will be saved and the other will die. What shall be done? Ben Petura said:"Let them both die and let not one be a witness to the death of his fellow man." But Rabbi Akiva ’s greater authority is cited to refute this opinion of Ben Petura. He says:"Your life comes first." In other words, a man must strive to save his own life. Although this narrative is cited in a discussion about the taking of interest and whether it should be returned. nevertheless it constitutes an independent homily(see the statement of Asher ben Yehiel to the passage). While, of course, Akiva ’s decision is not directly helpful to the question of deciding which shall live(since it does not indicate in which manner the matter will be settled with each one trying to save his own life); nevertheless, this much is clear: We may not permit both men to die when at least one of them can be saved. The passage is unfortunately too terse, and therefore we cannot tell the method of selection, but it is clear enough that a selection will and should be made, and that it is not right to allow both of them to die merely because it would be painful to make a decision. Thus, the final problem still remains. He should choose, but which one?
As to whom he chooses, there is, in a sense, a negative guideline. The passage which speaks of the brigands or captors demanding one of the group of men to be given up for death, speaks first of a group of captive women. The captors ask for one woman to be given to them for sexual abuse. The sexual fate of a captive woman receives considerable discussion in the law. The married status of the captive wife may be affected by what had happened to her during her captivity. If one of the women in the group has already been abused, the other women may not say that since this unfortunate one has already been abused, she is the one who should be given up.(See Kesef Mishneh to Yad Hil. Yesodei Torah, V. 5, where Caro cites the responsa of Solomon b. Aderet to this effect.) They have no right to decide on the basis of her unhappy past and so select her in order to save themselves.
In other words, in matters which are equivalent to life or death (as this was considered to be), the past status or character of the prospective victim may not be considered. We may not say:"This one$
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