Mesirah

It appears that Rabbi Eliezer Yehuda Waldenberg holds that if you believe that dina malchuta dina is in effect, informing is not prohibited. So, it would follow, that if you felt you *should* turn yourself in, because the law is just, then you would not be a moser according to this view.

Even in the understanding of the secular court system it appears that there is a difference between primitive and enlightened governments as is noted by the Aruch Hashulchan in Choshen Mishpat 388:7 where it states that “every issue related to informing found in the Talmud and poskim deals with those far away places where no one was secure in his money or body because of the bandits and pirates, even those who had authority, as we know nowadays in places like Africa” such is not the case in Europe, as the Aruch Hashulchan notes.

Tzitz Eliezer 19:52

DISCLAIMER: While I find it silly to add this, I will. I am not a posek. The statement above, in response to Wolf was not a legal opinion and included language intended to indicate its provisional nature “It appears…” Please do not turn yourself in to the police on my authority.

I can’t argue with you since I don’t have any information on that. However, apparently, the Tzitz Eliezer felt it was valid. I can only go by what it reported as written in his name, I don’t own the sefer. I have no reason to think it is fabricated, though.

In any case, I make no assertion of its ultimate validity, I just don’t have enough information.

My above points didn’t address that question. I don’t have an answer to it.

There is at least one. I answered according to the Tzitz Eliezer (as far as I can understand how he holds, I certainly don’t speak for him and I am not a posek, etc., etc.)

If you want a less halachic and more hashkafic answer which I believe conforms to that opinion, then here is an elaboration. (ENTIRELY MY OWN AND SHOULD BE IGNORED BY ALL PIOUS JEWS, ETC.)

If what you have done is something which would be appropriately “punished” by the civil authorities, then it is a kind of “civil kaporah” to turn yourself in and “serve your time”. If, on the other hand, it is something which is punished disproportionately (e.g.: you sold crack cocaine, an offense for which the mandatory sentencing is far in excess of the same offense if the cocaine was in powdered form) then I would suggest that you are an auto-moser.

Note also that it is pertinent whether you are currently hiding from law enforcement, or whether your crime could be discovered. If neither is true, then I would adopt a more stringent view and suggest that you should *not* surrender yourself. Instead you should undertake a personal kaporah.

DISCLAIMER: The foregoing is the vapid meandering of an am haaretz. Repeating it or acting on it in any way is certainly an error.

One possibility – the person is a nervous wreck from worrying about being caught. His health is suffering, his doctor is upset, and he just wants to get it over with. So would it be a case of “V’Nishmartem…” because he’s doing it for health reasons?

is there an issur of mesirah in America today?

Sorry, I mixed up my Rabbonim in my post. R’ Matisyahu told me there’s no pidyon shevuyim if the person committed the crime. I believe it was R’ Wosner who said there’s no mesirah in such a case. He wrote a teshuva on it when the whole Deal raid occurred.

R’ Wosner holds the following (copied and pasted from another site):

so, wolf, who is that you want to kill?