Every man must safeguard
the most important deposit given in the custody of
humanity, the lives of human beings, be it his own
life or that of others.
It is therefore prohibited
for a person to endanger himself and, even more so,
others. He should be careful to guard his own health
and that of society and not do those things that are
likely to cause harm like driving with excessive speed,
etc.
A person is prohibited
from murdering any person, adult or child, man or
woman and even the fetus in a womb. However, abortion
is allowed if it will save the life of the mother.
It is prohibited
to kill a sick person although he is dying of a terminal
disease, and there is no possibility of saving his
life and even if the patient himself requests to die.
Taking organs from such a person while he is still
alive, although it may save another person’s
life, is also prohibited.
If it is known that
there is no chance of saving life, there is no need
to prolong suffering by artificial means since the
patient is dying anyway. However, we are not allowed
to directly disconnect the equipment that allows the
dying person to breathe.
It is forbidden to
kill a criminal before he is brought to trial and
sentenced by a court.
A person is not allowed
to commit suicide or to shorten his own life in any
way. If he is being forced to commit idol worship,
he is allowed to commit suicide to sanctify the name
of G-d.
If a person is being
forced to kill another person or be killed, he is
still not allowed to kill others. However, if the
killers are demanding that one person be handed over
to them or they will kill everyone, it is allowed
to hand over that one person to save the lives of
all the others. However, in the case of terrorists,
it should be considered that such demands by terrorists
have only proven to encourage the killers to take
more hostages and kill more people.
If a person is running
after you or chasing you to do you harm but not to
kill you, then you are not allowed to kill him. However,
if his purpose is to kill, and you have no other way
in which to save your life but to kill him, you are
allowed to do so in self-defense. But if there is
any other way that you can save your life, perhaps
by injuring him just enough to stop him from chasing
you, then you are not allowed to kill him. If you
do slay the murderer, you are guiltless and may save
other people’s lives who the murderer might
otherwise kill later. Thus if the killing is to save
your life or someone else’s life, you are allowed
to kill him. It is even a mitzvah to do so as Abraham
went out to war to save Lot, his nephew and others.
Here Abraham was saving life, not killing one who
is trying to kill him.
It is prohibited
to declare war on another nation since you will be
involved in killing and you are endangering the lives
of your people too. You are allowed to go out to war
if you are being attacked. You are allowed to kill
the attackers, but you are not allowed to kill prisoners
of war if they are no longer endangering life.
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