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Sanctity of Human LifeText
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You shall not be a tale-bearer among your people; you shall not stand idly by the blood of your neighbor; I am Adonai. לֹא־תֵלֵךְ רָכִיל בְּעַמֶּיךָ לֹא תַעֲמֹד עַל־דַּם רֵעֶךָ אֲנִי ה':
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Prayer takes the mind out of the narrowness of self-interest, and enables us to see the world in the mirror of the holy.
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Man must, therefore, be treated with the honor due to a likeness representing the King of kings… Reverence for God is shown in our reverence for man. The fear you must feel of offending or hurting a human being must be as ultimate as your fear of God.
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The direct relation with the true, excluding the prior examination of its terms, its idea — that is, the reception of Revelation — can only be the relation with a person, with another. The Torah is given in the Light of a face. The epiphany of the other person is ipso facto my responsibility toward him: Seeing the other is already an obligation toward him.
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Globalization, writes Zygmunt Bauman, “divides as much as it unites...What appears as globalization for some means localization for others; signaling a new freedom for some, upon many others it descends as an uninvited and cruel fate” (Bauman 1998: 2). There can be no doubt that some of the economic surplus of the advanced economies of the world should be invested in developing countries to help eradicate extreme poverty and hunger, ensure universal education, combat treatable disease, reduce infant mortality, improve work conditions, and reconstruct failing economies.
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"The saving of life overrides the commandments of the entire Torah; and he shall live by them and not die by them. Desecrate one Sabbath on his account so that he may keep many Sabbaths” (Yoma 85b). This law is the watchword of Judaism...Maimonides, the master of conciseness, deviated from his regular manner and treated this issue with great elaborateness: “When such things have to be done, they should not be left to heathens, minors, slaves or women...They should rather be done by adult and scholarly Israelites.
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For this reason, man was created alone in the world. This teaches us that a person who eliminates one human life from the world is considered as if he eliminated an entire world and a person who saves one human life is considered as if she saved an entire world. לפיכך נברא אדם יחידי בעולם ללמד שכל המאבד נפש אחת מן העולם מעלין עליו כאילו איבד עולם מלא וכל המקיים נפש אחת בעולם מעלין עליו כאילו קיים עולם מלא.
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And so too any obstacle that endangers life, it is a positive commandment to remove it and to be very careful around it as it is said, “Protect yourself and guard yourself." (Deuteronomy 4:9) And if he did not remove and set aside these obstacles that are dangerous, he violated the positive commandment and also violated the commandment, “Do not bring bloodguilt upon yourself” (Deuteronomy 22:8). וכן כל מכשול שיש בו סכנת נפשות, מצות עשה להסירו ולהשמר ממנו ולהזהר בדבר יפה שנאמר: השמר לך ושמור נפשך (דברים ד, ט) ואם לא הסיר והניח המכשולות המביאים לידי סכנה ביטל מצות עשה: עבר בלא תשים דמים (דברים כב, ח).
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R. Isaac said: Anyone who gives a coin to a poor person is blessed with six blessings, but one who encourages the poor with words is blessed with eleven. ואמר רבי יצחק: כל הנותן פרוטה לעני מתברך בשש ברכות, והמפייסו בדברים - מתברך בי"א ברכות.
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Rav Yehudah said in the name of Rav: It happened once that a man cast his eye upon a woman and was overcome with great desire, so much so that he became gravely ill. They came and asked the doctors, who advised, “He cannot be healed unless he has sex with her.” The sages said, “Let him die and not have sex with her.” [The doctors suggested] “Let her stand before him naked.” The sages said, “Let him die and let her not stand before him naked.” [The doctors suggested] “Let her speak with him from behind a fence.” The sages said, “Let him die and not speak with her from behind a fence.” אמר רב יהודה אמר רב: מעשה באדם אחד שנתן עיניו באשה אחת, והעלה לבו טינא. ובאו ושאלו לרופאים, ואמרו: אין לו תקנה עד שתבעל. אמרו חכמים: ימות, ואל תבעל לו. - תעמוד לפניו ערומה? - ימות ואל תעמוד לפניו ערומה. - תספר עמו מאחורי הגדר? - ימות ולא תספר עמו מאחורי הגדר. 
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