Questions To Rabbi Mandel
Prisoner Exchange
Question: Does the Torah allow releasing Jewish prisoners of war in exchange for other POWs who will have the ability to hurt more Jewish lives, e.g., Gilad Shalit for 1000 terrorists? What’s the Torah perspective on painful situations of the value of Jewish lives, and how to balance one over another (e.g., Holocaust times, quelling a baby’s cry to save a hiding group? Thank you so much
Answer: Now, I'm not getting involved in the second question, because I'm not familiar. But as far as the first, R' Yosef Yosef (son of R' Ovadia Zatzal) Paskened, and I felt the same way, LET ALL THOSE GUYS OUT. WHO CARES! I'm not impressed. First of all, the Eibishter will take care. They're not scaring me. If you have a Jewish life, you save him. That’s what I hold, and he said that too. (The other stuff I'm not familiar with. You need a Posek. You have to know. That’s not such a difficult Shayla either, for anyone who knows these Halachos). I'm not afraid of those terrorists, the ones they let go free. They're not going to do anything. They are all: ב ְּח ְּז ְּק ְּת (in all probability) terrorists anyway. I'm not so impressed. He Paskened like that. That’s enough.
