Q&A: The Law of a Pursuer in the Case of an Informer
The Law of a Pursuer in the Case of an Informer
Question
Hello Rabbi. The law of a pursuer is straightforward and morally intuitive; the question is what its halakhic and moral boundaries are. For example, if I see someone driving a car, and there is a malfunction in the vehicle, so that it is speeding toward a pedestrian standing on the sidewalk, who can do nothing. I have two options before me: to blow up the car and save the pedestrian, or not to intervene, in which case the pedestrian will die and the driver will survive (somehow). What is the correct course of action from the standpoint of Jewish law, and what is the correct course of action morally? Is this like any other pursuer? And if I am forbidden to kill the driver, what is the difference between this and a minor pursuing an adult with a knife, where he also is not doing it intentionally (there is a “malfunction” in his brain, like a malfunction in the car). Thank you.
Answer
In principle, this is like a minor pursuer, whom one may kill. However, perhaps one could distinguish the case of the car, since this is not a pursuit initiated by him, but rather “Heaven is pursuing him” (as with a fetus). In such a case, one may not kill him; rather, passive non-action is preferable. In addition, here it is the car that will kill the one being pursued, not the person, and therefore there is room for the reasoning that it is permitted to damage the car even if the person inside it will be killed. After all, destroying the car is pure self-defense, and the death of the person inside it is a side effect (albeit an inevitable one). The practical difference is that according to this reasoning, one may not shoot the driver, but only damage the car.
By reasoning alone, it seems that the person being pursued certainly may defend himself and damage the car.