As I was driving home from work the other day, I thought of the following scenario, and am curious as to how it would be resolved.
I know that Jews are forbidden to work on the sabbath, and they are also forbidden to possess leaven on Passover. If a Jew overlooked some leaven in the search for it before the start of Passover, and then discovered it on sabbath, or on a day he was forbidden to work, how would it be resolved if the only way to dispose of the leaven would be to violate the sabbath (such as taking it down to a dumpster, or selling it to a gentile)? Does sabbath trump other commandments, or can it be broken to fulfill another mitzvah?
However, I know of two exceptions to the Sabbath rule (and there may be more). One is for circumcision (else 1/7 of all Jewish boys could not be circumcised because the day of their circumcision would fall on the Sabbath); the other is to save a life.
Note John 7:22
The John 7:22 passage seems to indicate that healing on the Sabbath was forbidden, but I’m to understand that modern Judaism allows for such. Again, IANAJew.
If one discovers chametz in his possession on Passover, he is required to burn it.
However, if he discovers it on the Sabbath (or on the first two or last two days of the holiday) he has an additional problem. That being that the chametz is muktzeh and cannot be moved. As such, one covers the chametz with something so that it is out of sight and burns it after the Sabbath.
There is a set of rules for determining what to do when you have conflicting commandments.
Well, they wouldn’t remain uncircumcised, the bris would be done on Sunday. In fact, if a bris is delayed (for whatever reason) then it cannot be done on Shabbos. Only a bris done on time can be done on Shabbos.
There are certain guidelines as to what is permitted and what is not permitted on the Sabbath. I can only guess that Jesus decided to draw an inference from one case (which has nothing to do with healing) and apply it to a totally different case.
Interesting question. I believe the answer would be:
(From OU.org)
Methods of removal are as follows:
a. Any tiny crumbs that remain may be deposited on the floor in a place where people regularly walk. It is preferable, however, to gather these crumbs and place them in the garbage can, toilet or outside the door of the house (provided there is no problem on “hotza’ah” – removal from one domain to another).
b. Larger pieces of bread can be given to a non-Jew. One should be careful not to ask the non-Jew directly to remove the chametz from the house. One may not give the non-Jew more than one meal’s worth of chametz at a time.
c. The chametz may also be fed to a dog or flushed down the toilet.
d. If non of the above were done, then the chametz must be covered and placed in a safe, isolated spot in the house and burned after Yom Tov (“motza’ay yom tov”) on Monday night.
BTW, as a side point, chametz on Passover is in the class of items that a Jew is forbidden to benefit from. As a result, a Jew cannot sell his chametz to a non-Jew once Passover has started. It must be destroyed.