Derech Yeridah is Chayav .I was on an escalator going down and a person had fallen at the bottom. If I had crushed the person at the bottom I know I'm not Chayav but is an escalator considered Derech Yeridah or am I standing still ?
Mendy Hirth,
You pose a very interesting point. Do we look at the person, who is standing still, or the ground, which is going downwards? However, I believe that in the case you ask about, the person on the escalator would be Chayav Galus (assuming he can be considered a Shogeg). This is because we do not require Derech Yeridah for Galus, as long as it is not Derech Aliyah, which is cetainly not the case here. This is evident from many cases, including the case of chopping wood (Devarim 19 and Makos 7b) and Keren Zavis (Makos 7b).
However, your question would seem to be pertinent in a case where the elevator was going up, and the person above was somehow crushed by the person coming up on the elevator. Do we consider this to be Derech Aliyah because the elvator is taking the person upwards, or not because the person is standing still?
Perhaps we can compare this to the Gemara in Kidushin 33b, where a person sitting on a horse is considered moving, not stationary, even though he does not move relative to the thing he is sitting on. If so, in our case, we should consider the person on the escalator as moving upwards and he would be exempt from Galus.
Dov Freedman
We were told that the Oruch L'Ner is medayek the "Ze HaKlal" of the first Mishna in the second perek, that equal level does NOT go to Golus. (Although a kashe was asked that the Gemoro asks what the Klal of the Mishna is for, implying that it does not make this diyuk).
Meir Eliezer Bergman
I'm not sure the person who in this case was passive can be held responsible.
Yehudah Landy