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Rabbi Sherlo: How Do We Decide Who Is Freed First?

The decision on the list of those to be released in the first phase may determine fates; in an article to be published this week in 'Shabbaton', Rabbi Yuval Sherlo presents the halachic perspective on the issue.

Protest for the hostages. background
Protest for the hostages.
Protest for the hostages. (Photo: Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

I have been in this place. In the place where there is a need to establish orders of priority in matters of life and death. The Drug Basket Committee is essentially such a determination, and the decisions are unbearably difficult.

First and foremost because of the very fact that it is unbearably difficult to make decisions concerning other people, who are in distress and suffering, and that these decisions will determine the future of others. We never know if the decision that was made is the most accurate and precise, and the hidden internal desire is to avoid any decision, and to transfer it to a system of lottery "without human hand." But this way is not correct at all, and sometimes we stand before the vital need to establish rules and orders, and as mentioned - it is very difficult to do so.

How do we approach this? There are several preliminary actions that must be taken. Even before dealing with the content itself, there must be internal work by those who are in the decision-making system.

First - cleanliness. To purify ourselves as much as possible from any consideration that is not relevant, from any conflict of interest, from past residues and future expectations. To be able as much as possible to stand as a smooth and clean slate, as poor in deed;

Second - to fulfill the teaching of the Mishnah "Do not judge alone, for there is no one who judges alone except One. And do not say 'accept my opinion,' for they are permitted and not you" (Avot 4:8). Great humility that is expressed both in the demand that it be a team that will work together, and in the perception of self within the team - not in the determination "accept my opinion," but in salvation through many counselors.

And after all these, prayer to the Master of the Universe like King Solomon in his time: "...and You have given Your servant a listening heart, to judge Your people, to understand between good and evil, for who can judge this heavy people of Yours."

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And the consideration itself: There is no doubt that the element of priority orders is need and necessity. The more severe a person's condition, and the more the continuation of the existing situation endangers their life - they should be placed in first priority order. First and foremost, this concerns the welfare and well-being of those involved.

Indeed, we find in the Mishnah other priorities, such as "A priest precedes a Levite, a Levite precedes an Israelite, an Israelite precedes a mamzer, and a mamzer precedes a netin, and a netin precedes a convert, and a convert precedes a freed slave. When? When they are all equal. But if there was a mamzer who is a Torah scholar and a High Priest who is an ignoramus, a mamzer Torah scholar precedes a High Priest ignoramus" (Horayot 3:8). However, not only has the Mishnah itself been interpreted in different ways, but great halachic authorities have written that in our current reality, this is not the order of priority by which we operate.

The implementation of the principle of necessity and vital need encounters two challenges. First, we do not always know the situation for certain, not in the drug basket and not when dealing with priority orders in hostage release. The unknown is vast.

Second, there are additional considerations, much lower in their weight, but having some influence in a situation of equality in necessity, such as: the need of those connected to him (being a father or mother to their children), "measure for measure" when dealing with someone who saved many others; and so on. These considerations are not in the order of magnitude of immediate medical or psychological need, but they surface and arise when we find ourselves in a place where it is not possible to decide based on the question of need alone.

The age component by itself is not a consideration that stands alone, and it would not be correct to measure future life expectancy and determine something based on it. The life of each person is the most important.

And after the heart-wrenching and mind-tearing need to establish priority orders, the constant demand that even those who were not included in the list - will be redeemed - must be intensified even more. The Drug Basket Committee does not complete its function in establishing priority orders without calling on the government to allocate a larger budget to the basket so that more drugs will be included in it, and this is true in relation to all areas.

The call of all of us must demand a policy that will bring about the release of all the hostages, including those missing from other periods, and not to let go for a moment the thoughts about this and the search for ways to do so. This is the meaning of the mutual guarantee to which we should all be devoted.

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Rabbi Yuval Sharlo is the head of Orot Shaul Yeshiva. The article will be published in the 'Shabbaton' bulletin.

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