Ethics of Our Fighters has
as its background the Jewish reaction to being confronted with the moral
challenges of warfare.
In Ethics of Our Fighters,
Rabbi Shlomo Brody has produced a deeply considered analysis, based upon a
profound understanding of the principles underlying Judaism and Jewish thought,
regarding the ethical dilemmas posed by the sometimes unavoidable need to
engage in warfare. Never was the title of a book more apt or more descriptive
of its contents.
Its conclusions, however, are far
from confined to people engaged in defending Israel or the Jewish people. Like
so much of the civilized world’s view of morality, emanating as it does from
the Torah and associated Jewish thinking, they are universally applicable.
He then adds the following:
The title … is an adaptation of
“Ethics of the Fathers,” the English title of Pirkei Avot, the famous
collection of ethical principles uttered by the leading rabbis whose legal and
related opinions appear in the Talmud. Pirkei Avot’s six chapters of ethical
and moral pronouncements are included in the daily prayer book. Replete with
the wisest of wise counsel as they are, Brody points out that Pirkei Avot has
nonetheless nothing at all to say about the ethics of warfare or the moral and
ethical principles that should be followed in times of conflict.
The reason is not difficult to
deduce. For centuries after the Roman era, the scattered Jewish people simply
did not engage in military matters. The long lacuna came to an end just over
100 years ago, when Jews were caught up in World War I and fought on both
sides, according to the countries in which they lived. Then, starting in the
1920s, in their ancient homeland of Israel, known then as British Mandate
Palestine, Jewish fighters found themselves in armed conflict with local Arabs
who were intent on preventing the League of Nations mandated establishment of a
“national home for the Jewish people.”
I am reluctant to accept that “Pirkei Avot has … nothing at
all to say about the ethics of warfare or the moral and ethical principles that
should be followed in times of conflict”. That misses the point. Pirkei Avot was not compiled as a warriors’ manual. But
this does not mean that nothing our sages taught in that tractate is relevant
to wartime, even today. That’s why I recently posted six pieces on Avot Today
that dealt with what Avot had to say about dealing
with death and bereavement, jumping
to conclusions regarding apparent non-combatants, keeping
one’s temper at times of stress, prayer
at times of war and while in combat, celebrating
victory, and postwar
reconstruction.
Leaving quibbles about the author’s opinions aside, I’m intrigued by this book and its approach to Jewish ethical issues—and when I’ve got hold of a copy and read it for myself, I shall share my thoughts on it with Avot Today readers. If anyone reading this post has already seen the book, I do hope that they will share their thoughts on it too.
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