Questions tagged [army-military-war]
Questions about armed conflict and armed services.
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New responsa on releasing terrorists in exchange for hostages?
The State of Israel has over the years engaged in the exchange of terrorists and criminals in exchange for the release of hostages. This topic has prior been explored in posts such as Q 10731 and Q ...
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Milchemes mitzvah in Shoftim according to Rambam
According to the Rambam that you need a Melech for a milchemes mitzvah, how does the Rambam understand all the milchamos in the book of Shoftim?
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Colleteral damage in Judaism [duplicate]
Concerning the war in Gaza.
Is there a halahic limit to colleteral damage?
For example: To kill one Hamas terrorist attacking Israel you have to kill 10 civilians, 100 civilians etc.
Is there a number ...
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Confused about the layout of this
Joshua 6:12-13 Speaks about the Kohanim, armed men, and rear guard and how they were ordered when they walked with the Aron. Is there a representation of this actually looked, I'm not sure who was in ...
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Is an enemy counteroffensive in an optional war a milchemet mitzva?
After consulting the Urim vThumin, Shlomo decides to conquer Egypt. He captures the Nile Delta.
An Egyptian force from the south moves upward to liberate it. Since the Jews are now on the defensive, ...
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Is the war to protect the State of Israel from attacks from terrrorists a Milchemes Mitzvah
The Rambam in Malochim 5:1 says that one of the cases of Milchemes Mitzvah is coming to the aid of Jews being attacked by an enemy.
Does that mean that the war in Gaza (declared on 07/10/2023) is a ...
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Rabbi Grossman's tzedakkah segula for soldiers
In Israeli Dati social media circles there's been a little bit of a buzz recently1 over a segula apparently first introduced by Rabbi Grossman during the Second Lebanon War (see here from 0:52). The ...
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Would the dispensation of Yefat Toar apply to homosexual men?
My understanding is that one of the reasons for the permissibility of a man to sleep with a woman who is part of an enemy nation during war is because the Torah is "speaking against the man's ...
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Ethics of working in defense
The following is not halacha l'maaseh.
Say I am currently looking for a new role. In my search, I come across a fair number of (US-based) defense contractors that seem to have openings for what I am ...
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Meaning of a Talmud statement about acceptable casualties of war
The Talmud says:
Shmuel... said: A government that allows one-sixth to die [by going to war] is not punished. [Shevuot 35b]
I don't understand what this means. That a ruler is allowed to risk the ...
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Prevention of Lashon Hara as a protection for military wars
In light of the current situation in Israel, one of the calls that has been made is specifically to try and cut down on Lashon Hara.
I have seen two similar sources concerning the generation of Achav:
...
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What does Halacha say about human shields
What is the Torah approach to when terrorists are using civilians as human shields? Are you allowed to bomb the building?
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What should one do to help Israel during war?
Regarding this terrible attack and subsequent war on October 2023, how would our Sages say we can help Israel during a war like this? I’m not just looking for answers like “pray”, but rather maybe ...
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Why was Avshalom riding a donkey into battle?
In the battle between Avshalom's army and David's forces Avshalom is riding a donkey which runs away when Avshalom is caught by his hair in a tree.
וַיִּקָּרֵא אַבְשָׁלוֹם לִפְנֵי עַבְדֵי דָוִד ...
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Is Chushai to blame for the deaths in Avshalom's rebellion?
In 2 Shmuel 17 Ahitophel counsels Avshalom to immediately pursue David with 12,000 soldiers and predicts that they will be able to kill David without having to kill David's men.
At David's behest, ...
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Do non-Israelite soldiers in the army of an Israelite king observe Shabbat?
Does וְגֵרְךָ, אֲשֶׁר בִּשְׁעָרֶיךָ apply to non-Israelite soldiers serving in the army of an Israelite king?
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Yefas Toar - rape allowed by the Torah before the marriage?
Ki Saitzai deals with the Eishes Yefas Toar “woman of beautiful form” taken in battle.
Ramban and Rabbeinu Tam say that the Torah permits the soldier to have relations with the maiden immediately. ...
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what is the difference between שלל, ביזה, and חרם?
We know that there are no true synonyms in the Torah. What does each of these connote? (to pass the test here - i googled and did not find anything)
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Did all the midyanim die? [duplicate]
In the war with Midyon, the Torah infers all of their men were killed, and girls not of mature age were spared
Now if they were all killed, how do they appear in Shoftim as being the oppressors of ...
