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In this scenario, Lena is facing a dilemma in which she has to choose between stealing the
food from the truck’s accident or starving herself to death. She is a teenager, who has lost her
parents and been struggling to survive on the street of Poland during the end of World War II.
Even after her parent’s death, she still has a strong faith in Orthodox Judaism. It’s important to
note that she will very likely not get caught for stealing the food since nobody is around and the
truck’s driver is unconscious, but not in immediate life-threatening danger. Lena’s problem here
is as a believer in Orthodox Judaism, whether it is morally right for Lena to steal the food in this
particular situation. So Divine Command Theory is applicable here.
Based on Divine Command Theory, God makes rules, we cannot change or deny these
rules and actions that follow these rules are right. In Lena’s case, Orthodox Judaism follow the
Jewish law. Pikuach nefesh is the principle in Jewish Law that preservation of human life is more
important than any other religious rule. When life of a person is in danger, it is permissible to
override any other commandments, with three exceptions: murder, incest and idolatry. Here,
Lena’s life is in danger, she has not had enough food for four months and is at risk of facing death
by starvation. She must follow the Jewish law that saving a life is more important other duties.
So in order to survive, she can steal some food from the truck’s accident. Stealing normally is
wrong in Jewish law. But in this case, she can forgo that rule to save her life. In addition, her
getting the food from the truck will not put harm on anyone. It’s not incest or idolatry either. So
Lena’s stealing the food to save herself from dying of starvation is acceptable in Jewish law.