Parshat Acharei-Kedoshim
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Responsibility for Others

"Do not stand by the blood of your neighbor", states the Torah in the second section of the double Parshah [4]. This command appears among a number of laws which are all fundamentally important in our lives as human beings and as Jews.

We are responsible for each other. If someone has fallen into serious difficulty, we have to try to rescue him or her. Rashi gives the example of a person drowning, or being attacked by a wild animal or by bandits.

To attempt to save the person in such a situation involves danger and risk. Despite this, if we feel that we could be successful we have to take that risk in order to help another person. For that person was created in the image of the Divine.

If one succeeds in saving that one individual, the Sages say it is as if one has saved the entire world [5].

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