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Are Jews allowed to destroy the fruit trees and give bad water to cattle if they're fighting a war outside/unrelated to the Holy Land & Mesopotamia?
Deuteronomy 20:19-20 (NIV) states the following:
When you lay siege to a city for a long time, fighting against it to capture it, do not destroy its trees by putting an ax to them, because you can ...
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Is profiting off of a war allowed in Judaism? Like for example, is it allowed in Judaism to sell equipment to both sides?
Historically, Jews often lived in regions where it wasn't uncommon for a war to occur. I imagine some shrewd businessmen took advantage of this to profit by doing things like selling equipment or ...
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Malbim on the irrationality/illegitimacy of Amalek
Malbim on Shmuel 1:15:2 writes about the irrationality, or perhaps the illegitimacy of Amalek's war with Bnei Yisrael:
"כה אמר ה' צבאות, הנה התורה בארה בטעם מצות מיחוי זכר עמלק כמה טעמים כמ&...
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What’s the Jewish equivalent to The Art of War?
I know from Parashas Vayishlach, there is a reference to how a Jew should prepare for war. Yaakov prays and sends Esau a large gift to appease him.
Where can I find more sources on how a Jew fights a ...
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What changed in the later First Temple period that increased interaction with further kingdoms?
If you read the Book of Kings, the nations with which Israel (or later, Judah and Israel) was always either warring or allying themselves are basically its neighbors: Egypt, Lebanon ("Tyre"),...
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Why didn't Moses fight Amalek himself?
"וַיָּבֹא עֲמָלֵק וַיִּלָּחֶם עִם־יִשְׂרָאֵל בִּרְפִידִם׃, וַיֹּאמֶר מֹשֶׁה אֶל־יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בְּחַר־לָנוּ אֲנָשִׁים וְצֵא הִלָּחֵם בַּעֲמָלֵק מָחָר אָנֹכִי נִצָּב עַל־רֹאשׁ הַגִּבְעָה וּמַטֵּה ...
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Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's trip to Moscow on Shabbat to meet Putin
I am an Italian ben Noach.
We have all seen that Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett went to Moscow on Shabbat to meet Putin.
I believe that, since this trip has been functional to find a solution ...
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Devarim 20: division of roles
Devarim 20:1-9 is a list of instructions that must be given orally to soldiers before setting out to battle. Rashi (on verse 8) explains that a priest says the words in verses 3-4, and that they also ...
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How should one understand the reference to ‘horsemen’, ‘bows’ and ‘arrows’ in the Gog / Magog prophecies?
Shalom.
I am a bit confused by the reference of ‘horses’ and ‘horsemen’, ‘bows’ and ‘arrows’ in Yechezkel 38 and 39. It certainly would be a greater miracle than the one described if mankind were ...
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Death on the battlefield
Last Shabbat, I was reading a book called היהודים בערב (The Jews in Arabia) by Dr. Yisrael Ben Ze'ev. In the book, a section was dedicated to a pre-Islamic Arabian Jewish poet named Shmuel ben Adiyah. ...
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Is a gentile nation allowed to go to war with another gentile nation?
With recent talks about Russia and Ukraine ongoing invasion of Russia to Ukraine, or China and Taiwan was wondering is there a source in the Torah that would allow or disallow a gentile nation to ...
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Responsa/Rabbinic Thought on Israeli Reprisal Operations
During the 1950s and 60s, the IDF carried out what have become known as "reprisal operations" against Arab villages. Some of the operations, especially Operation Kibya, were condemned on the ...
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The fall of Yehudah the Maccabee
Yehudah the Maccabee died in the Battle of Elasa, a mere four years after the victory at Beit Tzur and the subsequent purification and rededication of the Temple.
Are there any rabbinic sources that ...
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Why does the Torah give so much detail in the War on Midyan?
Moshe Rabbeinu and Israel fought a number of wars. Maybe starting with Egypt at the Yam Suf, but certainly against Amalek, Melech Arad, Sichon, and Og. Only by Midyan, apparently the last war ...
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IDF ceremony on the Temple Mount
Last year someone sent me this video. It shows an IDF "misdar", a kind of military formation/inspection/ceremony (not really sure how to translate it) on the Temple Mount after it was freed ...
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What was the Rabbinic position toward the armed revolts against the Romans?
"...Rabbi Yosei, son of Rabbi Ḥanina said: Why are these three oaths needed? One, so that the Jews should not ascend to Eretz Yisrael as a wall. And another one, that the Holy One, Blessed be He, ...
