[Avodah] torture and halacha

[Micha Berger]

RSZN sent us a collection of links discussing RJDBleich's article
in Tradition 39:4 (2006) "Survey of Recent Halachic Literature:
Torture and the Ticking Bomb", available to subscribers at
<http://www.traditiononline.org/news/article.cfm?id=100881>.

A summary of the article, which it must be stressed is halakhah velo lemaaseh
is at http://judaism.stackexchange.com/a/4218

Quoting "Shalom":
        If we are positive (?) that this person is a rodef, i.e. actively
        trying to kill innocent people, then we can use any force needed
        to stop him, including lethal force.

	Is torture worse than lethal force? This is debated by the
	Rishonim, but it appears the majority opinion is that if killing
	is allowed, torture is too.
	
	Suppose this fellow has knowledge of the ticking-bomb plot, but
	wasn't involved in setting the bomb (but if he disclosed his
	information we could stop the bomb); that's more complicated,
	but I think Rabbi Bleich concludes he's also considered a rodef.

	How sure do we have to be that he's a rodef? That's very
	unclear ...

	There are similar arguments involving kofin oso ad sheyomer
	rotzeh ani. It's complicated.

	What if this person is entirely innocent, but it's necessary?
	E.g. evil terrorist won't talk no matter what we do to him, but
	if we torture his family he'll talk. You can't call the family
	a rodef.

	When a significant portion of the world population is at risk,
	there can be a concept of emergency dispensations -- hora'at
	sha'ah -- that might allow more than otherwise would be. Rabbi
	Bleich said this might be analogous to a court-mandated "torture
	warrant" suggested by Dershowitz.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             Today is the 47th day, which is
micha at aishdas.org        6 weeks and 5 days in/toward the omer.
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Fax: (270) 514-1507               unity-how does it draw out one's soul?