DO NOT STAND IDLY BY THE SHEDDING OF BLOOD OF YOUR FELLOW HUMAN BEING

"Lo ta'amod al dam re'echa" is a Biblical commandment. "Thou shall not stand idly by the shedding of the blood of thy fellow man."  (Leviticus 19:16)

This statement was commented on by Rashi who interpreted it in the following manner:  “You are not to stand over the blood of your friend, to view his death when you are able to save him.  For instance, you must save one who is drowning in a river, or if an animal or bandits are coming upon him.”  Each of the situations mentioned actually involves rescuing another individual who is in danger of losing his life.  Each of the situations requires an act of courage on the part of the rescuer and yet, the Torah commands us to act even if there is potential danger!  Why?  Because we value life and saving a life is tantamount to saving an entire world.

The Talmud actually says that if person A is attacking person B and person C is aware of it, person C is obligated to stop person A, even at the cost of person A’s own life.  This is part of the law of the Rodef/the pursuer.  According to Jewish law, Person C is permitted to kill person A if there is imminent danger for murder, rape, or serious injury to Person B.  According to Jewish law, if an individual is attempting to murder or rape an innocent individual, one is obligated to save the innocent person’s life.Jewish law would even permit Person C to kill an abusive spouse or parent in order to save the life of person B.

I am unfamiliar whether or not American law has anything on its books that require a bystander to help one whose life is endangered.  Perhaps, Bob can help answer that question for us. (The discussion that followed was enlightening...Bob talked about Good Samaritan Laws but about the absence of laws requiring one to act to save another)

The research I did, showed that “the Knesset passed a law several years ago entitled “You shall not stand idly bythe blood of your neighborLaw, 5758-1998”. This law on the Israeli statute book incorporates, word for word, the Torah’s command not to callously ignore a fellow human being in distress! For the first time, bystanders and passers-by now have a legal duty (the breach of which carries sanctions) to help others in serious and immediate danger to their lives or health, even if they incur financial damages in the process, except where their own life (or the other person’s life) would be endangered by intervening.” (Simon Jackson, Torah MiTziyon, legal advisor)

Somehow, this statement in Torah brings to mind visions of this week in Boston.  Rescuers ran toward the explosions, in order to aid those who had been injured. They provided first aid, tourniquets, comfort in order to keep their fellow human beings from bleeding to death. Individuals refused to stand by idly, doing whatever they could to save those who had come into harm’s way.  We might wonder what our own response might be in a time of danger, but perhaps that is why such an instruction has been handed down to us.  It gives a better sense of what we are required to do, even when we might feel like doing otherwise. The value placed on saving a single life truly gives one a sense of understanding Judaism’s core values.