[yshavurah] Torah of Peace
- From: "johanna" <rebiljo@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <yshavurah@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 10 Feb 2002 09:57:00 -0000
Friends,
Thought this submission of Rabbi Arthur Waskow's might be of general
interest to our havurah. Is the Torah "practical" in this case? I'm not
sure, but I love it even more.
Johanna
>
>Dear Chevra,
>
>Now more than 150 Israeli reserve soldiers and officers have publicly
>insisted that they will serve in defense of Israel's boundaries but will
>refuse to serve in the army of occupation. See
><seruv.nethost.co.il/defaulteng.asp>.
>
>When we think about their decision, we should remember that Torah teaches
>(Deut 20: 5-8):
>
>Then the officials shall address the troops: "Is there anyone who has built
>a
>new home but not yet dedicated it? Let him go back to his home, lest he die
>in battle and another dedicate it.
>
>"Is there anyone who has planted a vineyard but has never harvested it? Let
>him go back to his home, lest he die in battle and another initiate it.
>
>"Is there anyone who has paid the bride-price for a wife, but who has not
>yet married her? Let him return to his home, lest he die in battle and
>another marry her.
>
>The officials shall go on addressing the troops and say, "Is there anyone
>afraid or gentle-hearted? Let him go back to his home, lest he melt the
>heart
>of his brothers, like his heart!"
>
>About this last verse, our Rabbis taught, Why both "afraid" and
>"gentle-hearted"?
>
>Those who must be exempted from army service are not only those who are
>afraid to be killed but also those who are gentle of heart lest they become
>killers.
>
>Notice that they MUST be exempted; there is no discretion, not the Army's
>and not theirs, to conscript them.
>
>Notice that the Torah's concern is both for conscience and for
practicality:
>if they stay in the Army, their example may bring other soldiers to become
>unwilling to kill, or to die.
>
>This provision operates also as a rough public check-and-balance to
measure
>whether the people really believes a specific war is worth dying for and
>worth killing for.
>
>If many soldiers begin to take the position that a specific war is not
worth
>their dying or killing, the war may become impossible for the nation to
>fight.
>
>That today Israeli soldiers are applying this teaching in a new situation
to
>distinguish defense from a war of conquest and occupation is praiseworthy.
>
>If their numbers increase, the nation may find that the occupation becomes
>impossible.
>
>May these soldiers of conscience and discernment go from strength to
>strength, from the strength they have already shown to the strength they
>will
>doubtless yet need to have, and may the State and People of Israel have the
>wisdom to join with them.
>
>Shalom,
>Rabbi Arthur Waskow
>
>_______________________________
>These comments flow from the work of The Shalom Center <www.shalomctr.com>.
>It is a division of ALEPH: Alliance for Jewish Renewal, but these thoughts
>do
>not necessarily reflect those of ALEPH as a whole.
>
>
>
>
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