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Is there a Jewish way of war?
Christian scholars have been writing about war for centuries. The "just war theory" is perhaps the greatest contribution that Christians have made to the moral study of war.
This got me ...
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The woman who killed King Avimelekh
The Book of Judges relates how Avimelekh, the son of Gideon rose to power and made himself a king by killing his seventy brothers. His eventual fate came, when he sieged Teiveitz and wanted to take a ...
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Was it David's custom to go into battle without an armour?
Shmuel I 17:38-39:
וַיַּלְבֵּ֨שׁ שָׁא֚וּל אֶת־דָּוִד֙ מַדָּ֔יו וְנָתַ֛ן ק֥וֹבַע נְח֖שֶׁת עַל־רֹאשׁ֑וֹ וַיַּלְבֵּ֥שׁ אֹת֖וֹ שִׁרְיֽוֹן. וַיַּחְגֹּ֣ר דָּוִ֣ד אֶת־חַ֠רְבּוֹ מֵעַ֨ל לְמַדָּ֜יו וַיֹּ֣אֶל ...
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What is the definition of a city עיר regarding sieges?
Sifrei Devarim 203.
כי תצור אל עיר. במלחמת הרשות הכתוב מדבר.
(Devarim 20:19) "If you besiege a city many days": Scripture here speaks of an optional war.
I אל עיר. ולא לכרך.
"a city&...
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Why is the "beautiful captive" called "beautiful" if she doesn't have to be?
The Torah says:
When you take ... your enemies ... captive, and you see among them a woman of beautiful form (אֵ֖שֶׁת יְפַת-תֹּאַר), and you desire her, you may take her to yourself as a wife. [...
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Malachim of Nations constantly fighting?
I think recall learning about how the Malachim of different nations fight each other very often, like raging Bulls, and this causes wars in the Earthly realm between nations. What is the source for ...
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Teffilin in the army [closed]
One who is in the army and going to be on duty all day from before olot (dawn) until after shekiya (dusk), according to some poskim he can put on tefillin then without a bracha, while others rule that ...
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Is fighting in a non-Jewish army against another army with Jews as well permissible?
Let me explain. This is something that actually happened, in World War One; Jews volunteered to fight with the Entente and many Jews volunteered on the Central Powers. Some could have served on the ...
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Why Me'arat Hamachpela was bought by Avraham and not conquered?
Don't get me wrong, I'm not an aggressor, but conquest and war are always in our set of tools (see Yaakov's preparations to meeting his brother).
IIRC Hittim people were idolaters and doomed to be ...
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Can the definition of a "rodef" be applied to any member of a terrorist group?
One is permitted to kill a rodef - someone who is planning to kill you.
What are the parameters of identifying someone as a rodef when he is a member of a terrorist or any other group?
Examples
If ...
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What is the halacha if a Jew injures another Jew during battle training?
I am not aware of any information in the written or oral Torah which discusses what was involved in preparing Jewish army troops for battle, but I assume that soldiers would spar with each other and ...
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Status of children born from a yefat toar who was converted to judaism after the 30 day period
In parshat Ki Teietze it talks about the yefat torah.
If after the 30 days if he still wants to marry her, she is converted to judaism, then he can marry her.
Question: Is this conversion a regular ...
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What age should be a Goy to be spared and how it is determined?
אִם־לֹא תַשְׁלִים עִמָּךְ וְעָשְׂתָה עִמְּךָ מִלְחָמָה וְצַרְתָּ עָלֶיהָּ׃
וּנְתָנָהּ ה"א בְּיָדֶךָ וְהִכִּיתָ אֶת־כָּל־זְכוּרָהּ לְפִי־חָרֶב׃
רַק הַנָּשִׁים וְהַטַּף וְהַבְּהֵמָה וְכֹל אֲשֶׁר ...
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Why fight the Midianites with such a huge army?
G-d promises the Israeli Nation that (Lev 26,6):
וְרָדְפוּ מִכֶּם חֲמִשָּׁה מֵאָה, וּמֵאָה מִכֶּם רְבָבָה יִרְדֹּפוּ
וְנָפְלוּ אֹיְבֵיכֶם לִפְנֵיכֶם לֶחָרֶב׃
Five of you shall give chase to ...
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Why G-d didn't reveal the Israelis a recipe for gunpowder?
I think that would change the balance of power dramatically and ensure fast and effortless conquer of the Promised Land.
For those (interpreters and those of you) who hold that the conquest had to be ...
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