Posted on 07/19/20
| News Source: Arutz-7
RAv rules names of COVID-19 patients must be published
Rabbi Mordechai Malka, the Chief Rabbi of the city of Elad, issued a special ruling calling for the publication of the names of coronavirus patients in order to prevent the further spread of the virus.
During his lecture, Rabbi Malka said that "this is in light of the spread of the pandemic and the fact that one of the reasons for it is that people are not being careful enough and allow themselves to go out and walk around even when they have the virus - a problem which is exacerbated when they live in one building, where one family can infect the entire building."
"I have written a responsa (halakhic ruling) that it is an obligation to publish the patients in every building, which family is infected, and that those who are infected are also obligated to publicize that information. Even if they do not do it, it is an obligation] that it be done even if it causes embarrassment because it is a matter of saving lives," the rabbi ruled definitively.
The Chief Rabbi of Elad quoted the Talmud to justify his ruling.
"The Gemara in Ketubot 41B states: 'From where is it derived that a person may not raise a vicious dog in his house and may not place an unsteady ladder in his house? As it is stated: You shall not place blood in your house (Deuteronomy 22:8).' Even though this law was said about a ladder, the sages derived from it that it applies to everything that poses a danger. This is the explicit halakha, as the Rambam wrote that 'You shall not place blood in your house' means that we must be careful with what we put in our land and in our houses so that no one dies in them. And in the laws relating to murderers, Rambam wrote: Any matter which constitutes a danger do human life, it is a positive commandment to get rid of it, and if he fails to remove it he also violates the negative commandment: 'You shall not place blood.'" Read more at Arutz-7