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asked to support someone else with his own money. What would he Even according to the simple meaning of “Heavenly pursuit,”
consider essential and what would he view as an unnecessary luxury? which, as explained by the Rambam, means that the pursuit came
This is the true measure of income he should set for himself. about as a result of the nature of the world, a baby crying is also a
An additional example is cited in books about a person who asked natural occurrence. Therefore, the baby is not a pursuer.
the Rebbe of Novardok, zt”l if he is permitted to borrow money from There is room, however, to permit killing the baby for the reason
his friend if he sees no way that he will be able to repay the loan, given at the end of Tiferes Yisrael. There he writes that if both moth-
but has great faith that Hashem will provide him with the money to er and baby will certainly die if the baby is not killed, the baby can
repay it. He answered him: If you were the lender, would you rely on be killed in order to at least save the mother. Likewise, one can kill
your faith in Hashem to provide your borrowers with the means to the baby to save the lives of the other people hidden in the bunker.
pay you back what they owe you? If you would not lend to others on Otherwise, all will be killed. Not all poskim agree with this view, as
this premise, it is forbidden for you to borrow money from others. explained below.
These are the words of a wise man.]
Therefore, writes Radvaz, a person is not obligated to lose a limb to As explained in Shmuel 2 (20:15, as above), at first the people of
save his friend because a person would never relinquish a limb volun- Avel did not want to behead Sheva ben Bichri. On the contrary, they
tarily, even for all the pleasure in the world. As it says in Tractate Baba were ready to hide him and not to hand him over to be killed because
Kamma (85a), one estimates how much a person wants to receive to the halacha rules that if a group of Jews is accosted by gentiles who say
have his hand cut off. The Gemara then asks, are we talking about “Give us one of you so we can kill him; if not, we will kill you all,” they
fools?! Thus, one is not obligated to give up a limb in order to save must all die but not hand over a single Jew to be killed (cited in Rosh,
the life of his friend. If he volunteers to sacrifice his limb to save his Terumos 8:12, in the name of the Talmud Yerushalmi, ibid, 8:4). If so,
friend, praiseworthy is his portion. the question arises: How did the wise woman succeed in convincing
However, if he wants to endanger his own life to save his friend, the people of Avel that they should do to Sheva ben Bichri something
Radvaz refers to him as a pious fool. It says the same in Pischei Te- contrary to the halacha?
shuvah (Yoreh De’ah #157:15). The only exception is for an ordinary Rav Yehudah and Rav Shimon argue on this matter (Tosefta,
person to give his life up for the sake of a Torah scholar, as explained Terumos 7:23). Rav Yehudah says that she told them that either way
in Sefer Chassidim (#698). So too, in Darchei Teshuvah (157:51). they will all be killed, including Sheva ben Bichri. Therefore, they
should give Sheva ben Bichri to Yoav and they will all be saved. The
aforementioned halacha applies only if that person the gentiles are
demanding may be able to hide or run away and save himself, but if he
and everyone else will certainly die, it is permissible to hand him over.
How Much is One Obligated to Endanger Rav Shimon says that the words of the wise woman were “Whoever
Oneself to Save the Lives of Others? rebels against the Kingship of King David is liable to be put to death.”
Since he is liable to the death penalty, the people of Avel were not
Until now, we have spoken about peacetime. However, during times obligated to be killed because of him. See Tosfos (Megillah 14b, s.v.
of war, the Rambam (Hilchos Shabbos 2:23) teaches that if gentiles be- moreid), which says that only if the Sanhedrin ruled that he is a rebel
sieged Jewish cities, we go out to fight them with iron weapons, and against King David is he liable to the death penalty. It is possible that
384 1 Medical-HalacHic Responsa of Rav ZilbeRstein Saving the wounded when chances are slim 2 405
