pikuach nefesh

• 'When I had not yet formed you in the womb, I knew you' Jeremiah 1;5
• ' In the image of God he created them' - Genesis
• God is the one creator of life and therefore life is sacred. Only he can give and preserve life
• saving a life should take priority over everything - even if it means breaking some of the 613 mitzvot in the torah
• in the Talmud, God says his people will 'live' by the torah and not 'die' by it
• for example doctors are allowed to answer emergency calls on shabbat, even though one of the ten commandments requires them to rest
• to preserve a life, it is allowed to remove organs from a dead body