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rupted by human blood [that he spilled] will be on the run until [he
reaches] the grave; none shall support him.’ If evildoers and sinners
flee to you to shelter under your protection do not shield them.” From
here it is clear that it is not only forbidden to hide murderers but
other evildoers and sinners too. This is also clear from the Chavos
Yair, as will be explained below.

The question also arises as to whether it is permitted to rescue a
murderer or an adulterer who is sick or who is drowning in a river.
Logic would apparently dictate that in the same way that it is forbid-
den to hide him from the authorities who want to kill him, it is also
forbidden to save him from illness or from drowning in the river.

This question can be resolved from the comments of the Chavos
Yair (146) regarding the case of two young men who got into a quarrel
and one of them pulled out a knife and stabbed the other in the heart,
killing him. The murderer fled to another country, cast off the yoke of
Torah and became head of the bandits and thieves. He was eventual-
ly caught stealing and was sentenced to death by hanging. A certain
person came forward and tried to defend him and save him from
being killed. This person was challenged by a certain Torah scholar
who said that it was forbidden to save him because he had spilled the
blood of his colleague. The question was submitted to the Chavos
Yair to settle. He writes that the Torah scholar seems to be correct
in his argument that the murderer should not be saved, as is clear
from the aforementioned passage of gemara in Niddah, according to
Rashi’s understanding that it is forbidden to save a murderer.

However, after some back and forth discussion, the Chavos Yair
writes as follows: “If he was apprehended for that murder, no efforts
should be made on his behalf, for this has certainly been orchestrated
by Heaven so that he receives what he deserves. As it is written, ‘The
spiller of human blood – his blood shall be spilled by human agency.’
(Bereishis, 9:6) This is not the case if he was later apprehended for
robbery for which they impose death by hanging, which is not the
means by which a killer is put to death and which [sentence] we must
[thus] view as being incidental, and he should therefore be saved.”
The Chavos Yair then asks, “If an adulterer is drowning in the river,

396 1 Medical-Halachic Responsa of Rav Zilberstein