The prohibition against murder is the 6th of the Ten Commandments. Murder does not include court executions, defensive wars, or wars commanded by G-d.
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What if a Goel HaDam (Blood Redeemer) accidentally kills his kinsman's accidental murderer - inside the latter's 'Ir Miklat (City of Refuge)?
Another question asks what happens if a someone accidentally kills someone else inside an 'Ir Miklat (City of Refuge) in which the victim and/or his family live, and whether he needs to move to ...
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88 views
What if Someone Accidentally Killed Someone in an Ir Miklat (City of Refuge)?
If someone kills a someone else through gross negligence in an Ir Miklat in which the victim and/or his relatives live, must he leave and seek refuge in another Ir Miklat? After all, surely the victim ...
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2answers
108 views
If a gentile commited murder and then converted, can he be executed?
Assuming these are witnesses who warned him of the penalty immediately before he acted, as specified in Sanhedrin, if a gentile committed murder (or any other violation of the Noachide Law) and then ...
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59 views
Why Many of Saul's Descendants got Killed?
Mefiboshet is crippled because he fall when Saul's descendants are running away from mass slaughter. Am I correct here?
Also when Abner is killed looks like there is more mass slaughter again.
But ...
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4answers
279 views
How was Saul a Tzadik if he wiped out Nov?
I've read many commentaries that argue that despite losing the kingdom, Saul is a righteous guy.
But how, after he mass murdered priests (Samuel 1 21-22)? To be more exact, he ordered priests to be ...
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1answer
74 views
Were Shimon and Levi allowed to do what they did?
Shimon and Levi deceive and kill out an entire city, yet Yaakov only curses their hasty anger, not their actions. Were they allowed to do what they did?
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186 views
Killing Civilians in a defensive war
In the recent Operation Pillar of Defense against Gaza, many Palestinian civillians were killed by Israeli air-strikes (the Palestines claim the number is as high as 158, while according to the IDF ...
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0answers
53 views
King Yoash murdered - Who's responsible?
II Melechim 12:21 and II Divri HaYamim 24:25 both indicate that servants conspired and killed King Joash. There seems to be a little bit of confusion on the murderers' names---Yozacar vs Zabad ben ...
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1answer
152 views
Does one sit shiva for someone he killed?
I understand sitting shiva to be an expression of bereavement. If I (hypothetically) was the victim of constant abuse which lasted for years and I ultimately, in an act of self defense, had to kill my ...
7
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3answers
171 views
Masada - heroic martyrdom or immoral murder/suicide?
Was the mass coordinated mutual killing at Masada (for lack of a better term) an act of heroic martyrdom or immoral murder and suicide?
While it is unknown for certain what exactly transpired, ...
3
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1answer
64 views
Who killed Shaul?
Ⅰ Sh'muel 31:3–5:
וַתִּכְבַּד הַמִּלְחָמָה אֶל שָׁאוּל…. וַיֹּאמֶר שָׁאוּל לְנֹשֵׂא כֵלָיו שְׁלֹף חַרְבְּךָ וְדָקְרֵנִי בָהּ… וְלֹא אָבָה נֹשֵׂא כֵלָיו כִּי יָרֵא מְאֹד וַיִּקַּח שָׁאוּל אֶת ...
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2answers
82 views
Why did Pharaoh try to kill Moshe?
Moshe Rabbeinu was raised in Pharaoh's house. Yet when Dasan and Aviram claimed that Moshe killed an Egyptian taskmaster, Pharaoh tried to kill him (Shemot 2:13-15).
Why would an all powerful tyrant ...
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1answer
62 views
How can the prohibition against murder be reconciled with capital punishment in the Torah (mitath beth din)?
How can the prohibition on murder be reconciled with capital punishment in the Torah, i.e., mitath beth din? I understand that the death penalty was effectively abolished by the Sanhedrin in 30 CE. ...
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3answers
435 views
Is Mossad Assasination allowed in Torah?
The Torah seems to allow many instances of killing. Genocide is sometimes okay if you give fair warning. So is the execution of a convicted murderer, or even those who break the Sabbath.
