Hot answers tagged army-military-war
12
When Yaakov was threatened with Esav and his 400 men (Genesis 32), he responded in three ways (as noted by Rashi to verse 9):
He sent gifts.
He prayed.
He prepared for war.
So yes, preparing for war certainly has a prominent place in Jewish ideology, right alongside diplomatic efforts and prayers to God. All three are important components of a proper ...
12
The relevant verse is I Chron. 22:8, where David quotes G-d as having told him: "You have spilled much blood, and waged great wars."
Radak there explains that "much blood" refers to people whose deaths David caused indirectly but who didn't deserve this - such as Uriah, the kohanim of Nov, and non-Jewish civilians caught in the crossfire during his raids ...
9
There is a talk by the Lubavitcher Rebbe o.b.m. (in Likkutei Sichos, vol. 25, pp. 235ff, and adapted into English here) about this.
The gist of his answer is that there was a more "physical" miracle (the military victory) and a more "spiritual" one (the Menorah's lights burning for eight days), and the latter in a sense overshadows the former, since the war ...
8
A complicated subject.
See this post from bein din l'din blog.
In some cases it's wisest not to mix in; Rosh is famous for saying that if you insert yourself into a fight between A & B, eventually A & B will forget whatever was going on between them, and together fight you.
8
About the events described in Maccabees, R. Yitzchak Isaac Halevi offers the following explanation (Doros Harishonim 1:340ff):
These Jews hiding in the caves originally had no intention of waging war against the Greeks and their Jewish Hellenist allies, and no reason to think they'd be successful in doing so. But they figured that, while the Hellenists ...
7
This law applies only when we dwell in Eretz Yisrael (end of Chinuch 532). Since at that time they didn't live in Israel, the law of yefas toar was not in effect.
Postscript: I found this answer in Sifsei Chachamim to Rashi, Bemidbar 31:50, as well as another answer: That a yefas toar is only permissible in a milchemes reshus, but this was a milchemes ...
7
There's a translation of Machane Yisrael into English published as English-only (the original Hebrew is not included). It's Machaneh Yisrael (I mean, that's how they spell the title) and the copyright page reads:
Authored by
Rav Yisrael Meir HaKohen Zt"l
The Chofetz Chaim
Translated by
Machon MEMEY
413 Ashley Ave. • Lakewood, NJ 08701
...
7
There are a number of books and websites (including shailot ve'tshuvot of recognized halachic authorities) on the topic of Halachot for Soldiers. I would strongly recommend anyone in this situation consult with your local Rabbi or posek. Below is a list of a few of the sources I know of:
http://www.aka.idf.il/Main/rabanut/General.aspx?catId=60233
...
7
Your suggestion is correct. "Took" refers to the animals, "captured" refers to the women and children, and "plundered" refers to the wealth and objects from their houses. See Malbim.
Technically, everything was "in the city". I would suggest that the phrase "וְאֵת אֲשֶׁר בָּעִיר וְאֶת אֲשֶׁר בַּשָּׂדֶה" refers to the animals mentioned immediately before. ...
7
In Chapter 25 we see that the Moabite women seduced some Israelites into temple prostitution. Therefore when God commanded Israel to raze the people of Midian he wanted the armies to kill the woman also and not take them as spoils of war. They did not do it at first but kept all the woman as booty. God was angry with them for that and then he makes it ...
6
The Lubavitcher Rebbe zt"l states (Likkutei Sichos, vol. 15, p. 269), based on his analysis of the relevant verses, that the one camp contained Yaakov's livestock and the people responsible for taking care of them, while the other contained his family.
The point of this, the Rebbe explains, was that Yaakov was preparing for his prayer, in which he would, so ...
6
Pants: Rabbi Adin Shteinzaltz (Even-Yisrael) has written that there may be situations where pants are more modest than skirts, observing that Jewish Yemenite women traditionally wore skirts on top of pants. What I've heard is the general recommendation against pants are because they tend to be more form-fitting than skirts. I know religious women who have ...
6
The division of the land included, among other steps:
sending out commissioners to survey it (Josh. 18:4ff)
...and to evaluate the worth of the individual regions and plots of land, to make sure that the division would be equitable (Rashi to Num. 26:54)
designating which roads would be private vs. public, depending on their grade (Eruvin 22b)
assigning a ...
5
Rabbi David Zvi Hoffmann, in Melamed le-Ho'il 42, was asked:
At this time, in all places where Jews reside, [at the command] of the king and state every able bodied man has to enter the military and serve for one, two, or three years, and he will be compelled there to violate Shabbatot and Yamim Tovim. Is a Jew who fears God's word and observes all the ...
5
The question has been raised in contemporary times vis-a-vis Israeli soldiers. (And if I recall correctly from a lecture by Rabbi J D Bleich, Jewish soldiers in the British Army during WWII as well.) As Rabbi Bleich pointed out, in today's information era there are exceedingly few cases of people who outright disappear at war. (To prove his point, he asked ...
