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2. A murderer who is drowning in a river should be saved.
3. A murderer whom the Sanhedrin has sentenced to death,

who became ill on Shabbos, is the subject of a disagreement
between the Pri Megadim and the Mishnah Berurah. Ac-
cording to the Pri Megadim (Orach Chaim, 329), Shabbos
should be desecrated to save him whereas according to the
Mishnah Berurah (ibid. 9), he should not be saved. [Re-
garding a robber who is an apostate, see the Rema (Yoreh
Deah, 251) and the Pis’chei Teshuvah. (ibid. 1]
4. It is permitted to hand over robbers who ruin society to the
authorities, even if they will be sentenced to death. This is
probably only provided that they will have a fair trial and
that the times demand this measure but not if the death
sentence is a consequence of disregard for the Jewish rob-
ber’s life. According to the Ben Yehoyada and the Maayanei
Chochmah, this is only permitted if it is clear that they
will not have any worthy offspring and even then, a pious
individual ought not to hand them over to the authorities.
5. As to the young woman and the bank clerk who were the
subject of our questions, unless they are facing execution
they should not be helped to escape imprisonment, for the
Rashba goes even further than this and allows handing
them over to the authorities who will kill them, so that
society is not ruined, and all the more so is it incorrect to
help a thief avoid imprisonment. However, if their sin was
an incidental occurrence and they are about to commit sui-
cide and can be saved without our violating any sin, they
should be saved and restored to the correct path. However,
a physician cannot be expected to issue a false document
[in order to prevent the sinner from committing suicide],
if he will suffer in consequence and certainly if he may lose
his livelihood, for we have learned in Kesuvos (67b) that
there is no obligation to sustain a miser who does not want
to benefit from his own money but only from the money of
others, from their money, even if this means that he might

406 1 Medical-Halachic Responsa of Rav Zilberstein