[Avodah] lifnei iver/kanaus

[Chana Luntz]

RDB writes:
> >>> The case is as follows:
> Reuven tried to steal the diamond. Shimon yelled at him,
> causing Reuven to drop it. Reuven turns to run, Shimon chases 
> after him with a knife threatening to kill him. Levi, 
> standing a few feet away, has only two options - spray the 
> blinding mace in Shimon's face, or pick up the diamond that 
> Shimon left for the moment because he was busy trying to kill 
> Reuven and yell out to Shimon that he has the diamond, with 
> the plan being  to cause Shimon to stop chasing Reuven out of 
> concern for the loss of his diamond.<<

And then RAB writes:
 
> Could I sujest a simpler case.
> Reuven is attempting to kill Shimon. To prevent him, Levi
> must distract Reuven long enough for Shimon to escape. He 
> yells and screams, but Reuven is too angry and cannot hear. 
> Levi picks up a brick. He can either heave it through 
> Reuven's car window, and THAT will get his attention, or he 
> can throw it at Reuven's head. Which is preferable?
> 

This to my mind is precisely why it is poskened in Choshen Mishpat siman
380 si'if 3 that such damage is mutar because "shelo yiyeh mamono chamur
m'gufo".  The Shulchan Aruch there is discussing the case where the
nirdaf is being chased by the rodef, and to save himself breaks the
kelim of the rodef, and there it is held that he is patur, shelo yiyeh
mamono chamur m'gufo, but if the nirdaf saves himself from the rodef
using other people's property he must pay for them, because he saved
himself using other people's property.  However in the case of another
person who is chasing after the rodef to save the nirdaf and he breaks
kelim, whether those kelim are of the rodef or of another person, he is
free from paying, so that he should not be held back from saving the
rodef.

The point being, that in a pikuach nefesh situation, people need not to
be held back by making these kinds of calculations, they just need to do
the thing that will most effectively save the nirdaf.  In the case RAB
gives, it is perfectly mutar to throw the brick through Reuven's car
window (or somebody else's car window) - and he should not be held back
because he is using or taking other people's property.  On the other
hand, there would also seem to be a risk that if he shattered a car
window, he might not get Reuven's attention, while if he threw the brick
at Reuven's head, he most certainly would, so it is really not clear
that he ought to be taking that risk, given that Shimon's life is at
stake.

And that is the problem with RDB's example as well.  The mace will
definitely work.  Grabbing the diamond may or may not.  Not only that,
grabbing the diamond is not actually the thing that in the case RDB is
suggested does the trick - it is *telling Shimon that he Levi has the
diamond* that is really distracting Shimon.  So in that case, it would
seem that if Levi wanted to take the risk that concern about the diamond
would distract Shimon, he probably only has to lie, and say he has taken
the diamond, he does not really have to take it.  Even if Shimon
identifies it as a lie pretty quickly by diverting his attention to the
diamond, he will be faced with the dilemma of stopping and picking up
the diamond and making sure Levi does not take it, or continuing to
chase Reuven.  So if Levi is going to be making cold hard calculations
about what is going to minimise issurim - then lying would seem to be
the way to go, because we know that this permissible for the sake of
shalom, and it is hard to see a more powerful case of that than this.
On the other hand, as indicated, the only thing that is guaranteed to
work is the mace, because Shimon might well be so blinded by anger that
the diamond has become irrelevant (it would certainly seem so from the
fact that the diamond has fallen from Reuven's hand and Shimon is still
chasing Reuven and not the diamond) - and if Levi stops and makes those
kinds of calculations, Shimon might end up knifing Reuven.  So, assuming
you do not think that this is a bo b'machteret situation, and that
Shimon is within his rights, then I don't see how it can be said to be
wrong for Levi to use the mace, and that probably is indeed the
preferable method - he is using a reasonable and sure means of stopping
somebody who is chasing after somebody with a knife to kill him, rather
than an uncertain means that require quite intricit mental calculations.
On the other hand, if he chooses another method, he is patur, because we
don't want to hold anybody back from saving a nirdaf because they are
making calculations about - well this would be ganeva and this would be
chavla and this would be lying and in the meantime, Shimon is dead.  Not
because the one issur is or is not more chamur than the other.

> Akiva

Regards

Chana