[Avodah] ein shliach le-dvar averiah

[Daniel Israel]

On Jun 1, 2011, at 3:46 PM, Zev Sero wrote:
> On 1/06/2011 4:58 PM, Daniel M. Israel wrote:
>> But RnTK's claim has nothing to do with shlichus!  And I don't know if the halacha would credit your presumption that the risk was remote.  So the question is, what is the halachic status of someone who puts someone else's life at risk?  For example, what if anything, would be the punishment for someone who blindly throws rocks into an area in which someone is standing?  Is he chayiv for anything if he doesn't actually hit the person?
> 
> "Ein shliach lidvar avera" is not just a specific rule in one case; it's
> a general rule that people are moral agents, and nobody is responsible
> for what another person does.  That includes things that are not averos
> at all; each person decides for himself what to do, and nobody else can
> be held responsible, even if he induced that person to do it.  What he
> can be responsible for is lifnei iver, giving someone bad advice, and
> he's responsible for that whether the person followed the advice or not.

If he had told them what they were carrying and then convinced them to do it anyway, you _might_ have a case.  But here you can't say they were responsible for their action, because he put them their via false pretenses.  So if I convince you to walk into my backyard, which is full of pits, perhaps you can say it is only lifnei iver.  But if I assure you there are no pits, are you claiming I'm not a mazik?

--
Daniel M. Israel
daniel at kolberamah.org