Entering a Place of Danger

[1] (Halacha 141)

Question: Is there a prohibition for a person to put himself into a dangerous place?

Answer: It is stated in the Gemara in Maseches Rosh Hashanah¹: 'And Rabbi Yitzchak said: Three things call a person's sins to mind, and these are they: a leaning wall'. And in Maseches Brochos²: 'It was taught, Rabbi Yosi said: One time I was walking on the road, and I entered one of the ruins of Jerusalem to pray. Eliyahu, may he be remembered for good, came and guarded the entrance for me (and waited for me) until I finished my tefillah. After I finished my tefillah he said to me: Peace be upon you, my teacher! And I said to him: Peace be upon you, my teacher and master! And he said to me: My son, why did you enter this ruin? I said to him: To pray. And he said to me: You should have prayed on the road! .. I learned that one does not enter a ruin .. Our Rabbis taught, for three reasons one does not enter a ruin: because of suspicion, because of collapse, and because of harmful spirits'.

And in Sefer Chassidim³ it is brought: 'ואך את דמכם לנפשותיכם אדרוש ("And surely your blood, of your souls, will I require"), if a person died through his own transgression .. if he goes to a dangerous place such as upon ice in the winter days, if he fell into the water and drowned. Or he went into an old ruin and it fell upon him .. all of these are destined to give a reckoning, for they caused death to themselves'.

And so wrote the Alter Rebbe⁴: 'It is forbidden to pass under a leaning wall, or over a rickety bridge, or to enter a ruin, or to walk in any other dangerous place'.

And in Hilchos Masa U'matan⁵: 'A person should not stand in a place of danger and say that a miracle will be performed for him, for perhaps a miracle will not be performed for him, and if a miracle is performed for him, it is deducted from his merits'.

And he further wrote⁶: 'And in any case, one should not enter a ruin in order to pray in a private place, because of the suspicion that they will suspect him of having a particular harlot there, and because of collapse, and because of harmful spirits. And if the ruin stands in a field, there is no concern in it for suspicion, since a harlot is not commonly found in a field. And if it is a sound and sturdy ruin, there is no concern in it for collapse. And if two enter it, there is no concern for harmful spirits, for to one [person a spirit] appears and harms, to two it appears but does not harm, and to three it does not appear at all — unless in a place known to be frequented by harmful spirits. And a torch is like two, and the moon is like three. Therefore, if they are two it is permitted to enter it if it is sound and sturdy and stands in a field; and if not, it is better to pray on the road than to enter it'.

Question: Is it permitted to cross a stream that flows with force?

Answer: It is stated in Maseches Yoma⁷: 'Rav Yosef objected to this: And on a weekday, in such a manner, is it permitted (to cross a river when the water is at neck height)? But it is written (in the prophet Yechezkel regarding the prophecy about the future, concerning the river that will go forth from the Holy of Holies) .. "and he measured a thousand and led me through the water, water that was up to the loins" — from here, that it is permitted to cross up to the loins; from here onward, "and he measured a thousand, a stream that I could not pass through" (that is, above the height of the loins it is already impossible to cross) — Abaye said: A stream is different, for its waters rush (in an ordinary stream it is permitted to cross at any height, but in a stream that goes forth from the Holy of Holies its waters flow with great speed, and therefore it is permitted only up to the loins)'.

And so wrote the Alter Rebbe⁸: 'It is forbidden to cross a stream whose waters rush if the water reaches above his loins, because of the danger that the water may sweep him away'.

And in Hilchos Yom Kippur⁹ he wrote: 'But a stream whose waters rush swiftly and sweep along, even on a weekday it is forbidden to cross it, even if the water reaches him only slightly above his loins, because of the danger that the water may sweep him away'.

And it is written in Shevet HaLevi¹⁰: 'And it is very obvious that included in these halachos in our times are those who drive in a car at great speed, with each one wishing to get ahead of his fellow, and it is already known how many have lost their lives, in our many sins, and this is an outright danger — this and the like — a possible act of murder, a possible suicide'.

¹ טז, ב ↩

² ג, א ↩

³ סימן תרעה ↩

⁴ הלכות שמירת גו"נ ס"ו ↩

⁵ סי' קנו ס"ט ↩

⁶ או"ח סי' צ ס"ה ↩

⁷ יומא עז, ב ↩

⁸ הלכות שמירת גו"נ סי"א ↩

⁹ סי' תריג ס"ט ↩

¹⁰ ח"ו סי' קיב ↩

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