Our Obligation to the Women of Afghanistan

The events of the past few weeks in Afghanistan are horrifying on so many levels. But the true magnitude of the horror dates back decades, centuries even.

The human toll of the United States’ longest war is devastating. Thousands of American soldiers and contractors have been killed and many more have been maimed and injured. Tens of thousands of Afghan civilians have died and millions more have suffered. Our chaotic and hurried withdrawal has created additional tumult and pain, tarnishes our global reputation, and might very well lead to an international refugee crisis.

In time, we will learn valuable lessons from this painful chapter of American presence in Afghanistan, which, to be sure, is not without its successes. A variety of public health indicators have seen overall improvements. We have also seen the suppression of terrorist activities and opium trafficking. One of the most significant positive outcomes has been the benefits experienced by Afghan girls and women. This is perhaps the greatest tragedy of the Taliban’s return to power: their track record regarding the treatment of women is truly nauseating including denying girls and women educational and employment opportunities, dictating precisely how women may dress, and punishing behaviors deemed to be immodest with public floggings and executions.

We should care deeply about this as human beings and, particularly, as Jews who are committed to creating a world in which the fundamental kavod (dignity) of both women and men is universally acknowledged, a world where pay inequities, sexual harassment, sexual violence, and human trafficking are no more.

This week’s Torah portion, coincidentally, touches on some of these issues. To be sure, our Biblical ancestors were not feminists: the stories and teachings of our Torah emerge from a deeply patriarchal world. And yet, in this week’s Torah portion, Ki Teitzei, we are taught that there are limits to how we may treat those we take captive in war, including women. In the context of the ancient Near East (and the contemporary Near East as well in most places other than Israel), such a limit on patriarchal power, particularly vis-à-vis the enemy, was unique. It points to a larger concern of the Torah: the obligation of those with power to care for the most vulnerable among us. Again and again we are reminded of our responsibilities to the stranger, orphan and widow.

While we can debate many things about America’s longest war, including how it was initiated, how it was managed, and how, ultimately, it ended, what is impossible to deny is that the American presence in Afghanistan these past two decades has been incredibly beneficial to Afghan girls and women. Nobel peace prize winner Malala Yousafzai, herself a survivor of Taliban misogyny and violence, shared these thoughts on Tuesday: “We will have time to debate what went wrong in the war in Afghanistan, but in this critical moment we must listen to the voices of Afghan women and girls. They are asking for protection, for education, for the freedom and the future they were promised. We cannot continue to fail them. We have no time to spare.”

It points to a larger concern of the Torah: the obligation of those with power to care for the most vulnerable among us.

As Americans and as Jews, no matter how exhausted we are from this painful conflict, we have an obligation to continue to care for the lives of the most vulnerable and to find appropriate ways to advocate for their well-being going forward.

To fail to do so would be another tragedy.

Rabbi Yoshi Zweiback is the Senior Rabbi of Stephen Wise Temple in Los Angeles, California.