provocative.

Ovidia Josef has always been of "flexible morals" if enough money is involved. I wonder who paid for this bit of hogwash. The halacha is clear - human life take precedence even over shabbos. The only time you could refuse to treat someone would be if they were an active enemy of the Jewish people (like say, Hitler) or a base heretic (like Ovidia Josef)

1 1/2 yrs ago I had my dreams come true, I was able to go to Israel for 2 weeks. That was all I had ever wanted to do. I am a gentile. We don't see things eye to eye as far as our faith is concerned (as least the majority), however, if this truly is a part of Levitical law, in the oldest manuscript available, then IMHO, observe it. I am SO sick of people taking G-D's Word & picking what they want (usually out of context), pulling out every dictionary known to mankind, from Webster's to a concordance by Lord only knows who, and making it mean whatever will excuse their sin! His Word is timeless & I'm reasonably sure He says exactly what He means! If I were in Israel & had a life threatening medical emergency on the Sabbath, guess what? G-D would know that! If it were my time to go then there's NOTHING anyone could do to stop it, observant Jew or not! If it wasn't my time to go, He is also my Healer! Please, live your faith! Stop trying to be politically correct! Come on people, think about it, dying in Israel? What a way to go!!

Reading this article I want to ask, if using comon sense and one's one intelligence is not also a human "law"?. Why distinguish between you and the others. I know so many cultures and beliefs but in my entire life I have never faced so much adversity and arrogance... I do not generalize... there are always exemption. But, apart from the hippocratic vow, that cannot be broken (otherwise better don't becom e a doc!) I simply do not undertand that people cannot accept a happy couple from same ethnic derival but different religion (latin: religio , take refuge to). How come, a Jewish man has to "hide" his beloved girlfriend from his relatives just because she is a "goy" ? Why, when they come to know about it, they laugh at him, threaten him of breaking up etc. force him to call her in front of them to act as a traitor toward her? I talked to Jewish friends, they can't explain me... some say that they do not understand eighter. I tried to call on the local Rabbi to discuss... he does not speak to me because I am a goy... Am i in a wrong movie? I think it is the business of two adult people to choose the partner making them happy... and not some far off relatives... I would never allow any body to "forbid" me to love a Jewish man. Luckily i also don't have this problem. Why such thing happen in a democratic country? Please, dear reader, help me to understand. I am a kind, tolerant, friendly person and do not want to harm any body. To make things easier, I even started learning Hebrew. Thank you for your gentle, loving advise - I seek finding common things, not separating. Toda raba and Shabat Shalom.

Deuteronomy 10: 19 You shall love the stranger, for you were once strangers in the land of Egypt. Leviticus 19:34 The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt: I am YHWH your Elohim. Numbers 15:15 One ordinance shall be both for you of the congregation, and also for the stranger that sojournes with you, an ordinance for ever in your generations: as you are, so shall the stranger be before YHWH. I can show many other verses if necessary. Rabbis need to understand that being an Israelite is not a responsibility. Abraham was the forefather and his inheritance and descendants were meant to be a BLESSING to this world. When the U.S.A. led by example instead of force, they were respected the world over. The same is true of Israel (which includes the Jews and more people - the other tribes). Soloman received tribute from willing nations the world over. He gave them more than he received by imparting wisdom.

One of the problems in the world today is doctrinaire thinking and the inability of some people to use their own critical judgement and common sense, no matter what was written thousands of years ago. It makes no sense at all for a physician not to treat someone who needs his help, no matter what his religion or ethnic background. Ignore the Rabbis, and treat people like you would like to be treated.

People like this should be ignored. Statements like this give a bad name to all Jews. We have many crazy Hindu religious people like this too. By reporting his crazy pronouncements you give ammumnition to Israels enemies who want to portray all Jews as racist!