The Daily Halacha Moment - Choleh She’ein Bo Sakanah — A Person Who is Not Dangerously Ill 🤒
״כל השונה הלכות בכל יום - מובטח לו שהוא בן העולם הבא״ (נידה עג ע״א, מגילה כח:)
“Anyone who studies Halachot every day is guaranteed that he is destined for the world-to-come” (Megilla 28b, Niddah 73a)
Question:
What is a Choleh She’ein Bo Sakanah?
Answer:
There are essentially three different types of choleh she’ein bo sakanah:
a. Meichush — A person who is suffering from a minor discomfort
but is able to walk around as a fully healthy person. All forms of healing are not permitted even with a non-Jew’s assistance and even if the melachah is only rabbinically restricted.[1] Such a person may not take medication either.[2]
b. Miktzat choli — A person who is partially ill but does not have the need to lie down on his bed and does not feel the sickness throughout his whole body. For such a person, one may ask a non-Jew to do melachah that is rabbinically prohibited to alleviate his illness.[3]
c. Choleh she’ein bo sakanah — A person who is so sick that he needs to lie down or if he feels ill throughout his whole body.[4] For such a person, one may ask a non-Jew to do melachah even if the melachah is a Torah prohibition.[5] Similarly, one may ask a non-Jew to get him medicine even if it involves carrying the medicine from a public domain to a private domain.[6]
If there isn’t a non-Jew available, one may do a melachah that is Rabbinically forbidden,[7] provided that a shinuy is used when possible.[8]
A melachah that is prohibited by the Torah may only be done by a Jew for a choleh she’ein bo sakanah if it is done through grama — indirectly causing the melachah to be done.[9]
Adapted From R' Nacsons "Laws Of Shabbat" vol. 2, p. 297.
Sources:
[1]. Shulchan Aruch 328:1 & 20. The Mishnah Berurah 301:7 includes not only medicine but any type of therapeutic substitute for medication is also prohibited for a meichush.
[2]. Shulchan Aruch 328:1 and 37; Chazon Ovadia, Shabbat, vol. 3, p. 356.
[3]. Shulchan Aruch 307:5; Chazon Ovadia, Shabbat, vol. 3, p. 356.
[4]. Shulchan Aruch 328:17.
[5]. Chazon Ovadia, Shabbat, vol. 3, p. 357, 416, 482.
[6]. Chazon Ovadia, Shabbat, vol. 3, p. 482; Halichot Olam, vol. 4, p. 187; Ibid., vol. 3, p. 187.
[7]. See Aruch HaShulchan 328:20 who states that even the sick person, if needed, can do the
melachah with a shinuy and does not need to ask someone else to do it for him.
[8]. Chazon Ovadia, Shabbat, vol. 3, p. 416; Yabia Omer, vol. 11, 36:4. Regarding doing a Biblically prohibited melachah with the use of a shinuy, see: Chazon Ovadia, Shabbat, vol. 1, p. 257; vol. 3, p. 182; vol. 6, p. 138; Yabia Omer, vol. 5, 33:3; Maor Yisrael, vol. 1, p. 156; Ohr LeTzion, vol. 2, p. 255.
[9]. Chazon Ovadia, Shabbat, vol. 6, p. 141.
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