Reply To: Six Days of Creation – Refreshing

Lilmod Ulelamed: I wrote a long response to your post this morning, but somebody closed it before I had a chance to post it, and it was lost.

1) Thank you for the מראה מקום. I will have a look in the Beis Halevi.

2) I’m not sure exactly how to respond to your next point. You are working on an assumption that the person would have died anyway – something that is supposedly a Machlokes Rishonim (R’ Saadya Gaon in Emuna Ve’deos writes אינו חייב על ההריגה אלא על הרצח – “He isn’t liable for the death, but for the murder” [approx. quote]. See Ohr HaChayim in Parshas Vayeishev who differentiates between a בעל בחירה and an animal. There is a contradiction in the Sefer HaChinuch [one discussing revenge, the other regarding Eidim Zomemim] about this. Much ink has been spilled reinterpreting the Rishonim on the subject to reconcile the opinions.) Let’s accept that assumption for the moment. [BTW – I’m not convinced that this is the same debate as the Hishtadlus issue of Parnassah]

You then make a logical progression to saying You are being punished for the fact that you used your bechira to choose to shoot an arrow that you knew could end up killing someone. I disagree. You certainly aren’t punished for shooting something that could kill someone; if some unknown variable stopped the arrow somehow, you wouldn’t be chayav. You are chayav misah for the murder*. And if I were to create a scenario where you shot an arrow, and then your arrow was replaced by another which actually killed, there is nothing connecting you to the murder.

The answer to my question is, I think, that however literally you take this concept of continual creation, it is my koach shooting the arrow. It isn’t a different arrow, it is not a different victim, and it is my momentum propelling the arrow forth. If that isn’t paradoxical, however, i don’t know what is!

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*We already have a distinction in the Achronim (originally R’ Akiva Eiger) between Malkus and Misah – Malkus is given for transgressing the prohibition. The mechayav of misah isn’t the aveirah, but the ma’aseh (for example – there is only one issur of לא תנאף, yet there are three different death penalties assigned – שריפה (בת כהן), סקילה לנערה המאורסה, סייף לסתם נואף ונואפת.) The act performed under certain circumstances is what creates the Chiyuv Misah. It isn’t the issur.
There is a further distinction, however, between regular Issurim and the misah of a murderer. To summarize as best I can, the killing of a murderer is a form of avenging the victim, not (just) a punishment to the perpetrator. (See BB”K 88a. There are many other sources for this) And however the Hashkafah fits in, the Torah considers you the killer, and consequently , responsible for the death.

Sorry – this wasn’t the clearest post I’ve written.