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zt”l, and he clarified: When the Chikekei Lev expounded that, accord-
ing to the Toras Chaim, it is forbidden to open a gentile’s letter because
of stealing, this is a novel idea. There is a difference of opinion among
our Sages as to whether or not it is prohibited from the Torah to
steal from a gentile (see maseches Bava Kamma 113). The final halachic
ruling is that it is forbidden from the Torah to steal from a gentile
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(Shulchan Aruch, Choshen Mishpat #348:2). Adding to that by saying
that it is forbidden even to look at a gentile’s letter is a novel idea.
My father-in-law also clarified that the Toras Chaim’s assertion
that reading one’s letter involves stealing only applies if the reader
of the letter steals the thoughts of the author. In our case, Shimon
did not steal anything from Reuven. Reuven will not suffer much
damage from the fact that the administration of the hospital will try
to influence him to remain in Israel (especially since there is pikuach
nefesh involved). The only stealing involved here may be the loss to the
hospital abroad.
Responsa Chikekei Lev (there) concludes that even if one received a
letter from a friend, he is forbidden to reveal the contents of the letter
to others. Even if there is no real secret in the letter, it is not a nice
thing to do and may cause damage to the writer. As explained in ma-
seches Yoma (4b), How do we know that if someone says something
to his fellowman, he is not allowed to repeat it until that person says
”Go and tell it to others?” As it says, “And Hashem spoke to him from
the tent of meeting, saying (Vayikra 1:1)”.
There is a kal vachomer to be learned here. If it is forbidden to
reveal something that someone said without his permission, how
much more so if he wrote things down in a letter, especially if there is
something disgraceful or secretive in the letter that could cause him
damage. As Rashi writes on the verse (Melachim II 2:5) “And you also
know what Yoav ben Tzeruyah did to me,”that Yoav ben Tzeruyah
sinned gravely against David by publicizing the letter that David sent
him about Uriyah.
Thus in our case, there is a definite possibility that Shimon would
be forbidden to reveal to the administration of the hospital the con-
252 1 Medical-HalacHic Responsa of Rav ZilbeRstein
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A group of people (caravan) traveling on the road was met
by gentiles who said to them: “Give us one of you and we
will kill him. But, if not, we will kill all of you.” Even if
they would all be killed, they should not hand over [even]
a single Jew. However, if they specify a person, such as
what occurred with Sheva ben Bichri, they should hand
him over rather than be killed. Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish
said: This only applies to someone like Sheva ben Bichri,
who was liable to the death penalty.
Commenting on the Gemara, the Chazon Ish wrote the following:
It seems that this does not mean he needs to be liable to
the death penalty according to Torah law, because if that
were the case, all of Israel would be obligated to hand him
over to fulfill the law of the Torah. Rather, even if he is not
liable to one of the four types of death that a beis din can
mete out… but he rebelled against the government, they
are obligated to hand him over…. But Reish Lakish says
that this applies only if the gentiles single out someone
who is deservant of the death penalty according to them. It
then turns out that he was singled out like a rodef, because
the fact that he is hiding among them will cause them all
to be killed. Although in halachah he is not a rodef since he
is trying to save his own life, in any event, they are not all
obligated to sacrifice their lives; since he is the cause, it is
permissible to hand him over. But if the gentiles have no
real claim against any specific person in the group, but they
have decided on their own to single out one of them, then
they should all let themselves be killed and not hand over
one Jew to be killed.
Nonetheless, after looking into this case, it seems to us that it would
still be prohibited to hand him over to the gentiles because he does
not fall under the category of a rodef. Only if he habitually produces
counterfeit coins are we allowed to hand him over, so that he not en-
Changing details of a medical report 2 281
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