5
What's right or wrong is dependent on the will of God, which may differ in differing situations.
King Saul had clearly been (by Samuel) told to kill all the animals, and he disobeyed.
King David was given no such order; in fact, the Urim V'Tumim told him "go save!" (hatzel); the same language used in v.18, he "saved" that which had been taken.
As to ...
5
From vv. 18-19, it seems that David only took back what the Amalekites had previously plundered (and per verse 16, that was from the Jews and, lehavdil, from the Philistines):
יח וַיַּצֵּל דָּוִד, אֵת כָּל-אֲשֶׁר
לָקְחוּ עֲמָלֵק; וְאֶת-שְׁתֵּי
נָשָׁיו, הִצִּיל דָּוִד. יט וְלֹא
נֶעְדַּר-לָהֶם מִן-הַקָּטֹן
וְעַד-הַגָּדוֹל וְעַד-בָּנִים
וּבָנוֹת, ...
4
The general rule of thumb for shabbat is that any action required for security related reasons (operation of jeeps, radio check ins, patrols, etc) during the week should be performed on shabbat as well.
I.E. you shouldn't be lowering the level of security because it's shabbat.
There are standing orders at all levels in the IDF which prevent the giving of ...
4
The Gemara in Sanhedrin (פ''ב ע''א) learns out from Parshas Balak that you may not bring a weapon into a Beis Hamedrash.But what is the law for a shul, is it the same? The proof against it being permitted is from Shulchan Aruch (אור"ח סי' קנ"א סעיף ו') where he brings that you may not bring a long knife. I am guessing that means sword. This is because ...
4
I think Isaac's nailed it, in a comment on the question:
The average person's chances of chas veshalom getting killed in a terror attack today are, thank God, nowhere near the same league as those of someone who goes out to war.
Two more points to consider:
In the decade 2000-2010, there were b"H fewer than 1000 deaths by terrorism in Israel, a ...
4
Minchas Chinuch 527 writes that the rules of any milchemes mitzva apply to Amalek: whether that means you allow them make peace before annihilating them is, he says, a machlokes rishonim.
4
This reminds me of the political struggle going on during the life of the prophet Isaiah ben Amoz (Isaiah). If I recall correctly, at this point in history (around the 8th-7th Century B.C.,) Assyria has been expanding its power throughout the Middle East (and even as far as Egypt.)
Along with this expansion, Assyria has invaded Israel under the command of ...
4
The Gemora (Sanhedrin 41a) writes (cited partially by Rashi to Yehoshua 6:10) :
ויאמר ה' אל יהושע קום לך . . אתה גרמת להם והיינו דקאמר ליה בעי ועשית לעי ולמלכה כאשר עשית ליריחו ולמלכה וגו'
And Hashem said to Yehoshua, "Get up." . . Hashem said to him, You have brought [guilt] upon them. For that reason He said to him with reference to Ai: "And you ...
3
See Rabbi Michael Broyde's excellent essay (entitled, in various versions, either "Only the Good Die Young" or "Judaism is Not a Suicide Pact!") here.
An excerpt:
It is clear to me that the vast majority of
contemporary poseqim agree with R. Shaul
Yisraeli, and for that reason, even as there are
numerous sefarim that deal with religious life in
...
3
The logic about not making an "Iron dome" could just as easily apply to going to the Doctor. Why go to the Doctor? Shouldn't someone just pray.
This is like the story from Midrash Shmuel about the sick person who came to Rabbi Ishmael and Rabbi Akiba and asked why should he go to the doctor instead of just praying to get better.
I do not agree with your ...
3
Just a thought of my own...
The verses here do not list 600 thousand names; they list different the different families in each tribe, headed usually by one of the direct children or grandchildren of Yaakov's twelve sons. Those sons had descended to Egypt over 200 years ago and in all likelihood most if not all of them were not alive anymore. It is unlikely ...
3
This is a very good question.
The first point, I'd like to make, is that not everybody assumes the information behind your question is correct. That is, many will argue that the Messiah is only revealed by the fact that the Temple is Rebuilt or peace is found in and around Israel. Meaning, these are signs of peace and the end times, rather than precursors ...
3
No one knows for sure since no reason is given in the text (the T'anach/the Bible).
Therefore the question is open to conjecture within the commentaries and midrashim. @msh210 gives an answer from the commentaries of Rabbi Moshe Alshich.
Another answer: it was "professional courtesy" -- while Saul was willing to kill the people, he decided to spare his ...
3
Rambam addresses this (Melachim 6:4): "And do not kill women or children".
This is talking about a case where the women and children are not part of the war - as opposed to cases where children and women are part of the war effort, for instance, by being soldiers themselves, or the nations which we are commanded to annihilate.
Sifri (page קפז) says ...
3
The Talmud (Bavli, Y'vamos 60:2) deduces from the wording of the passage that the ones killed were not the women who had been intimate with men but those who physically could be, which is those who had reached their third birthday. (This is also cited by Rashi on verse 17.)
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