Sephardic Torah from the Holy Land | When War is a Mitzvah

In his vision for the Messianic era, Maimonides depicts a world where the sole pursuit of the Jewish people will be to study Torah and wisdom, bringing the entire world closer to God:

“The Sages and the prophets did not yearn for the Messianic era in order to have dominion over the world, to rule over the gentiles, to be exalted by the nations, or to eat, drink, and celebrate. Rather, they desired to be free to involve themselves in Torah and wisdom. In that era, there will be neither famine or war, envy or competition, for good will flow in abundance and all the delights will be freely available as dust. The occupation of the entire world will be solely to know God.” (Mishneh Torah, Laws of Kings and Wars, 12:5).

This global society of scholars and philosophers envisioned by Maimonides is a peaceful world void of the need for Jews to engage in military campaigns of self defense and survival. The time spent on securing our borders and fighting enemies that seek to destroy us will be spent reading, writing and discussing Torah and philosophy. Sign me up for this and save me a spot.

But Maimonides also understood that until we get there, we must live and face the realities of this non-Messianic era we live in – including the grim realities of war.

In the Mishneh Torah, the same halakhic code where he describes the Messianic era, Maimonides lays out the circumstances when war is actually a commandment, a mitzvah:

“Which type of war is considered a mitzvah? A war to defend Israel from an enemy that attacks them.” (Mishneh Torah, Laws of Kings and Wars, 5:1).

Hamas’s vicious terror attacks on October 7 immediately come to mind.

So does this war with Iran.

“A war to defend Israel from an enemy that attacks them” aptly describes Iran’s regime of Ayatollahs. For the past 46 years, Iran has declared and actively pursued their intention to destroy the Jewish State.

Hezbollah is Iran, Hamas is Iran, and Iran’s sponsorship of these terrorist proxies on Israel’s borders have resulted in thousands of Israeli deaths.

Iran has launched deadly ballistic missiles on Israeli civilian populations this past year, have openly made genocidal threats against Israel, and are actively developing nuclear weapons to use against Israel. This Iranian regime of Mullahs is the ultimate “enemy that attacks them.”

Ridding the world of Iran’s terrorist regime is a mitzvah, one giant step for mankind towards Maimonides’ peaceful Messianic era of Torah and wisdom – for Jews, and for all of humanity.

Rabbi Daniel Bouskila is the international director of the Sephardic Educational Center.