In Judaism, There is a Time for War

Let’s begin with the obvious: Israel is embarking on a war of self-defense. What do Jewish sources tell us about such an endeavor? What does contemporary moral thought tell us? 

Talmud, Sanhedrin 72a: “If someone comes to kill you, rise up (first) and slay him.” In Jewish law, self-defense is permissible. Just one page later, the Talmud says that if you see someone pursuing another to kill him, you are allowed to slay “the pursuer.” After all, we read “Do not stand idly by while your neighbor bleeds” (Leviticus 19:16) – or when he is about to bleed, and the rabbis add in the need to protect a woman who is about to be raped. 

Self-defense is permissible. In fact, preservation of yourself and your neighbor is not just permissible, it is required. You neither are allowed to murder nor allow yourself or others to be murdered, raped, or violated.

But to what extent does that obligation for self-defense and self-preservation extend to war? Israel is facing an enemy that neither seeks peace nor pursues it. In fact, were it up to Hamas, the land of Israel would be judenrein – “Clean of Jews” to use a Nazi-era term.

What made the Amalekites so horrific? They attacked from the rear of the camp: seizing and killing the women, the children, the infirm. 

The Nazis and Hamas (as well as their Iranian backers) have a lot in common with each other. They act as clear descendants of the biblical embodiment of evil: Amalek. The Amalekites attacked us as we came up out of Egypt after being freed from Pharaoh. What made the Amalekites so horrific? They attacked from the rear of the camp: seizing and killing the women, the children, the infirm. 

On the quiet morning of Shabbat/Shemini Atzeret, Hamas terrorists systematically, and with great planning, broke through fortified barriers and drove into towns, villages, moshavim, kibbutzim – terrorizing and maiming, murdering and slaughtering, vandalizing and burning. They targeted women, elderly, and children. It wasn’t just an Iranian proxy that broke through the Israeli border – it was Amalek-incarnate.

The lives of nearly 1,000 Israelis have already been taken. 

The bodies of nearly 3,000 Israelis have been wounded. 

The fate of well over 150 Israelis is uncertain as they are held in captivity.

The souls, hearts, minds of the entire Jewish nation are rattled, shattered, broken, despondent. And they are also determined.

From the moment Hamas commenced its barbaric assault, this war became a “commanded” war – milchemet mitzvah – and thus justifiable and necessary.

From the moment Hamas commenced its barbaric assault, this war became a “commanded” war – milchemet mitzvah – and thus justifiable and necessary. Military action designed to take human life and destroy property is permissible in order to deliver Israel from its enemy and reestablish safety within Israel’s borders. 

Contemporary moral philosophy also has a voice on matters of war. Michael Walzer, noted author and expert of Just War Theory, describes civilian deaths, “…not just, but they are justifiable in the circumstances of war. At the same time, intentional attacks on civilian targets or disproportional injury to civilian populations are condemned and prohibited.”

In other words, both biblical and contemporary moral frameworks acknowledge that war can be necessary and that such war might mean some innocent people tragically die. Yet we are no less commanded to defend ourselves and our families from aggression. 

During these days, while tensions run exceedingly high, Israel’s challenge will be to defend its citizens and preserve innocent life on both sides of the battle. Some of those defensive efforts may yield unavoidable collateral damage, including the killing of innocents. 

While Hamas terrorists do not care about Just War Theory, Israel knows it stands among the nations of the world and seeks to uphold its own ethics within the obfuscatory conditions of the battlefield. 

May the leaders and advisors, the military forces and guardians of the State of Israel use every reasonable effort to secure its borders and reestablish safety for those who dwell within her borders. 

May the soldiers and officers, the navy, army, air force, police, doctors, nurses, medics,  firefighters have all the requisite resources and tools at their disposal to keep them safe and make their efforts effective. And may we–Jews of the Diaspora and friends of the Jewish state–provide them the political and moral support necessary to emerge victorious.  

“Choose life,” Moses instructs us. And so we will – even when it may come with heavy costs.

Rabbi Mark Cohn serves as Rabbinic Liaison of the Jewish Institute for Liberal Values.