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are partially liable for the sin of “a person who steals a man and sells
him…shall surely die” though they do not actually incur the death
penalty because the child was not sold “in the manner of a slave.”] In
such a situation the child should be given to an appropriate foster
family but not for adoption.

The above remarks do not apply when the family sell a child will-
ingly without any pressure, for there is then no sin of stealing a person
and selling him and it is possible that after having sold him or given
him away with their full consent they can no longer retract. In the
opinion of my father-in-law Rav Y.S. Elyashiv zt”l, they can retract.



Abducting a Thief ’s Child to Coerce the Father

to Return what he Stole

Question: A poor man was going begging from door to door, carrying
his young child. In one house the owner noticed that the beggar had
taken an expensive object. The man pursued the beggar and demand-
ed his property back. When the beggar denied having taken it the
man grabbed the child from him and told him that when he returned
the object he would get his child back and in the end the object was
indeed returned. Was the man allowed to abduct the child in order
to get his property back, or does this encroach on the sin of “stealing
a person”?

Response: It says in Shulchan Aruch (Choshen Mishpat, 348,1),
“It is forbidden to steal…even as a joke and even with the intention
of returning the item or of paying double, or [merely] in order to
cause the other person anguish.” It is questionable as to whether these
practices are also forbidden in regard to stealing a person. The sefer
Lehoros Nassan (4, 127) discusses this question.

I heard from my father in law Rav Y.S. Elyashiv zt”l, that it appears
to him that since these practices are mentioned in connection with
stealing property we cannot extrapolate from there and apply them to

232 1 Medical-Halachic Responsa of Rav Zilberstein