Halacha and War
A powerful video from an Israeli rosh yeshiva, Rabbi Tamir Granot, has recently attracted a lot of attention. Besides losing his own son in the fighting, R’ Granot is convinced that there’s no halachic or moral excuse for a Torah-loyal Jew to avoid participating in the current war.
In the video, R’ Granot references a Chazon Ish (אורח חיים קיב:ו) that fleshes out the precise halachic status of Jewish wars. I think it would be worthwhile discussing that Chazon Ish here.
Why? I’ve posted already about people who willfully misrepresent Torah sources to support political positions, and I’ve never managed to make my peace with the ongoing flow of deeply embarrassing “vertelach” circulating on the topic. So a look at some clear halachic sources might be welcome alternative.
The Chazon Ish begins by defining the three categories of war:
Optional wars (מלחמת רשות) like those where King David expanded Israel’s borders. Laws permitting individual classes of people (בונאי בתים ונושאי נשים) to return home before battle apply. And only here would we ignore the rule עוסק מצוה פטור ממצוה אחרת.
Original wars of conquest (מלחמת יהושע). No one is allowed to leave the battle and we do apply עוסק מצוה פטור ממצוה אחרת - meaning, no other mitzva would override your participation in the battle.
Preventing enemies from attacking (כותים דלא ליתי). Here’s where the dispute in the Mishna Sotah 8:7 actually applies. Rabbi Yehuda rules that participants are absolved from all other mitzvos, while the Chachamim hold that other mitzvos could claim priority. They agree, however, that the specified classes may return from this kind of battle. (Strangely, Rambam only mentions this category in his commentary to the Mishna in Sotah and not in Mishna Torah. Even though the Lechem Mishna attempts to explain the anomaly, the Chazon Ish remains unsatisfied.)
The Chazon Ish then explains:
“And from the Rambam in his commentary to the Mishna it seems that [the ‘preventing enemies from attacking’ category exists] when they (enemies) murder Jews from time to time even if they’re not launching a formal war, but they’re not frightened of the Jews and individual Jews go out to kill, weaken, and impose the fear of Israel on them. It’s hard to understand why the Rabbanan don’t consider this a (war of) mitzva. But if (the enemy) actually comes to battle with the Jews, then everyone agrees it’s an obligatory war [i.e., the second category] and there’s no permission to send designated classes home from the battlefield.”
The Chazon Ish further explains that the Mishna “even a chosson must abandon his chamber to go out to war” not only applies to wars where the chosson himself is needed for the war effort...
“But it’s applicable even when (the army) requires only a finite number (of soldiers. The army has the right) to take even a chosson from his chamber, for no rights of return (from the battlefield) apply to a mitzva war. And even in an optional war, someone can only be absolved when military success doesn’t depend on him…but if an individual himself is needed, he must go out to the aid of his brothers.”
R’ Granot has certainly made an excellent point.
It’s probably also worth remembering a Gemara (Pesachim 50a):
No man can stand within the same borders of those killed by the enemy (הרוגי מלכות). Who are they (i.e., הרוגי מלכות)? If you’re referring to Rabbi Akiva and his colleagues (who were executed by the enemy), did they have no other merit than that they were executed? Rather, this refers to those killed in Lod (Rashi: they volunteered to stand in for the death of a Greek princess to protect the Jewish community).
In my youth, in the context of this Gemara, I recall hearing and reading multiple how Jews - even of questionable halachic observance - who volunteered and gave their lives to defend their brothers had achieved the very paradigm of קדוש השם.
I don’t seem to have heard this Gemara referenced for a long time. I wonder if it’s because it doesn’t fit some people’s narratives.
As someone who serves, sometimes proudly, I will say that it's clear to me that the Army leaders want Haredim to draft Haredim, but they don't want Haredim in the army. That is to say, they resent Haredim for not serving, but don't want the army to be taken over by people with real Torah values. The basic Torah values for fighting a war are despised by the IDF leaders. Their obsession with pushing women into every unit of the IDF is completely against the Torah idea of kedusha. There are many cases I personally know of where there is an all male combat unit with a female paramedic or doctor. What is the purpose of this? Not combat effectiveness. Until the values of the leaders radically change, I certainly understand Haredi hesitation to serve. I believe the numbers will steadily increase though as the Haredim become more integrated and the IDF increasingly relies on religious soldiers to function.
When we talk about the Chazon Ish's opinion on this matter, we can't just ignore the Chazon Ish's opinion on the very issue at hand, whether yeshiva students should be drafted.