Torah and Jewish Idea > Torah and Jewish Idea

The Prohibition to Save the Drowning Idol Worshiper

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edu:
אם ראה גוי עובד עבודה זרה אובד או טובע בנהר, לא יעלנו; ראהו לקוח למות, לא יצילנו.  אבל לאבדו בידו, או לדוחפו לבור, וכיוצא בזה--אסור, מפני שאינו עושה עימנו מלחמה.Rambam in Mishna Torah Hilchot Avoda Zara 10:1 states:
If one saw a Gentile who is an idol worshiper who is perishing or drowning in the river, do not bring him up. If you see him being taken to put him to death, do not save him. But to cause him to perish by your own hand or to push him into the pit, and similar things to this is forbidden, because he is not making war with us.
Rambam bases the prohibition above upon the Talmud's understanding of Dvarim/Deuteronomy 7:2

See Mishna Brura and Beur Halacha to Shulchan Aruch ,O.C., chapter 330, halacha 2, for situations, where we can be lenient and even ignore the Jewish ideal.
Nevertheless, one should remember this is the Jewish ideal.

edu:
I will ask a question from Parshat Shmot/Exodus on the Halacha.
Why did Moshe save the daughters of Yitro (Jethro) ? Why was he not worried about the prohibition of saving idol worshipers?
One simple answer is that this took place before the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai, so the prohibition was not yet in place.
In addition, the reason given in the Talmud for not saving an idol worshiper is that we be the cause of increasing idol worship in the world. Perhaps Moshe knew the daughters of Yitro (Jethro) would convert, so he thought under the circumstances it was okay to save them.

Tag-MehirTzedek:
--Maybe they weren't idol worshippers at the time because Yitro was at first the Priest of Idol Worshippers, he then dropped everything and went against idolatry. Perhaps Moshe already saw that in Tzipporah his daughters (in fact I think that they were fighting against Yitro's daughters precisely because of this specific reason- because Yitro renounced idolatry).

 --Or another reason- since the Torah wasn't given yet, maybe Moshe didn't know the Halacha.

muman613:

--- Quote from: Tag-MehirTzedek on December 18, 2013, 12:22:07 PM -----Maybe they weren't idol worshippers at the time because Yitro was at first the Priest of Idol Worshippers, he then dropped everything and went against idolatry. Perhaps Moshe already saw that in Tzipporah his daughters (in fact I think that they were fighting against Yitro's daughters precisely because of this specific reason- because Yitro renounced idolatry).

 --Or another reason- since the Torah wasn't given yet, maybe Moshe didn't know the Halacha.

--- End quote ---

Umm point one is not possible... He saved the daughters of Yitro before he even met Yitro... How could Yitro have renounced Idolatry before Moses arrived? Yitros conversion did not happen till after the splitting of the sea (when yitro came to visit the Am in the desert)...

muman613:
http://rabbibuchwald.njop.org/2012/02/06/yitro-5772-2012/

Yitro 5772-2012

“Who is the Real Jethro?”
by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald

Jethro, a man of great stature and distinction, is first encountered in the Bible in Exodus 2:16. The Torah describes Jethro as Kohen Midian (the Midianite Priest), and the father of seven daughters.

Moses had fled from Egypt, where Pharaoh sought to kill him. When he arrives at the well in the land of Midian, Moses meets Jethro’s seven daughters who have come to water their father’s flocks. Moses saves Jethro’s daughters from the abusive Midianite shepherds and waters Jethro’s flocks. When Jethro hears of Moses’ chivalrous actions, he invites the refugee from Egypt into his home to eat and to dwell with them. Moses soon marries Jethro’s daughter, Tzipporah.

While serving as shepherd for Jethro’s flocks in the wilderness, (Exodus 3:1) Moses receives a calling from G-d to return to Egypt to lead the Children of Israel out of bondage. Moses requests, and receives, permission from Jethro to return to the enslaved people in Egypt (Exodus 4:18).

Since that first textual encounter with Jethro in the early chapters of Exodus, much has transpired. Ten plagues have struck Egypt, Pharaoh and his hosts have drowned in the sea, and the people of Israel have begun their journey to the Promised Land. When the people reach Rephidim, they are attacked by Amalek. Joshua leads the battle against the vicious enemies. With the help of G-d and Moses, Amalek is roundly defeated.

In this week’s parasha, parashat Yitro, Jethro arrives at the camp of Israel together with Moses’ wife, Tzipporah and her children. They meet Moses at Har Ha’Eh’lo’him, the mountain of G-d.

Scripture reports, in Exodus 18:7, that upon Jethro’s arrival, “Va’yay’tzay Moshe lik’raht choht’no va’yish’tah’choo va’yee’shahk lo,” Moses personally went out to meet his father-in-law, prostrated himself before him and kissed him. They inquire about each other’s well-being, and Moses brings Jethro to his tent.

Moses informs his father-in-law of all the miracles and wonders that G-d had performed on behalf of Israel, rescuing them from Egypt. Jethro then blesses G-d and acknowledges the G-d of Israel as the greatest of all powers. He offers burnt sacrifices and festive offerings to G-d.

In the Five Books of Moses, there is no other personage of non-Jewish origin who is accorded as much honor and distinction as Jethro.
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