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baruch Hu as stated by the Rambam (Hilchos Rotzei’ach Ushemiras
Nefesh 1:4). See too the Radvaz (on Hilchos Sanhedrin 18:6), who
writes that the source of this idea is the passuk in Yechezkel (18:4)
“The souls, they belong to Me.”

Now, the gaon Rav Moshe Sternbuch writes, “I tend more to the
view that the main prohibition of spilling human blood, which is the
root of the prohibition of killing among [i.e. applying to] non-Jews, is
basically spilling blood indiscriminately i.e. cruelly, as blood is spilled
when murder is committed. However, if he has some beneficial intent
it is not included under this prohibition. Consider this in light of Tos-
fos’s discussion (Sanhedrin 59a, s.v. leika) of the possibility that even a
non-Jew may be allowed to kill a fetus in order to save its mother’s life,
even though non-Jews incur the death penalty for killing a fetus and
‘one does not sacrifice one life in order to save another.’ Nevertheless,
when his intention is to save, it is not considered murder.

“And see the comments of the Torah Temimah (Bereishis 2, 39):
“Chazal had a tradition that these seven mitzvos apply to all the
nations of the world… because they involve the principles and ba-
sics of the survival of the world and of human society and without
them – meaning, if the opposite was practiced – the result would be
destruction, ruin and the end of human life.”

According to this, there are grounds for accepting Rav Moshe
Sternbuch’s view that the Torah only forbids non-Jews from engaging
in destructive killing but not from“mercy killing” i.e. euthanasia. This
may also apply to a pregnancy with a hydrocephalic fetus, when it is
clear that when he is born the child will suffer greatly throughout his
life – the non-Jewish mother may be allowed to request an abortion2.

In maseches Bava Basra (16a) the gemara tells us that when Iyov
said, “The blessing the lost one shall devolve upon me and I shall
cause the widow’s heart to sing with joy,” (Iyov 29:13) this referred to
his practice of stealing a field from its orphaned owners, improving

2. The severity of abortion among non Jews is explained further on, siman 287. For
further general information about hydrocephalus, see earlier, siman 240.

448 1 Medical-Halachic Responsa of Rav Zilberstein