Page 404 - 20818_park-c_efi

20818_efi-ab - 20818_park-C_efi-ab | 14 - A | 18-08-20 | 13:46:25 | SR:-- | Cyan
20818_efi-ab - 20818_park-C_efi-ab | 14 - A | 18-08-20 | 13:46:25 | SR:-- | Black
#20818_efi-ab - 20818_park-C_efi-ab | 14 - A | 18-08-20 | 13:46:25 | SR:-- | Yellow
20818_efi-ab - 20818_park-C_efi-ab | 14 - A | 18-08-20 | 13:46:25 | SR:-- | Magenta
#
SAVING THE WOUNDED
FROM THE BATTLEFIELD
WHEN THE CHANCE OF
115 SAVING LIVES IS VERY
SMALL
1 Questions Saving the wounded when chances aRe sliM
During a war, one of our tanks took a direct hit and burst into flames.
The crew was trapped inside the tank. I estimated that chances were
almost nil that any of them were still alive. As the regiment com-
mander I ordered the armored personnel carrier (APC) that handles
the evacuation of the wounded, which includes a rescue team and
medical personnel, to rescue the crew from the tank. When the APC
approached the tank, a strong fire erupted and the APC was hit and
its entire crew was killed. May Hashem avenge their blood.
I have strong pangs of conscience, and my questions are:
1. Did I follow the halacha by instructing the APC to rescue the
victimes, even though the chances of their being rescued were
small, and the danger to the rescuers was great? My question is
not only about my pangs of conscience regarding this case, but
also about what to do in the future in a similar case, G-d forbid.
[A similar question arose when a physician saw a mortal-
ly-wounded soldier lying on the battlefield in an exposed area of
enemy fire. The physician wanted to endanger himself to reach
the soldier. The question was: Is it permissible to endanger one-
self to save a wounded person, when the chances of success are
390 1 Medical-HalacHic Responsa of Rav ZilbeRstein
is pursuing whom, mother-baby or baby-mother.” The Talmud Bavli 14
is explained literally “It is a heavenly act of pursuit of the mother’s
life.” Therefore, the fetus is not a pursuer. This is similar to a gentile
who pushes Reuven against a baby to kill it, where the gentile is the
pursuer and Reuven is like a stone thrown at the baby by a gentile. So,
too, the fetus is not a pursuer but the endangerment of the mother is
“An act of G-d.”
Rambam (Hilchos Rotze’ach 1:9) writes: It is a negative precept not
to have mercy on the life of a pursuer. Therefore, the Rabbanim de-
creed that a fetus which is endangering its mother during childbirth
may be extracted from the womb limb for limb because it has the
status of a pursuer. But once its head protrudes, one may not touch
it because we do not sacrifice one life to save another, and this is the
nature of the world.
Rambam explains the words of the Gemara: “It is a case of Heaven-
ly pursuit of the mother,” meaning that this is the nature of the world
and not the fetus’s initiative. Therefore, one may not kill it. On the
other hand, if a minor is pursuing his friend to kill him, the pursuer
may be killed to save the life of the pursued. This pursuit is not caused
by the nature of the world, and therefore, even though he is not a bar
da’as, we kill him in order to save the pursued.
It seems to me that it is even permitted to kill a minor who is
waving a loaded pistol and aiming it at his friend, not knowing that
his act will kill his friend. A fetus that protruded its head from the
womb during childbirth, endangering its mother’s life would also be
killed, were it not for the fact that we consider this a “heavenly act of
pursuit.” He would be killed despite the fact that he has no idea he is
killing his mother.
Therefore, it seems to me that it is permissible to shoot down the
pilot who is pursuing his brethren, in spite of the fact that the pilot
does not know that he is erroneously killing Jews, according to the
Talmud Bavli.
Even according to the Talmud Yerushalmi, which posits that the
reason that we do not kill the fetus is because we do not know who
is pursuing who – the mother the baby, or the baby the mother – the
Saving the wounded when chances are slim 2 399