The Mitzva of “You Shall Not Stand Idly by the Blood of Your Fellow”
מצוות לא תעמוד על דם רעך
It is a great Torah mitzva to save a person who is in danger. For we are commanded even to return to a person an object he has lost, as it is stated: “you shall return it to him” (Devarim 22:2) – all the more so must we restore his life to him and save him. The mitzva is likewise learned from the verse “You shall not stand idly by the blood of your fellow” (Vayikra 19:16), as the Sages said (Sanhedrin 73a): From where do we know that one who sees his fellow drowning in a river, or a wild animal dragging him and about to maul him, or bandits coming upon him to kill him – from where do we know that he is obligated to save him? Scripture teaches: “You shall not stand idly by the blood of your fellow.”
That is, in addition to the fundamental mitzva “Love your fellow as yourself” (Vayikra 19:18), about which R. Akiva said that it is a great principle of the Torah, and which obviously includes within it all the good relations that should prevail between a person and his fellow – in addition to this, the Torah specified a further command: “You shall not stand idly by the blood of your fellow.” It is not enough to smile at one’s friend, and sometimes even help him when there is time… rather, the Torah establishes that a person bears responsibility and mutual guarantee (arevut) toward his fellow. If his fellow is in trouble, he is obligated to rise to his aid, and not to spare effort or money in saving his fellow.
If we indeed act this way, and feel in our hearts the mutual responsibility among all of Israel, there is no doubt that the society we build here will be more cohesive and united, and will be able to cope with the great challenges from within and without.