One of the many dilemmas raised by the COVID pandemic consists of the conflict between individual liberties and public safety.
Oddly, in Jewish tradition, this is no conflict, at all. Our tradition’s deference to public safety seems handily summarized by the principle of pikuach nefesh, the command to preserve the human nefesh, above nearly all else. According to halachah, in the wake of a life-threatening incident, any commandment, save those forbidding idolatry, blasphemy, illicit sexual relations, and murder, may, and should, be broken to save a fellow human nefesh.
Of course, how one translates the ancient Judeo-Israelite concept of nefesh into the modern context means everything. Authors who decry the suspension of religious gatherings and other civil liberties often prefer to translate nefesh as the soul, suggesting that physical human life may be put in harm’s way in order to preserve activities that nourish the soul.
Such a translation, however, seems to contradict the plain intent of the halachah, nor does it seem honest to the etymology of the term. The soul, as a metaphysical concept, is much better captured by neshama, the word used in our daily prayers thanking God for the purity of the human spirit. Nefesh, on the other hand, with its Biblical origins, seems to encapsulate those qualities the ancients believed animated the human body—a life-force, of sorts.
As such, the principle of pikuach nefesh should remain paramount as we continue to proceed through the COVID pandemic. Though we should watchfully ensure that civil liberties are not curtailed needlessly or maliciously, Jewish law would unreservedly support those laws designed to safeguard human life.
— Rabbi Josh Knobel