Rav Yehuda Silman (Yeschurun 15): Question: Is it permitted to kill someone that there are doubts whether he is in fact a rodef (threat to life)? I was asked concerning a security guard in a public place e.g., the entrance of a restaurant or a mall who notices a man approach and he appears suspicious. The person is acting strangely and appears to be an Arab. When the security guard approaches him, he begins to run. The security guards suspects that he is a terrorist. This is only a suspicion since it is possible that he is in fact a Jew and there are people in the world who act strangely. In addition it is possible that the suspicious stranger is running away simply out of panic. However it is possible that in a short time the stranger will in fact cause a serious terror attack. Is it permitted to kill the stranger when the facts are not clear? This is a common question and a similar question can be asked regarding a bank teller who is suddenly confronted with a bandit with a pistol in his hand. There are many times when it is later determined that the gun was only a toy and even if it were real the bandit didn’t intend to kill but only to scare the bank teller. Nevertheless there is a doubt whether the person is in danger. In such circumstances is it permitted to kill him? Answer:… Conclusions: 1) It appears that we hold in practice that it is permitted to killed a suspected rodef. In other words someone who is doing activities that endanger others even if there are doubts. … 4) Therefore in the two versions of the question that were asked concerning a suspicious person it is permitted to kill him. That is only in a case there are valid bases to suspect that he is trying to kill. 5) In contrast in the case of someone running in the forest or is shooting and there are doubts as to his intent[ - he is not to be viewed as a rodef because we assume he has a legitimate reason for doing these things (chezkas kashrus).
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Suspected rodef - defensive behavior when it is possible but not certain someone is a threat
Rav Yehuda Silman (Yeschurun 15): Question: Is it permitted to kill someone that there are doubts whether he is in fact a rodef (threat to life)? I was asked concerning a security guard in a public place e.g., the entrance of a restaurant or a mall who notices a man approach and he appears suspicious. The person is acting strangely and appears to be an Arab. When the security guard approaches him, he begins to run. The security guards suspects that he is a terrorist. This is only a suspicion since it is possible that he is in fact a Jew and there are people in the world who act strangely. In addition it is possible that the suspicious stranger is running away simply out of panic. However it is possible that in a short time the stranger will in fact cause a serious terror attack. Is it permitted to kill the stranger when the facts are not clear? This is a common question and a similar question can be asked regarding a bank teller who is suddenly confronted with a bandit with a pistol in his hand. There are many times when it is later determined that the gun was only a toy and even if it were real the bandit didn’t intend to kill but only to scare the bank teller. Nevertheless there is a doubt whether the person is in danger. In such circumstances is it permitted to kill him? Answer:… Conclusions: 1) It appears that we hold in practice that it is permitted to killed a suspected rodef. In other words someone who is doing activities that endanger others even if there are doubts. … 4) Therefore in the two versions of the question that were asked concerning a suspicious person it is permitted to kill him. That is only in a case there are valid bases to suspect that he is trying to kill. 5) In contrast in the case of someone running in the forest or is shooting and there are doubts as to his intent[ - he is not to be viewed as a rodef because we assume he has a legitimate reason for doing these things (chezkas kashrus).
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and appears to be an Arab
ReplyDeleteEven though Rav Silman concedes the guard may be mistaken, he takes pains to indicate the person appears to be a nochri, since he is acknowledging that the halacha would be different (i.e. impermissible) if it is clear the person is certainly a yehudi.
4) Therefore in the two versions of the question that were asked concerning a suspicious person it is permitted to kill him.
With this disclaimer, Rav Silman takes pains to indicate this responsa is only applicable in the specific circumstances presented to him for this shaila, and is not a general psak for any so-called "rodef" situation.
5) In contrast in the case of someone running in the forest or is shooting and there are doubts as to his intent[ - he is not to be viewed as a rodef
Here Rav Silman actually presents a situation of "behavior when it is possible but not certain someone is a threat" where it is prohibited to treat him as a rodef.
Furthermore, Rav Silman does not in this teshuva indicate he considers a molester to be in the halachic category of a rodef.
However it is possible that in a short time the stranger will in fact cause a serious terror attack.
And perhaps most importantly, Rav Silman is specifically discussing a case where a split-second decision must be made as whether to act with lethal force against the individual. Clearly (especially with the above points) he is not allowing this where it is not a split-second situation.
(Additionally, even if you were to still claim he would consider it permissible to attack someone as such, such an opinion is clearly at odds with other Rabbonim who would not allow treating a suspected -- but uncertain -- individual as a rodef.)
So for any one of multiple reasons this responsa would be inapplicable regarding someone who is suspected, but it is uncertain, that he is a molester.