It does ...
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1answer
86 views
“A life for a life”: execution or reparations
The Torah states (Ex. 21:23) that if two people are fighting and accidentally kill an innocent bystander (such as a woman), "you shall give a life for a life."
The Gemara (Sanhedrin 79a-b) records a ...
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2answers
127 views
Can I defend my animals with lethal force?
We know that it is permitted, in self-defense, to kill one who is trying to kill you, and I have heard that this applies to other people too (I see someone trying to kill someone else and I ...
6
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4answers
115 views
Asara Haruge Malchut (Ten Martyrs), why were 10 Rabbis killed?
In Vayigash, Rabenu Bahya (also the Zohar) comments and says that the reason we had Asara Haruge Malchut because the brothers sold Yosef. However, Reuven didn't sell Yosef, so why should the ...
3
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2answers
455 views
What's with the 5th rib killing?
2 Sam. 20:10:
וַעֲמָשָׂא לֹא נִשְׁמַר בַּחֶרֶב אֲשֶׁר בְּיַד יוֹאָב וַיַּכֵּהוּ בָהּ אֶל הַחֹמֶשׁ וַיִּשְׁפֹּךְ מֵעָיו אַרְצָה וְלֹא שָׁנָה לוֹ וַיָּמֹת
M'tzudos says this means he stabbed him ...
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3answers
347 views
Is it better to kill 1 person or let 5 die?
I was recently reading about the Trolley Problem
A trolley is running out of control down a track. In its path are five people who have been tied to the track by a mad philosopher. Fortunately, ...
10
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2answers
293 views
Morning After Pill in Halacha
Is the morning-after pill considered an abortion in Halachic terms or does it have another status, and, if the latter, may it be used?
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1answer
239 views
Is abortion of a gentile child of a Jewish father permissible?
If a Jewish man were to father a child with a gentile would they be allowed to consider an abortion or would that be disallowed in the Halachic literature ?
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2answers
207 views
Why do accidental killers sent to arei miklat go free after the Kohen Gadol dies?
When someone kills accidentaly he is sent to live in an ir miklat ("city of refuge") until the Kohen Gadol ("High Priest") dies. This seems like an arbitrary time. What does the Kohen Gadol's death ...
3
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3answers
599 views
Homosexuality is “worse than murder”?
A sign at a recent rally protesting New York's 2011 Marriage Equality Act reads
Judaism considers male homosexuality a worse sin than murder
I imagine that this is a minority opinion, but does ...
2
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1answer
64 views
Redistribution of refuge cities after expansion
When the Torah commands the establishment of cities of refuge in Eretz Yisra'el to protect accidental murderers from vengeful relatives it states that the three cities must be evenly placed ...
3
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1answer
94 views
Eglah Arufah (עגלה ערופה) Measurement
How does one measure, for עגלה ערופה purposes, which city the dead is closest to: from which part of the body?
10
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2answers
131 views
Esav was coming with 400 men: why then
Why was Esav going toward Yaakov (Gen. 33:1, 32:7) if he had (27:41) planned to wait to kill him until Yitzchak was dead?
(Please cite your source, if any.)
9
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3answers
212 views
Would halacha permit bombing Auschwitz?
I know there's a lot of talk about whether Allied forces during World War II could have / should have taken military action directly against the Holocaust. I'm not opening that can of worms here.
...
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1answer
76 views
Signposts Ahead
Why do we go out of our way to put up roadsigns for unintentional murderers (Makkos 10a) while we do not for people going to Yerushalayim for Yomim Tovim (which is a Mitzva)?
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2answers
79 views
Accidental Murder
A person who kills another person by accident must run to a city of refuge. While he's running, relatives of the person he killed may kill him.
Why are the relatives allowed to kill in such a case? ...
4
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1answer
140 views
What is the law for a Goel Hadam (Avenger of Blood) outside of the Land of Israel?
The halacha is you can only build a city of refuge in Israel. What if someone killed by accident outside of Israel. Can the relative of the guy who was killed go after and try to kill the murderer who ...
