Meah Shearim EMTs To Treat Only The Modestly Dressed

Jerusalem, December 10 – Volunteer paramedics serving the ultra-orthodox Jerusalem enclave of Meah Shearim have announced that effective immediately, they will refuse medical treatment to anyone whose attire does not meet the modesty requirements of Jewish law.

The local volunteer EMT organization Pikuach Nefesh posted flyers around the neighborhood this morning apprising residents of the change. The large posters cite Rabbinic rulings restricting the preservation of human life to those worthy of it, as demonstrated chiefly by adherence to sufficient standards of modesty in dress, and to a lesser extent Sabbath observance with the utmost stringency.

The policy emerged as a result of consultations with those Rabbis by certain members of the community who raised concerns that the paramedics might suffer spiritually from contact with those who do not have the same reverence for sartorial modesty. They also argued that in fact the religiously stringent paramedics might not be obligated to save the lives of such people, who would simply use their continued existence to continue violating standards at the very core of human dignity and sanctity.

As indicated on the flyers, those religious authorities ruled in keeping with the activists’ concerns, namely that it is preferable to withhold such treatment from patients whose commitment to true physical and behavioral modesty is questionable. The ruling does not specifically instruct the paramedics that it is strictly forbidden to treat, for example, a woman who does not wear thick stockings under her dark calf-length skirt, or whose sleeves do not reach her wrists, but rather noted that the question merely raised doubts as to whether in doing so the patient has forfeited the right to be treated – and in cases of doubt the preferred course of action is to refrain from acting, rather than risk active transgression.

Patients concerned that their standards of modesty in dress do not meet the threshold for Pikuach Nefesh will remain free to call an ambulance or summon volunteer EMTs from other organizations. However, those organizations do not maintain personnel in Meah Shearim, and the response time to a call will necessarily lag behind what Pikuach Nefesh can provide. In most cases, the volunteer paramedics transfer care of the patient to Magen David Adom ambulances anyway, but the initial treatment in the first minutes of an incident is usually tendered by volunteers who can mobilize and reach the scene significantly before the ambulance team.

Activists had initially wanted to establish a separate corps of paramedic volunteers for each sect calling Meah Shearim home, but the personnel to maintain such squads was unavailable, and the training to establish them would require sacrificing time better spent studying and throwing rocks at cars.

The posters announcing the change did not include a full description of the modesty guidelines, but merely referred the reader to all the adjacent notices.