Headers and Concussion Protocols: Shedding Halakhic Light on the Risks of Contemporary Sports

The root of the question is this: A certain man, who God has graced with a large estate, has villages and forests – forests in which all the beasts of the forest prowl. May he go himself to shoot with a rifle (lit. “fire stick”) to trap game, or is it forbidden for one of Israel to do this deed, whether because it causes pain to creatures (“tza’ar ba’alei hayim”), because it violates “you shall not destroy” (“bal tashhit”), or because it is customary to regard it as tza’ar ba’alei hayim?...

anything that is for man’s needs does not constitute tza’ar ba’alei hayim, and moreover, tza’ar ba’alei hayim is only applicable when one causes it pain but leaves it alive. However, to kill livestock, beasts, and all sorts of animals does not constitute tza’ar ba’alei hayim...

bal tashhit does not apply to something whose loss that will not cause the loss of benefit to any man. Therefore, those animals of the forest, while they are alive, give benefit to no man. Their main benefit is in their death—through their pelts and meat. So how can we say that it is forbidden to kill them because of bal tashhit?...

Thus far, we have addressed the legal aspects. However, I am surprised by the matter itself. We find no hunters other than Nimrod and Esau, and this is not the way of the children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob...How can a man of Israel actively kill beasts needlessly, simply to pass his leisure time by engaging in hunting?...

Thus far I have addressed the aspect of proper behavior, [contending] that man ought to distance himself from this. Now I say that it is even forbidden, for anyone who engages in this must enter the forests and place themselves in great danger, in places of packs of wild animals. And the Merciful One said: “Take great care of yourselves” (Deut. 4:15)...So then how can a Jewish man insert himself into a place of packs of wild and vicious beasts? Yet even here, if one who poor and does so for sustenance, the Torah permitted it, like any maritime trader crosses the sea—for with regard to anything that is for the needs of one’s sustenance and livelihood, there is no choice...But one whose main intention is not for sustenance, rather, he does to the place of packs of wild animals due to his heart’s appetite, and endangers himself, violates “Take great care of yourselves.”...

One who heeds me will therefore dwell safely, tranquilly, and contentedly at home and not waste his time with such things...

...It is a Scriptural decree that the court does not execute a person or have him lashed because of his own admission. Instead, the punishments are given on the basis of the testimony of two witnesses...Perhaps he is one of those embittered people who are anxious to die and pierce their reins with swords or throw themselves from the rooftops. Similarly, we fear that such a person may come and admit committing an act that he did not perform, so that he will be executed. The general principle is the disqualification of a person's own testimony is a decree of the king.

...women and Canaanite slaves do have naziriteship. The mishna adds: There is a greater stringency in the case of women than in the case of slaves, as a master may force his slave to drink wine, shave his hair, or become ritually impure from a corpse, despite the slave’s vow of naziriteship, but a husband cannot force his wife to transgress her naziriteship...

Since maintaining a healthy and sound body is among the ways of God - for one cannot understand or have any knowledge of the Creator, if he is ill - therefore, he must avoid that which harms the body and accustom himself to that which is healthful and helps the body become stronger...

...many things are necessary or very useful in the opinion of one person and superfluous in the opinion of another. E.g., bodily exercise, in its different kinds, is necessary for the proper preservation of health in the opinion of him who understands the science of medicine...When people take exercise by playing with the ball, wrestling, stretching out the hands or keeping back the breathing...such actions are mere pastimes in the eyes of the ignorant, but the wise do not consider them as unimportant...