[Avodah] defense against rape or assault

[Zev Sero]

On 2/09/2013 3:45 PM, Kenneth Miller wrote:
> R' Mordechai Cohen wrote:
>> >The question asked to me was practical
>> >However, my post to Avodah was intended to cover the halacha
>> >from  both theoretical and practical viewpoints.
>
> Sorry, I just don't see the difference. It's like asking, "I know
> that Safek Pikuach Nefesh is doche Shabbos on a practical level, but
> does the theoretical viewpoint also see it that way?"

But where you know for sure that there is no pikuach nefesh, you can't break
Shabbos....except that you actually can, for a sakanas eiver.  We *call* it
"pikuach nefesh", even though it's not, and we allow it to override Shabbos.
That's why I suggested that the same *might* be true in the case of self-
defense.  By analogy to Shabbos, perhaps one might defend oneself from a
mere sakanas eiver, even if it's "clear as day" that there's no danger to
actual life.

-- 
Zev Sero               A citizen may not be required to offer a 'good and
zev at sero.name          substantial reason' why he should be permitted to
                        exercise his rights. The right's existence is all
                        the reason he needs.
                            - Judge Benson E. Legg, Woollard v. Sheridan