Parshat Eikev 5766

If there is one word that characterizes the Jewish religion, it is “L’chaim,” “To life.” We are a religion which not only values life, but reveres life above all else.

In our faith we even have a blessing for life (the She’hekheyanu), and the preservation of life takes precedence over the performance of virtually all the other mitzvot in the Torah. Martyrdom is not a Jewish ideal and certainly not the taking of the lives of others. Only under the rarest of conditions are we allowed to forfeit life in the name of religion. Even when warfare and conquest are justified in the Jewish religion, life comes first. We are commanded to seek diplomatic means of dealing with our differences and we only go to war when all other alternatives have been exhausted.

What’s more, the Israelites who were of drafting age were obligated to bring a half shekel offering to the temple once a year as “an atonement,” possibly to remind the Israelite soldiers that even when warfare is necessary as it sometimes is, it is only seen as a necessary evil. We don’t kill and we don’t allow ourselves to be killed in the name of religion. Death is not something we idealize or romanticize.

As with all things in the Jewish religion there are exceptions….

There are three exceptions to the mandate to preserve life: bloodshed, sexual immorality, and idolatry. Given a choice we are supposed to allow ourselves to be killed rather than commit these sins. Even then, the Torah does not say that we should kill others who do not live up to our standards or beliefs – It says simply that we should die rather than commit these heinous crimes ourselves.

By the same token, we are not pacifists either. The Torah not only permits but mandates self defense. We are told. “If someone tries to kill you, rise up and kill them first.” Out of our deep respect for life we are told to preserve our lives when it is endangered by others. Judaism is a pragmatic religion in this regard

Of course, the Torah is not without bloodshed and warfare. Anyone who has read the Bible knows this. In Parshat Eikev and elsewhere in the Torah we are told in no uncertain terms that the people of Israel were to conquer the land of Canaan, that they were to wipe out its inhabitants so that they did not serve as a snare, seducing the Israelites to worship idols. “You shall consume all the inhabitants that the Lord your God delivers to you, showing them no pity.” Those are harsh words, aren’t they! Yet Maimonides and others made it clear that the mitzvah of conquest only applied in biblical times and not in our own day. War in the name of religion is anathema to the Jewish religion. The Bible is the first word but not the final word on this topic.

Interestingly, even here the Bible appears to be somewhat ambivalent about the use of violence in the conquest of the land. Even though the Book of Joshua suggests that the conquest took place in one violent campaign, the Torah seems to recognize that this was not to be the case. The Torah says, “The Lord your God will dislodge the peoples before you little by little; you will not be able to put an end to them at once, lest wild beast multiply to your hurt.

Commenting on this verse, an early twentieth century scholar by the name of Rabbi Israel of Modzhitz remarks that it seems strange that God would be concerned about the land of Canaan being overrun by wild beasts during the Israelite conquest. After all, if God could help the people conquer the land, why couldn’t God help them overcome wild animals that might result from this? Rabbi Israel suggested that this rule was included in the Torah to protect the people of Israel from themselves. The land should be conquered slowly, Rabbi Israel points out, in order to help the Israelites not become indifferent to the horror of war. He suggests that if the people conquered the land too quickly, they would become callous and blood thirsty. They would become like wild beasts. Therefore, God told them that they would conquer the land a little at a time so that they would not become wild animals in the land.

This week we were reminded of how easily human beings can turn into wild beasts. The plot to blow up several airliners full of innocent people was truly horrifying. It represents not only a cult of death that has become a disturbing element in the Muslim world today but a total lack of any concern for life.

I don’t believe that this plot typifies the Islamic religion. I do believe, however, that it is unfortunately an all too prevalent phenomena in the world today and represents those who choose to embrace death and not life. With each incident the ante is raised for more death and more dramatic destruction. There are those who choose to interpret Islam as a cult of death rather than a religion of life.

How else are we to describe people who choose to hide in the neighborhoods of Beirut and Tyre in an effort to hide behind women and children? How do we respond to people who fire katusha rockets indiscriminately at the towns and cities of Israel in an effort to kill and maim innocent civilians? The present battle is not about borders or diplomatic disagreements but a war of blind hatred in which Hezbollah wants nothing more than the destruction of Israel even if it must sacrifice tens of thousands of Lebanese civilians in reaching its goal. Israel does what it has to it and it takes no pleasure in having to go to war or defend its borders. Is there anger and cruelty among the Israelis? I am sure there is – but this is not a policy.

What is the world to do in the face of such madness? How is Israel to defend its borders in the face of such callous cruelty? How can we defend ourselves against such violence and danger without getting sucked in and becoming just as violent and angry?

These are difficult questions. I would hope that we would learn an important lesson from Rabbi Israel of Medzhitz: we must avoid allowing wild beasts from roaming through the land – we must avoid becoming wild beasts ourselves. Israel must do what it must do to create secure borders. Yet we know that with every act of violence, with every missile Israel must fire she becomes a little more callous and immune to the horror of what is happening in the Middle East. This is the greatest tragedy of all.

It is times like this that make me think of Golda Meir’s words to Anwar Sadat: “We can forgive you for killing our sons. But we will never forgive you for making us kill yours.” She also said: “We do not rejoice in victories. We rejoice when a new kind of cotton is grown and when strawberries bloom in Israel.”

Israel does not want its children to become hateful. In the end I would like to believe that that is what makes Israel different from its neighbors. Of course Israel has made its mistakes over the years but in the end Israel simply wants to be left alone. Sadly Israel must continue to fight this battle as long as it takes to secure its northern border. We can only pray that the horror that Israel faces will turn her into country of wild beasts. We must stand beside Israel and support her at this time.

We too must deal with the threat of terror but we must not become so angry and indiscriminate in our anger that we no longer can distinguish between people of good will and those who mean us harm. We must pray that we have the strength not only to defend ourselves but not succumb to the madness that seems to be overtaking our world. We need to pray:

Adonai Oz L’amo yiten Adonai yivarekh et amo bashalom.

May God give all his people strength; and may God bless them with peace.

Shabbat Shalom