Q&A: Do Not Stand Idly By Your Neighbor's Blood
Do Not Stand Idly By Your Neighbor's Blood
Question
Hello Rabbi, is it possible to infer that this verse teaches that the prohibition against standing idly by also applies to gentiles, because if it applied only to Jews then it should have said, "Do not stand idly by your brother's blood," just as with returning a lost object, where the Talmud learns that there is no commandment to return it to a gentile, but only to a Jew?
Answer
According to the Sages and the halakhic decisors, this prohibition does not apply with regard to gentiles (obligations between one person and another apply only toward one who is "with you in mitzvot"). However, one could interpret their words as referring to the gentiles of earlier times, who were idol worshippers and most of whom behaved in a very inhumane way, whereas today all that has changed. That is what I think (and the Meiri does as well). The same discussion applies to a resident alien, and straightforwardly, according to many opinions, interpersonal obligations apply to him as well. According to the Sages, "your fellow" is an expression referring only to a Jew, just like "your brother."
According to the Rabbi's sharp distinction between morality and Torah, one could leave the Jewish law in place and argue that it deals only with the religious layer, no? Seemingly, you are assuming some kind of correspondence here between the two planes.