[Avodah] Putting oneself in danger

[ben waxman]

rav hankman wrote:
> If under the same circumstances but
> for the difference that instead of Reuvain committing suicide to further
> the war aims, Reuvain R'L has to kill his fellow soldier (or civilian)
> Shimon to further the war aims, would even this be permitted under the
> rules of war?

i thought that i had read that under certain circumstances, yes. for
example shimon in the middle of battle falls into a panic, starts
screaming that they are going to be killed, and starts running away. he
can be shot. however i can't a source for this. however what i did find
in this week's netziv (20:8) is that he writes thats in war there is no
issur in bringing yourself to die, even actively putting yourself in a
position where this will happen.

> Clearly there are an entire set of halochos governing war, so what
> is their point if you do not have to consider them when prosecuting
> the war?

just like anything else, the more you think and prepare for the various
scenarios, the more you will be able to deal with them b'sh'aat ha'emet.

i was in a different situation during the war. i wasn't called up this
time, but i did go up north several times to help in zefat and quiryat
shemona. afterwards several people (not great rabbis) told me that i may
have been over doing this. by placing myself in a makom sakana, which i
didn't have any right to do, i lost whatever protection i may have had
as someone doing a mitzva. personally i found the idea that we should
simply abandon each other and worry about ourselves to be reprehensible.

Kol Tuv
ben waxman