[Avodah] Costa Concordia and halachah

[kennethgmiller at juno.com]

R' Gary Schreiber suggested:

> 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.

I cannot cite any sources, but it seems to me that the halachos RGS cites are for ordinary situations, where "all else is being equal", such as where ordinary passengers are in a lifeboat and the food is running out, or whatever. It is difficult for me to imagine that it also applies to special situations, such as that of the captain and crew, who accepted responsibility for the safety of their passengers.

If I am wrong and RGS is correct, then it seems that his logic would also apply to soldiers, who would then be allowed to abandon their units and seek safety under the "chayechah kodmin - each man for himself" rule. That is obviously not the case, and I really don't see why the halacha would be different for ships' captains, firefighters, or police officers.

I'm not saying that there aren't situations where we might go leniently on heroes, only that they're not in the "each man for himself" category.

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