[Avodah] Threats Against A Judge

[Zev Sero]

kennethgmiller at juno.com wrote:
> R' Zev Sero wrote:
>> Nor is kibush ha'aretz listed, and yet it's completely
>> obvious that it does override pikuach nefesh.  The same
>> applies to lo taguru; by its nature it's obvious that it
>> requires mesirut nefesh.  The three listed exceptions are
>> those that don't require mesirut nefesh by their very
>> natures, and indeed bnai noach are *not* required to be
>> moser nefesh for them, but Jews are.
> 
> One of "the three listed exceptions" is murder. I have two questions:
> 
> 1) It seems to me that the prohibiton against murder DOES require mesiras
> nefesh by its very nature: "Who knows whose blood is redder?"

Not by its nature.  It is perfectly logical to put self-preservation above
the duty not to kill others.   My blood may not be redder than yours on an
absolute scale, but it's redder to ME.  My first duty is to myself and my
own, and therefore if preserving my life, or those of my children, means
taking yours, then that is what I will do.

So why is the halacha otherwise?  Here's my speculation: We have a mitzvah
of kiddush Hashem, that we must give up our lives for Hashem, i.e.
mitzvot are more important than self-preservation.  But we have a
contradictory pasuk "vachai bahem".  So some mitzvot require mesirut
nefesh and some don't.  Bish'at hashmad any avera is a chilul Hashem, and
so mesirut nefesh applies even to shoelaces.  At other times, AZ is
obviously always a chilul Hashem by definition, but for other mitzvot we
can apply "vachai bahem".  In other words, "vachai bahem" is a *heter*
from the requirement for kidush Hashem.  But once we have to resort to
this heter, how can it apply to murder?  Surely Hashem is just as concerned
about your life as He is about mine!  Why would He let me off the general
requirement of kiddush Hashem just to save my life, if by doing so yours
will be lost?  What will He have gained by that?  And once we say murder
is always a chilul Hashem, we bring in giluy arayot because the Torah
compares them.

War, on the other hand, by its very nature requires soldiers lives to
be risked and lost.  And yet there is a requirement to fight milchemet
mitzvah.  If pikuach nefesh overrode that requirement, then how could
it be a requirement at all?  How can a war *ever* be fought, if each
individual is entitled to put his life ahead of the mitzvah?

Nor is this the only example. Imagine if someone were to argue that the
requirement to execute someone who has been convicted of a capital
crime is overridden by pikuach nefesh!  After all, one may be mechalel
shabbat in order to save a Jewish life, even that of a rasha, kal
vachomer that one may ignore the mitzvat asei of executing the convict!




> 2) Is it really true that a Ben Noach is not required to be moser nefesh for murder? Suppose Yasser threatens Adolf that he must murder Mahmoud, or be killed himself. Are you saying that Adolf is allowed to murder Mahmoud to protect his own life?

It certainly seems so.  He is not required to be moser nefesh even for AZ,
kal vachomer for murder and giluy arayot.  See Rambam Hil' Melachim 10:3
http://mechon-mamre.org/i/e510.htm

-- 
Zev Sero                    A mathemetician is a device for turning coffee
zev at sero.name               into theorems.                   - Paul Erdos