Q&A: To Kill
Originally published:
This is an English translation (via GPT-5.4). Read the original Hebrew version.
To Kill
Question
Is it moral to kill someone who truly deserves to die (a major terrorist, or whatever example you want)?
Answer
No. But it is not immoral either (that is, it is not murder). If he is threatening someone, then the killing itself is moral, because it saves another person.
Along these lines, the Rabbi of Brisk distinguished at the beginning of his book on Maimonides between two laws regarding a pursuer: 1. That he has no bloodguilt, meaning killing him is not immoral. 2. That there is an obligation to kill him in order to save the pursued person, meaning killing him is moral.