Julian Ungar-Sargon

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  • Theological Essays
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  • Deep Dive Ditty
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  • Publications
  • Military Service
  • Dominican University
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Daf Ditty

A wide-ranging commentary on the daily page of Talmud.

Galen and Hippokrates from Anagni Italy

Yoma 84: Medicine and Halacha

jyungar July 4, 2021

For the source text click/tap here: Yoma 84

To download, click/tap here: PDF

A number of illnesses are discussed on our daf.  What might have been hepatitis; what may have been diphtheria.  Treatments, including bloodletting, are mentioned as well.  At issue is the treatment of illness on Shabbat. The rabbis agree that an illness must be life-threatening for a person to administer medicine on Shabbat.  They argue about which illnesses are in fact life-threatening. 

We explore medicine in the talmud from Pikuach nefesh and Shabbat (Rav Lichtenstein) to the influence of Galen on the Rabbis and the struggle between medicine and religion in the Rambam by Elinor Lieber.  

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Julian Ungar-Sargon

This is Julian Ungar-Sargon's personal website. It contains poems, essays, and podcasts for the spiritual seeker and interdisciplinary aficionado.​