by Aron Moss
Question: I am concerned that a spiritual leader can condone violence in any form. You justify Israel's war by saying it is in self-defence. But violence just begets more violence. Shouldn't we be seeking peaceful resolutions to the conflict?
Response: Peace is a biblical ideal. It fills our prayers and our wishes for the future.
The vision of a world without war was expressed first and most eloquently by the prophets of Israel. It was the prophet Isaiah who foresaw a time when “a nation will not lift a sword against another nation, and they will no longer learn war.”
The Priestly Blessing, written in the Torah, ends with the words, “May G-d grace you with peace.”
Our most important prayer, the Amidah, recited three times a day, concludes with a blessing for peace.
And we end every service with the words “He Who makes peace on high, may He make peace for us and all Israel.”
But we are not pacifists. When innocents are under attack or being threatened, the moral thing to do is intervene. And if the only way to save innocents is to use force, then that is the right thing to do.
We learn this from the greatest spiritual leader of history, Moses. When he saw an Egyptian striking an innocent Hebrew slave, Moses did not pray for the Hebrew's good health. He did not protest or declare a hunger strike. Moses smote the Egyptian.
The greatest prophet to ever live, the man who spoke to G-d face to face, who brought the Ten Commandments to the world, this holy man killed someone. This is the moral use of force.
Moses did not glory in this act of defence of the innocent. But he did what needed to be done. By killing the Egyptian attacker, he saved one innocent life, and perhaps many more. This serves as a model for those terrible times when force is the only way to stop evil.
The Nazis were not defeated by peaceful resistance, but by war. Isis was not toppled by people sending peace and love vibes, but by military might. And Hamas, if left alone, will attack more innocents, destroy more lives, and follow through on its threats of even more diabolical terror.
We need to take great care not to misuse Moses' rule of preemptive force. But we also need to take great care not to neglect it. Standing idly by as innocents are slaughtered only increases violence. Taking a carefully principled and strong stand, as Israel is doing now, will bring peace in the end.
