If a haredi jew has to go on a perilious journey, is he exempt from performing his regular religious duties?

Question

Hi everybody, does anyone know whether there is some sort of ruling by the jewish rabbinat (or in the Thora) that allows a religious (haredi) jewish traveller to ignore some of the mithzvot he usually has to obey. i.e. washing his hands when there is no water... I know that the moslems have something like that, for when they go on a pilgrimage or during ramadan, they are exempt from performing religious duties they are normaly bound to. Is there such a ruling for the jews as well and if so, who would decide upon that, the travelling jew himself, or his rabbi?

Btw Michell R. If you read this, can I contact you via email? (you answered on another question of mine yesterday...) Thanks to everybody!!!!!!!!!!

Answer 1

I've starred your post in the hope that MICHELLE will see it and come along and answer :)

In all honesty I don't know the answer to your excellent question! So I'm going to go away and try and find the information for you - and cheers for a great post :)

edit

Thus far, I can't find anything specific, but I know that in Judaism if the person's life is threatened they are allowed an exemption from most of the mitzvot.

You can try these sites: http://www.chabad.org/

http://www.askmoses.com

Answer 2

LOL that you want me for this - I'm very flattered :)

There is no such ruling.  The only time that someone is exempt from the mitzvot is if his/her life is in genuine danger, and not doing so would help save him.  So if you're starving, then you can eat non-kosher meat once you reach the point where you know that if you do not eat, you will absolutely starve.  But up to that point, you are required to keep the laws, and you're not allowed to take on any endeavor in which you know that there will be no way to keep the mitzvot.  

There are some fun halachic (Jewish law) conundrums that have come up in reference to this - if a Jewish astronaut goes up in space, and at some point in his journey he knows that the Sabbath will fall, at what time does he calculate sundown as starting (since the sun doesn't rise or set in space)?  But other than the straight rabbinic answer (he would calculate based on the time in the town from which his ship launched), the generic Orthodox rabbinic answer is, what's a nice Jewish boy doing working as an astronaut?  You really aren't allowed to take something on, knowing that it will create problems in Jewish observance - and if you must take on the job or the journey, you speak to a rabbi ahead of time about what the potential violations are, and in what ways you can avoid them.  That can mean packing a suitcase of kosher food, postponing your schedule or taking a different method of transportation in order to observe the sabbath, etc.  

By the way, if by a "perilous journey," you mean one in which the person's life is genuinely threatened, then many Orthodox rabbis would say that you would be prohibited from making the trip at all.  Preserving life is one of the paramount values of Judaism, and we are not allowed to willingly put ourselves or our bodies in danger without a very good reason (to save a life is the only example I can think of where it might be permitted).

Answer 3

No, The Orthodox believe that they must be able to perform all religious duties. this is why Haredim have to choose careers and lifestyles that will allow them the time and schedule to perform religious duties> Haredim usually do not travel, in order not to place themselves in Religious predicaments.The Haredim are exempt from military service in Israel because they would not be able to be in active duty on Shabbath