pikuach nefesh

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Hebrew פיקוח נפש

Noun

pikuach nefesh (uncountable)

  1. (Judaism) The religious commandment to save human life, which overrides most commandments.
    • 2024, David Golinkin, “Does Jewish Law Require Yeshivah Students To Be Drafted At Age 18?”, in Responsa in a Moment, volume 4, page 66:
      After the massacre of 1,145 men, women, and children on October 7th, can anyone dare to say that the war against Hamas is not a matter of pikuaḥ nefesh?!
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.