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Share(2) And it shall come to pass in the End of Days that the Mountain of the LORD’S House shall be established as the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; And all nations shall flow unto it. (3) And many peoples shall go and say: ‘Come y'all, and let us go up to the Mountain of the LORD, to the House of the God of Jacob; And He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths.’ For out of Zion shall go forth the Torah, and the Word of the LORD from Jerusalem. (4) And He shall judge between the nations, And shall decide for many peoples; And they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning-hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.
"Peace... Peace is sweet, my lady... but on what terms? It is no good hammering your sword into a plowshare if you must forge it again on the morrow."
-Ser Brynden Tully the Blackfish
(א) אִם־בַּמַּחְתֶּ֛רֶת יִמָּצֵ֥א הַגַּנָּ֖ב וְהֻכָּ֣ה וָמֵ֑ת אֵ֥ין ל֖וֹ דָּמִֽים׃ (ב) אִם־זָרְחָ֥ה הַשֶּׁ֛מֶשׁ עָלָ֖יו דָּמִ֣ים ל֑וֹ שַׁלֵּ֣ם יְשַׁלֵּ֔ם אִם־אֵ֣ין ל֔וֹ וְנִמְכַּ֖ר בִּגְנֵבָתֽוֹ׃
(1) If a thief is caught breaking in, and is beaten to death, there shall be no bloodguilt for him. (2) If the sun has risen upon him, there shall be bloodguilt for him—he shall make restitution; if he have nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft.
מתני' הבא במחתרת נידון על שם סופו היה בא במחתרת ושבר את החבית אם יש לו דמים חייב אם אין לו דמים פטור: גמ' אמר רבא מאי טעמא דמחתרת חזקה אין אדם מעמיד עצמו על ממונו והאי מימר אמר אי אזילנא קאי לאפאי ולא שביק לי ואי קאי לאפאי קטילנא ליה והתורה אמרה אם בא להורגך השכם להורגו
MISHNAH. [THE THIEF] WHO BREAKS IN IS JUDGED ON ACCOUNT OF ITS PROBABLE OUTCOME. IF HE BROKE IN AND BROKE A JUG, SHOULD THERE BE 'BLOOD-GUILTINESS FOR HIM, HE MUST PAY [FOR THE JUG], BUT IF THERE IS NO 'BLOOD-GUILTINESS FOR HIM, HE IS NOT LIABLE.
GEMARA. Raba said: what is the reason for the law of breaking in? Because it is certain that no man is inactive where his property is concerned; therefore this one [the thief] must have reasoned, 'If I go there, he [the owner] will oppose me and prevent me; but if he does I will kill him.' Hence the Torah decreed, 'If he come to slay thee, forestall by slaying him'.
מתני' הבא במחתרת - שאמרה תורה יהרג:,נידון על שם סופו - דהא לא קטל ומקטיל משום דסופו להרוג בעל הבית כשיעמוד כנגדו להציל ממונו:
יש לו דמים חייב - אם אינו ראוי ליהרג כגון אב על הבן דתניא לקמן דאין הבן רשאי להרוג את אביו הבא עליו במחתרת משום דרחמי האב על הבן ולא בא על עסקי נפשות ואי הוה קאי בריה לאפיה להציל . ממונו אין בדעתו של אביו להורגו:,אין לו דמים - כגון שאר כל האדם שניתן רשות לבעל הבית להורגו פטור מלשלם דחיוב מיתה וחיוב תשלומין באין כאחד ואע"פ שניצל פטור מן התשלומין דקי"ל (כתובות דף לה.) חייבי מיתות שוגגין כגון שלא התרו בהן אין משלמין ממון שעם המיתה אע"פ שאין נהרגין:
גמ' מאי טעמא דמחתרת - שאמרה תורה אין לו דמים כלומר הרי הוא לך כמי שאין לו דם ונשמה ומותר להורגו:,חזקה אין אדם מעמיד עצמו על ממונו - שרואה שאחר נוטלו ושותק הלכך יודע הגנב הזה שבעל הבית עומד על ממונו להצילו ומימר אמר הגנב אי אזילנא לגביה קאי באפאי ואי קאי קטילנא ליה ואמרה לך תורה אין לו דמים ומלמדתך מאחר שהוא בא להרגך השכם אתה להרגו:
רוח צה"ל
חה' אדם - החייל ינהג באופן מושכל ובטיחותי בכל פעולותיו, מתוך הכרה בחשיבותם העליונה של חה' אדם. בעת לחימה יסכן את עצמו ואת רעיו במידה הנדרשת לביצוע המשימה.
