The sixth of the Ten Commandments is the command of “Lo Tirsach,” the prohibition against murder (Shemot 20:12). The Sefer Ha’hinuch writes that G-d created the world with the intention that it should be inhabited and developed, and thus taking human life is contrary to G-d’s will for the world. By the same token, the Sefer Ha’hinuch adds, those who destroy the world through their evil conduct specifically should be killed, as their death is actually beneficial for the world’s development. Needless to say, the prohibition against murder applies at all times and in all places, and it is binding upon both men and women. This prohibition is included among the Seven Noachide Laws, which are binding upon even gentiles. Murder constitutes a capital offense, and thus one who intentionally takes the life of another person in the presence of witnesses, after he had been warned, is liable to execution – specifically, Sayif (killing by the sword). One who accidentally murders must flee to an Ir Miklat (city of refuge), which is a separate Misva and will be discussed in a different context. G-d warns in the Book of Bereshit (9:5), “Ve’ach Et Dimchem Le’nafshotechem Edrosh” (literally, “But I shall make a reckoning for your blood, for your souls”). The Gemara in Masechet Baba Kama (91) interprets this verse to mean that G-d will hold people accountable for their own blood – meaning, those who take their own lives will be punished in the afterlife. Normally, when a person dies, his death brings atonement for his misdeeds (the Rambam famously writes that some sins can be atoned for only through death), but if one takes his own life, then his death does not achieve atonement. In fact, the Hatam Sofer (Rav Moshe Sofer, Pressburg, 1762-1839) writes that such a person incurs even greater guilt by taking his own life. What’s more, the Tiferet Yisrael (commentary to the Mishna by Rav Yisrael Lifshitz, 1782-1860), in Masechet Sanhedrin (10:12), cites those who say that one who takes his own life forfeits his share in the world to come. However, while it is clear that suicide is strictly forbidden, the Aharonim debate the question of whether it is forbidden by force of the command of “Lo Tirsah,” or constitutes a separate prohibition. The Sages inferred that suicide is forbidden from the aforementioned verse in Bereshit (“Ve’ach Et Dimchem Le’nafshotechem Edrosh”), but it is unclear whether this verse reveals that suicide is regarded as murder, or if it introduces a separate prohibition of suicide. The Pesikta Rabbati (24) comments that the phrase “Lo Tirsah” implies also “Lo Titrasach” – “Do not allow yourself to be killed.” According to this Midrashic source, it seems, the prohibition of “Lo Tirsah” itself includes not only taking the life of another person, but also taking one’s own life. By contrast, the Minhat Hinuch contends that “Lo Tirsah,” at its core, is a command relating to our interpersonal obligations, our responsibilities towards our fellowman. Necessarily, then, it forbids only taking the life of others, and not taking one’s own life, and the prohibition against suicide constitutes a separate law. The Minhat Hinuch applies this theory to explain an otherwise perplexing comment of the Rambam. In Hilchot Rose’ah (2:2), the Rambam writes that one who kills himself “sheds blood and is guilty of the sin of murder,” adding that such a person “is liable to death at the hands of G-d, but is not liable to execution by the court.” Later scholars raised the question of why the Rambam found it necessary to state that a person who commits suicide is not liable to execution by Bet Din. Quite obviously, Bet Din cannot put to death somebody who is already dead. The Minhat Hinuch suggests an ingenious explanation, noting the principle of “Kim Leh Be’de’rabba Mineh” – that if one incurs a financial obligation at the time he commits a capital offense, he is exempt from the financial obligation. For example, if a person damages property in the course of