[Avodah] Costa Concordia and halachah

[Gary Schreiber]

Although the captain of the ship is reviled for abandoning ship, had he been Jewish would he have  been acting properly? Women and children first  seems to be  contradicted by  the din that if a man or a woman are drowning, we save the male because he is chayav in more mitzvos. The same  hierachy would seem to apply  for an adult female vs child  analysis. Unless there is a halachik basis for the captain going down with the ship one could argue that the din of "v"chai bahem - chayechah kodmin" would imply that if there are insufficient resources (eg lifeboats) its each man for himself and that would apply to the captain and crew as well. Once  he abandoned ship is there a halachik rationale for ordering the captain to return to ship?

Gary J Schreiber MD
Associates in Radiation Oncology SC

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