The Torah imposes a duty to do whatever is necessary to save a person who is inIt reminded me of the signs I just saw in the airport on a recent trip: "Please Be Careful, Bags Look Alike." Most of us are extra careful when grabbing our luggage. We check the tags and even tie unique ribbons on them for easy identification. Nobody wants to lose their luggage. Why aren't we that careful with our bodies and those of other people?
danger. The safety of such a person is considered in the same category as "lost
property:" if you encounter someone who is in danger, it is as if you have found
something that he has lost. Halacha imposes on the finder the duty to restore
lost property to its owner: "You are to restore it to him" (Deut. 22:2). This is
extended by the Talmud to include someone who is in danger, where "you are to
return his body [i.e. its safety] to him." (Sanhedrin 73a, and Rashi there).
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Lost Luggage
While researching a teshuvah on organ donation (believe it or not a former student emailed me seeking "Reform halakhic" guidance), I learned that personal safety is like lost luggage in certain situations. In a Responsa from 1997, Rabbi Saul Israeli (z"l) wrote:
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