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aside the laws of Shabbos?’ Rabbi Yishmael said in response, ‘“If the
robber is found digging his way in” [he can be killed] (Shemos 22). If
in this case, where it is unclear whether he only intends to steal or
even to kill [should the homeowner resist], and murder defiles the
land etc., he [i.e. the homeowner] can be saved at the expense of the
robber’s life, all the more ought danger to life set aside the laws of
Shabbos.. Rav Yehuda said in Shmuel’s name… [the source is] ‘And
he shall live by them [i.e. the mitzvos)]’ (Vayikra 18:5) – and not die
by them.”

In the sefer Tosefes Yom Hakippurim, the author explains that in
Sanhedrin (74a) Rabbi Yishmael is of the opinion that a person is per-
mitted to violate the prohibition of idolatry rather than allow himself
to be killed because it is written,“And he shall live by them” – and not
die by them. If so, he asks, why does Rabbi Yishmael need to derive
that Shabbos can be desecrated to save life from the law of “the robber
who breaks in”? He answers that from the passuk “And he shall live
by them,” it’s only possible to learn that a person who himself is annus
can worship an idol to avoid being killed [because he is annus] but
according to Rabbi Yishmael’s approach, this passuk cannot serve as a
source for allowing one person to desecrate Shabbos in order to save
another person’s life. [This is because the passuk “And he shall live
by them” – and not die by them implies that a person is obligated to
observe the mitzvos only until his situation becomes dangerous, but
once he is in a situation of piku’ach nefesh, he is annus from observing
the mitzvos.] He therefore learns from the halachah of “the robber
who breaks in” where it says that every person is allowed to save the
life of the householder by killing the robber, because a Jewish life
has greater value than a Torah prohibition. Others are therefore also
allowed to violate sins in order to save a Jewish life.

We learn from the above that when there is danger to life, every
Jew is allowed to violate prohibitions in order to save life. This is not
the case when there is no danger but only a situation of annus. Then,
although the patient himself will not be punished others will be pun-
ished.

Even according to those opinions that permit stealing money or

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