Is it Kosher to be a ‘Daredevil’?

In light of the recent miraculous rescue of the two miners in Beaconsfield, Tasmania and the failure of (Jewish) illusionist David Blaine’s latest daredevil act “Drowned Alive” attempting to beat the world record for holding one’s breath underwater, a reasonable question can be asked: are these kinds of activities actually permitted, since we see they involve significant danger to life and limb?
The main source advising against dangerous activity is a Biblical verse in Devarim (Deut. 4:9) “You shall guard your souls (i.e your lives) very well.” This is based on the idea that we are not ‘masters’ of our own bodies free to do whatever we wish. Rather we are trustees, responsible for their wellbeing. There are a whole raft of things mentioned in the code of Jewish Law which constitute ‘dangerous activity’ ranging from not walking through ruins to not drinking luke warm, unboiled water from metal containers.
Not to put oneself at risk is not only a good idea, it should be seen as a serious religious obligation. The story is told of Rabbi Yosef Rosen (1858-3 March 1936), also known as the Rogatchover Gaon, (the Genius from Rogatchov) that he used to spend a very long time crossing the road in a town where transportation was by horse and buggy. Someone asked him why he took so long to cross the road. He had an illuminating answer: “There’s one mitzva for which one may not be able to do Teshuva (repent) – the mitzva of looking after oneself. For if one isn’t careful, whilst say crossing the road and one gets knocked over, such a mistake could cost one’s very life – thus I couldn’t do teshuva! So I’m very careful!”
To return to contemporary events; there appears to be a difference between practising things that are dangerous for the sake of earning a livelihood which would appear to be justified in certain cases and practising say dangerous sports (such as bungee jumping) for the sake of some temporal thrill.
Several authorities hold that the allowable level of danger may rise depending on the desperateness of one’s economic plight. One source for this principle arises in a discussion of the Biblical prohibition against delaying the wages of a worker (Lev. 19:13)
The Torah says that wages should be paid when due because “To that (his wages) he hands over his soul.” The Talmud elaborates: Why does this man ascend a ladder, or suspend himself from a tree, handing himself over to death? For nothing other than his wages. (Bava Kamma:91b)
The principle of ‘allowable risk’ is applied by R. Yechezkel Landau, an 18th-century rabbi from Poland, known as the ‘Nod’a BiYehuda:’ who writes that if a person is poor and needs to practice various dangerous activities in order to make a living (in the case he reviewed a poor person had to take a gun into the forest and shoot wild animals etc) . But if someone one was purely lusting after the ‘danger and the thrill’ that wouldn’t be allowed.
Nevertheless, even regarding dangerous sports, one of the greatest contemporary American authorities, R. Moshe Feinstein, stated that a person is indeed permitted to make his livelihood by engaging in such dangerous activities (Igrot Moshe, Choshen Mishpat 1, sec 104)
Miners presumably are aware of the dangers involved but may overlook them due to financial considerations. Whether or not this would apply to the case of Mr Blaine is perhaps debateable for he could be seen as an unadulterated seeker of fame. However, in the final analysis one could argue that his dangerous stunts are not just for gratuitous thrills or publicity, they actually form the very basis of his own livelihood and would thus also probably be permitted.