טוהר הנשק - החייל ישתמש בנשקו ובכוחו לביצוע המשימה בלבד, אך ורק במידה הנדרשת לכך, וישמור על צלם אנוש אף בלחימה. החייל לא ישתמש בנשקו ובכוחו כדי לפגוע בבני אדם שאינם לוחמים ובשבויים, ויעשה כל שביכולתו למנוע פגיעה בחייהם, בגופם, בכבודם וברכושם.
Ruach Tzahal (Ethical Code of the IDF)
(1) Human Life
The IDF serviceman will, above all, preserve human life, in the recognition of its supreme value and will place himself or others at risk solely to the extent required to carry out his mission.
The sanctity of life in the eyes of the IDF servicemen will find expression in all of their actions, in deliberate and meticulous planning, in safe and intelligent training and in proper execution of their mission. In evaluating the risk to self and others, they will use the appropriate standards and will exercise constant care to limit injury to life to the extent required to accomplish the mission.
(2) Purity of Arms
The IDF serviceman will use force of arms only for the purpose of subduing the enemy to the necessary extent and will limit his use of force so as to prevent unnecessary harm to human life and limb, dignity and property.
The IDF servicemen's purity of arms is their self-control in use of armed force. They will use their arms only for the purpose of achieving their mission, without inflicting unnecessary injury to human life or limb; dignity or property, of both soldiers and civilians, with special consideration for the defenseless, whether in wartime, or during routine security operations, or in the absence of combat, or times of peace.
(16) Don't go around as a talebearer among your people; nor shall you stand idly by the blood of your neighbor: I am the LORD.
(22) And the LORD your God will drive out those nations before you by little by little; you cannot destroy them quickly, or the wild beasts of the field will multiply around you.
מתני' ואלו הן שמצילין אותן בנפשן הרודף אחר חבירו להרגו...:
גמ' ת"ר מניין לרודף אחר חבירו להרגו שניתן להצילו בנפשו ת"ל (ויקרא יט, טז) לא תעמוד על דם רעך והא להכי הוא דאתא האי מיבעי ליה לכדתניא מניין לרואה את חבירו שהוא טובע בנהר או חיה גוררתו או לסטין באין עליו שהוא חייב להצילו ת"ל לא תעמוד על דם רעך אין ה"נ
MISHNAH. THE FOLLOWING MUST BE SAVED [FROM SINNING] EVEN AT THE COST OF THEIR LIVES: HE WHO PURSUES AFTER HIS NEIGHBOR TO SLAY HIM...
GEMARA. Our Rabbis taught: from where do we know that he who pursues after his neighbor to slay him must be saved [from sin] at the cost of his own life? From the verse, Thou shalt not stand by the blood of thy neighbor. But does it come to teach this? Is it not employed for the following [Baraitha] that has been taught: Whence do we know that if a man sees his fellow drowning, mauled by beasts, or attacked by robbers, he is bound to save him? From the verse, Thou shalt not stand by the blood of thy neighbor! — That in truth is so.
(for full text see http://rabbiirvinggreenberg.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/The-Ethics-of-Jewish-Powerb.pdf)
The exercise of power is unrelenting; in history one cannot take up one’s marbles and go home – this is especially true when, as in the case of Israel, the state is surrounded by a sea of unreconciled enemies. Power is corrupting, and the Jewish people’s relative weakness (compared to larger powers) narrows the margins for purely magnanimous, morally idealistic behavior even more. The net effect of constant struggle and involvement in morally ambiguous situations can be readily projected. Over time the gap between the ideal and reality is reduced; the movement is in the direction of the demands of reality. The behavior of all people in history can be fit within a bell-shaped curve of moral performance. Inevitably, the continuous exercise of sovereignty will narrow the spread between the behavior of Jews and of other people.
This is what classical Zionists meant when they glorified the ‘normalization’ of the Jewish people. They recognized that many pathological social phenomena were absent among Jews because there was no Jewish holistic political society. The price of an organic Jewish community – one not confined to urban ghetto areas or money lending professions by discrimination or absent a proletariat because it had no means of production – would be crime and prostitution and a host of ills of modern life. The price was inescapable – but, in light of the greater good, more than worth it.
In dreaming about the future reality, the founding Zionists could romanticize and soften the hard edges of the unborn pathology. Now that we are back in history, we see, up close, the hard edges of social sickness and corruptible. Jewish military force is not exempt from killing innocents or skewing lives or officers’ privileges or attracting camp followers. Only ‘how much’ can be modified by Jewish action and ethical will.
This is a painful admission for most Jews. But to believe otherwise is to commit a ‘genetic fallacy’ and assume that Jews are intrinsically more moral than other people. Such a belief bespeaks a covert racism. After all, Jews are like other people – only more so. The Bible portrays the Jews as no better inherently than other nations.
Life goes on. This is Israel’s ideology and strategy. Zionism promised that we would no longer define ourselves as victims. We will no longer be identified by tragedy.