[Avodah] torture in halacha???

Micha Berger micha at aishdas.org
Mon May 14 18:46:49 PDT 2012


On Mon, May 14, 2012 at 05:19:10PM -0400, Zev Sero wrote:
>> If tza'ar baalei chaim isn't allowed, lo kol shekein humans.
>> So, there has to be a criterion for justification.
>
> If it's for no reason then why talk about torture?  Hitting another
> person is explicitly forbidden by the Torah: "pen yosif".  The question
> only makes sense in a case where we've already determined that hitting
> is permitted, and now RHB is asking whether there are any cases where
> not only hitting but also torture is permitted.  And RLL's response is
> correct: first find a case where it's *not* permitted...

We can agree that it's inappropriate to torture for no reason.

I presume also to torture in order to retrieve a stolen quarters.
And that it's okay to torture someone who we know is in guilty
posession of information that could save 2,823 people.

So, where between those two values does halakhah permit torture?

As I said, proving that one needs /some/ justification is sufficient
to imply there must be a "shiur".

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             Today is the 37th day, which is
micha at aishdas.org        5 weeks and 2 days in/toward the omer.
http://www.aishdas.org   Gevurah sheb'Yesod: When does reliability
Fax: (270) 514-1507               require one to be strict with another?



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