Can anyone tell me what or who is Hikkoth Akum? I can’t even begin to explain how this came up, I’d just like to know if it’s for real or something an Identity cult member has made up.
I’ve done my google and all I get is disgusting anti-jewish websites.
Ah ha! I see I’ve stumped SDMB so far!
I guess I should give some details and hope Zev or another jewish poster pops in.
According to one of those websites, the Hilkkoth Akum has something to do with the Talmud. It supposedly has a section that says that Jews are not to save Christians in danger of death.
Now I’m sure there’s some twisting or downright lying going on, I’d just like to know if the Hilkkoth Akum is real since the only thing Google brings up are hate sites.
IANAJ, Rushgeekgirl, but I think this is what you are looking for:
I’m not at all sure if I should link to the page it came from, so I’ll err on the side of caution.
Thank ya thank ya! That explains things VERY well.
That is how the identity cults trick people, with simple misspellings so when you search, all you see is the truth-twisting made by their own people. With the proper spelling I was able to fully understand the passage and another anti-semitic lie has been cleared up!
Sigh
Hilchos Akum (your transliterated spelling may vary) is a section of Maimonides Mishneh Torah, a compendium of Jewish law composed in the thirteenth century in Egypt. Maimonides’ work was the basis for practical Jewish law until the Shulchan Aruch was written by Rabbi Joseph Cairo about two and a half centuries later.
Hilchos Akum (Akum is an acronym standing for *Oved Kochachim U’Mazalos - worshipers of stars and constellations) is a section of laws that deal with our relations with our non-Jewish neighbors.
In the first section of Chapter 10, Maimonides does bring down a law regarding a non-Jew who is drowning in a river who should not be saved. However, it is clear from the first five words of the chapter that it refers to someone from the Seven Nations of Canaanites. It should be noted that by Maimonides’ times, the members of the Seven Nations had ceased to be distinguishable from any other non-Jews for well over 1500 years. As such, the matter was purely acedemic in Maimonides time, as it is today. Of course, this little detail is left out by the people who offer these “quotes” and they would have you believe that if a Jew today saw a non-Jew drowning in the river they’d just blithely walk by or say to him “Sorry, chum, I’d love to help you, but Maimonides says I can’t. See 'ya on the other side…” and walk away.
However, this little distinction (that the matter is purely acedemic and has been for at least 2300 years) hasn’t stopped people who hate Jews from either fabricating quotes from the Talmud or other works (such as Maimonides) or quoting them out of context (as is the case here).
(And before the question comes up, yes, Maimonides did codify laws that were purely acedemic in nature. Whole sections of his Mishneh Torah deal with sacrifical law and the laws of the Temple Service, which were inapplicable 1200 years before Maimonides lived.)
Another site dealing with such “quotes” is David Maddison’s excellent website, which can be found here.
Zev Steinhardt
Oh, and Rushgeekgirl, if you want any of us Orthodox Jewish posters to respond, you’ve got to wait until after Shabbos! 
Zev Steinhardt