(Jewish Learning Connections Weekly Newsletter)
You should be very careful with your life” (Dev. 4:15) “We want to Live” is an organization in Israel dedicated to educating and encouraging the public about traffic safety. When Rav Yosef S. Elyashiv learned of the organization, he expressed his appreciation for it and remarked that it is as important as the organizations dedicated to strengthening Shabbos observance and Shemiras Halashon (proper speech). Rav Nissim Karelitz similarly remarked, “Had the Torah written the traffic safety laws they would have been more stringent. At the very least, we must observe all the country’s traffic laws!” The Rogatchover Gaon used to say that one must be more careful with the mitzvah of preserving our lives than with other mitzvos, since a person can always do teshuva (repentance) for other sins, whereas if a person is killed because he was not careful— it is impossible to do teshuva!.
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