>>>But when it comes down to spending millions of dollars to set up emergency electronic systems in hospitals, to take over certain human tasks, so the staff can't be seen as working (can't be sure of the details but I saw it on a docu. re. Israel years ago), at the risk of patients, it gets a bit "unnecessary". :-)
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>>FWIW, one of the absolute rules is that you can ignore Sabbath prohibitions in order to save a life. So much hospital work is not prohibited on the Sabbath at all.
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>>Tamar
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>The way I understand it, in Judaism, health almost always tops religion, not just with respect to the Sabbath prohibitions.

Yep, the only commandments you cannot break to save a life are the prohibitions on murder, idolatry and adultery. All the others are fair game. And the injunction to save lives is a positive one. So, for example, if fasting on Yom Kippur would make you ill, you not only may eat, but you _must_ eat. If someone needs to be taken to a hospital on the Sabbath or another holy day, you must do so. And so on.

In many ways, Judaism is a very pragmatic religion.

Tamar