Hello, continuing with the study of the fifth chapter of the book Brit Shalom that deals with the laws of murder.
Last time we discussed the fundamental principles, and here, once again, we encounter a fundamental principle in section three — human life is given to him by the Creator and is not in his power to cancel. In other words, who gave me life? The Creator gave me life. Therefore, someone who takes the life of another person or even their own life is violating the commandment of the Creator. That is, it is forbidden to take the life of another person or even one’s own life. A person cannot say, "I am free to live or not to live." Your life is not yours.
The punishment for a murderer is death by the court. In other words, not everyone can take on the responsibility of punishing the murderer; it is the role of society through its established courts.
Now, what does it mean to murder? There is someone who shoots another with a gun, but there is also someone who causes another person's death, not directly but indirectly. This too falls under the prohibition. Here I am reading section D: "The prohibition of murder applies both directly, indirectly, and by an agent."
One could say that if I send someone to murder, then maybe I am not responsible. The agent is responsible, so it’s not like that. Although the agent will certainly be punished, the one who sent him is also committing a grave act, and he is also considered a murderer. Even though the death sentence by the court is not imposed in cases where the death was caused directly, it is clear that if we want to impose the death sentence on the murderer, it can only be on someone who directly murdered. In any case, an indirect murderer is still a murderer, and his judgment is in the hands of Heaven.
In other words, it is clear to us that a person who killed indirectly or through an agent, although we do not have the authority to execute him, it is clear that Divine Providence will take care of him, and we expect to see the end of his life soon.
Now, what should we do with this halacha if it is cynically exploited? People might say, "I heard that no one is punished for indirect death," so a person could, God forbid, for example, take someone, tie them up, and leave them to die of hunger. He didn’t kill directly, he killed indirectly. So the court cannot execute him. But if this behavior starts to become, I would say, the norm, it could be said that it becomes a trend for murderers, then the state could carry out a death sentence even in contradiction to the limited, restricted halachic obligation. And this is what is written here in section E: "The state is permitted to punish even for murder that is not legally required, but for the purpose of correcting the world."
A society that is filled with bloodshed — then the state needs to intervene. Sometimes in a not entirely open way, to restore security and order to its citizens.
