NUM403 While the Torah (Leviticus 19:16) commands each Jew not to stand idly by when a person's life is threatened, the Talmud (Sanhedrin 73a), in defining various situations when this mitzvah applies, does not seem to differentiate between saving the life of a sinner or a non-sinner. In fact, it seems from the Talmud (Sanhedrin 37a) that each person, tall or short, deformed or normal, sinner or non-sinner, has a life whose value is infinite, equal to the value of the entire world. The only time a person loses his value of life is after the court has pronounced the sentence of death (Maimonides, Hilchot Rotze'ach 1:5), based on [this verse]. Prior to that, this person, even if a murderer who deserves to die, is treated like anyone else, and one may not kill him or her.
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