– Q. Dear Rov we appreciate the fact that you can get prompt answers from Gedolim to most unusual question. One from a dear friend and Yeshiva Bachur. He was staying for Yom Tov on one of the houses that were attacked by the Chamas murderers. He heard the weapons being fired and the screams of the weeping friends victims. He opened his hearth to me and wanted to know if it was correct for him to hold on to a kitchen knife, and though if found he would certainly be murdered, a least he would be able to kill or harm his attacker. He survived Beezrat Hashem, since he was hiding behind furniture. What would have been the correct thing for him to do if there was no real chance of survival?

A. Horav Shlomo Miller’s Shlit’a opinion is that if truly there would have been no chance for saving his life at all anymore, and by harming or killing the terrorist he could be saving other lives, he should indeed do so.

Rabbi A. Bartfeld as revised by Horav Dovid Pam, Horav Aharon Miller and Horav Chanoch Ehrentreu Shlit’a