<HTML>> 3. Also very important is the opinion of the Meiri on Yoma: The
> prohibition to violate Shabbat to save a non-Jew applies only to
> "Idolators... for whom we are not obliged to violate Shabbat because
> they have no religion." Supplement this with Rav Kuk's unequivocal
> statement that the Meiri's opinion is the accepted one (Iggerot volume
> 1, no. 99).
Are you sure that R. Kook, in that letter, is referring to this specific
Meiri or to parallel halakhot about treatment of Gentiles?
> [I have been told an apocryphal story that once Rav Goren spoke in YU
> and indicated that it only "Mishum Eiva" that we are Mehallel Shabbat to
> save non-Jews. When he finished, Rav Soloveichik got up to explain that
> the Chief Rabbi was in error, and that Pikuah Nefesh Do he Shabbat
> applied to saving any human being. I would appreciate hearing from
> anyone who can confirm this story. Shalom]
My guess is it's apocryphal. Prof Blidstein reports a conversation he had
with the Rav about this halakha. It appeared in Deot right after the Rav's
death.</HTML>
