When we build a new house, God says to make a battlement for the roof so we’ll not be guilty of manslaughter if someone falls from the rooftop and dies. (De 22:8) This certainly makes sense in the context in which it is given, where houses are constructed with a flat roof used as a living space; in such cases providing a barrier around the edge to keep people from harm is consistent with charity.
Yet how do we respond to such a law for steep rooftops, upon which only trained professionals are ever allowed? Do we violate this law because we think we understand its context and spirit, presuming it’s not applicable or obsolete in our case? or do we build completely useless barriers around rooftops which ultimately protect no one?
If sin is the transgression or violation of the law (1Jn 3:4), in either the letter or the spirit, it seems we should not ignore the law, or violate it at any level for any reason. Yet it also seems inappropriate to build useless fences around our rooftops – making us appear foolish to the world and positioning Torah itself as ridiculous and burdensome. Neither approach seems reasonable.
If we look at the text carefully, it says to build a parapet, or a barrier or wall for our roof. To serve the intended function this battlement must prevent anyone from ever accidentally falling off. If we create a barrier that prevents people from accessing the roof at all, is not this equivalent, or even better?
For houses with steeply pitched roofs the exterior wall of the home itself serves as such a battlement or barrier: when there is no rooftop access from within or around the home, if one must go to considerable trouble to climb up and over the exterior wall to access the roof, it seems this law in Torah is being respected both in spirit and in letter, in truth at every level.
However, for any home which provides convenient access to the rooftop, surrounding the accessible portion of the roof with a sturdy, waist-high fence to prevent anyone from accidental injury is clearly the Law of Love. (Ro 13:10)
And when a trained professional is planning to access our roof to inspect it and make repairs, offering them a securely anchored restraining device, and recommending they use it to protect themselves, evidently serves the purpose of a battlement in spirit.
The principle is to make reasonable efforts to promote the safety and well-being of everyone at all times, to prevent accidental injury. It is evidently not intended make it impossible for those who are grossly careless, reckless or foolish, intentionally taking extreme and unnecessary risks, to injure themselves. (Pr 22:3) Damage from such behavior is not accidental, it is expected.
God treats us all with a basic level of respect for our free agency in the sense that He expects us all to use common sense or suffer the consequences; He has structured all of reality like this. Expecting us to prevent fools from destroying themselves is thus disrespectful to basic human dignity, inconsistent with the Law of Love (Ro 13:10) – a burden too grievous to bear. (Mt 23:4)