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safety and that of the country. Another physician was summoned and
he treated the patient.

The question is: Did the second physician who treated the boy
despite everything act correctly? Are we required to treat “poisonous
snakes who bite our people”?! We have in mind the comments of the
medrash (Koheles Rabba, 5), “Don’t do a favor for a bad person and
you will experience no evil. And if you did a favor for a bad person,
you have done something bad!”

Although I am a bereaved mother, please do not interpret my ques-
tion as a quest for personal revenge, rather as a question that troubles
many people who find themselves in this dilemma, for whom your
Torah honor’s response will be most enlightening.

M. Tropp, a Bereaved Mother

ɳ Question

A terrorist who was responsible for murdering Israeli soldiers was
sentenced to life imprisonment. In the course of his incarceration,
he required various medical treatments. When his sight deteriorated
because of a cataract, he was referred to our department for surgery.

I would like the honored Rav to clarify how the physician ought to
approach such cases, in regard to both procedures that are necessary
for treating life-threatening problems and those where the problem is
not life-threatening.

Prof. Pinchas Nemeth, Director of
the Eye Department, Asaf Harof ’e
Hospital

ɳ Response

In the Shulchan Aruch (Yoreh De’ah 158:1) it says, “Death should
not be brought about to idolaters belonging to the seven Canaanite
nations when we are not at war with them, yet it is forbidden to save

482 1 Medical-Halachic Responsa of Rav Zilberstein