Working Extremely Dangerous Job
Question
Is it permitted to work an extremely dangerous job that risks one’s life but pays a lot of money? I am exploring the job of changing light bulbs on radio towers. One workday pays $130,000. I could live off of that easily for a year. I could do it for a few years and not have to work most of the time and then retire when I’m young. The danger is, if you fall, you die. About a dozen people a year die doing this job.
Answers
The Halachic authorities deal with this kind of question and they rule that everything is dependent on just how dangerous the job is. However, to answer such a question requires very broad Halachic shoulders which I do not possess. Personally I would recommend that you consider speaking with Rav Dovid Cohen the Rabbi of Gvul Ya’avetz in Brooklyn. Rav Cohen is one of the foremost Poskim in America today and he is eminently qualified to answer you. Rav Cohen can be contacted every day at 718 376 7423 between 3pm-4pm (except Tuesdays) and 10pm-11pm.
Best wishes from the AskTheRabbi.org Team