Sicha, Shabbos Parshas Kedoshim 5746
A. Do Not Stand by Your Fellow’s Blood
This week’s Torah reading tells us, “Do not stand by your fellow’s blood, for I am G-d.” Rashi explains: “Do not watch him die while you could have saved him. For example, he is drowning in a river and being attacked by animals or bandits.”
The Rebbe asks:
A. What prompted Rashi to explain this verse with an explanation that doesn’t seem to add
anything?
B. Why does Rashi use a specific and detailed example? It is clear that there are all kinds of
possible dangers.
The explanation:
The reader of the above verse may ask why the Torah needs to give such a commandment. The Torah has already commanded us to help our fellows and seek their wellbeing (“Love your fellow as yourself,” for example). It must be that this verse is teaching us something new.
What is new here?
B. Two Conflicting Values
To explain this, Rashi emphasizes that this verse is dealing with a situation where the rescuer may be putting their own life on the line to save the victim. This is why the Torah says “Do not stand by”—you must endanger yourself to save your fellow. To illustrate this, Rashi brings a real-life example that poses this dilemma: A person is drowning, and simultaneously being attacked by animals or bandits taking advantage of their vulnerable state. Does a passerby have an obligation to rescue them, thereby putting their own life in danger? The Torah says yes: If the victim can be saved, it is obligatory to attempt a rescue. The Talmud recounts how Rabbi Isi fell into the hands of murderers and Rabbi Yochanan believed nothing could be done. Reish Lakish, however, chose to endanger himself and save Rabbi Isi from the murderers, and he succeeded (Source 2).
C. “Blood is the Life”
Rashi’s deeper meaning: Blood represents the life-force of a Jew, our spiritual life which is Torah and mitzvot. Here, a Jew is in mortal spiritual danger: They have lost their passion and vitality for Torah and mitzvot, because they are drowning in negative elements. The Torah commands us: “Do not stand by your fellow’s blood”—we may not stand idly by. If by Divine Providence we encounter a Jew in spiritual danger, that means it is up to us to work to revive
them by drawing them closer to Judaism.
