Rabbi Warns Delaying Sabbath Medical Help Can Cost Lives

A Hebrew-language interview warns that some observant families waste precious minutes on Shabbat by searching for a neighborhood volunteer responder instead of immediately calling emergency services. The article says this hesitation can be deadly in cases such as heart attacks or strokes, where every minute matters.

Rabbi Aizik Katz, author of the halachic guide "Konen KeHalakha" and an experienced medic and ambulance driver, argues that the instinct to avoid even a phone call on Shabbat is deeply ingrained, but it must not override the duty to save life. He says community rabbis have a responsibility to teach that, in cases of possible danger, action comes first and questions can come later. Katz stresses that even a 1% chance of internal bleeding or another serious injury is enough to justify treatment.

He tells parents and caregivers not to dismiss a child’s head injury or a pregnant woman’s unusual symptoms simply because most such cases turn out fine. "I would rather 100 people be angry at me on Motzaei Shabbat because I sent them to the hospital for nothing, and they all live, than one person die because I told them, 'It doesn’t seem necessary,'" he says.

Katz also strongly rejects driving a patient to the hospital in a private car on Shabbat. He says people in panic make dangerous mistakes, including speeding, ignoring traffic lights, and braking late. He cites a fatal crash about 10 years ago in Jerusalem’s Ramot neighborhood, when a husband rushing his wife in labor collided with another car on Golda Meir Boulevard; the mother-in-law was badly injured and later died in the hospital. His practical advice is to call emergency responders immediately for clear emergencies, use telephone consultation if there is doubt, and let trained ambulance crews handle transport and treatment, because in life-threatening situations, "there is no place for stringencies."