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should we not save him?! Such an argument is obviously untenable.
It is therefore possible that even if he was apprehended for murder
we should save him. It can be argued further that even though Rabbi
Tarfon did not want to actively hide the [rumored Galilean] murder-
er it is still permitted to offer him advice and indicate to him where
he might hide.”

The Chavos Yair concludes: “If he was apprehended for stealing,
it is a mitzvah to intercede on his behalf, provided that he is not a
habitual offender [i.e. he doesn’t murder with regularity – this is also
the implication of the Chavos Yair’s comments in 139]. However if
he is apprehended for murder, the case can be argued either way and
I am unable to resolve the matter and declare intercession obligato-
ry; neither, at any rate, can I protest against anyone who wants to
intercede. Whoever is capable of deciding whether it is forbidden
to intercede or whether it is a mitzvah or is merely permitted [i.e.
optional] – should do so.” We learn from these comments that [in
regard to helping them avoid punishment] we relate to an adulterer
in the same way that we relate to a murderer and we further learn that
if they are drowning in a river these sinners should certainly be saved.

Now, although the Chavos Yair didn’t settle the question of wheth-
er or not it is a mitzvah to save them, the Yaavetz (2, 9) did decide,
ruling that it is forbidden to save a sinner [from punishment]. There
was a case in his time of a person who killed his colleague and was
caught. When he was put on trial he lied and said that he was not the
killer but it had been someone else who had fled in the meantime.
The judge ruled that if he swore that he was innocent of the crime
he would be freed, otherwise he would be put to death. The question
was: was he allowed to violate the prohibition of swearing falsely in
order to save his life? A certain rabbi ruled that this would be per-
mitted since piku’ach nefesh sets aside all the mitzvos. The Yaavetz
writes that he may not swear falsely because the sin of spilling blood
has no atonement, even with repentance, until the killer’s blood is
shed. [Furthermore,] even without him having to swear falsely it is
forbidden to save him from the death penalty, unless the victim was
the one who started the quarrel and began hitting, for then perhaps

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