A two-volume work has just been published. Milhemet Mitzvah: Editors Aviad Hacohen, Yitzchak Avi Roness and Menachem Butler. The volumes are: Milhemet Mitzvah, Vol. 1: Halakhic Foundations, Religious Authority, and Military Service in Israel’s War of Independence; and Milhemet Mitzvah, Vol. 2: Religious Leadership and Halakhic Responsibility in the Military Service Debate. Edited by Aviad Hacohen, Yitzchak Avi Roness and the indefatigable Menachem Butler who serves as Program Fellow for Jewish Legal Studies at Harvard Law School. The beauty of these books is that they provide the documentation our tradition has amassed over the years to support our right to wage a defensive war halachically.
In the Christian world there is a concept of a Just War . The Catholic Church Just War Theory, based on the writings of St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, outlines the conditions under which war can be morally justifiable. It emphasizes the importance of justice and the need to minimize harm while also recognizing the right and even obligation to defend against aggression.
Even so, within the Christian world there are groups like the Quakers, who reject any war. And there are conscientious objectors and of course followers of men like Ghandi who advocated passive resistance and recommended that the Jews should not try to resist Hitler but accept their fate.
Judaism has no such a pacifist concept. We do have the principle of Milchemet Mitzvah, an obligatory war. Once upon a time, three and half thousand years ago this included conquering Canaan and fighting Amalek. Since then, some argue it no longer applies. The majority however believe it refers nowadays exclusively to wars of self-defence against external aggression and self-defence.
Israel has been at war ever since its foundation in 1948. It has been surrounded by enemies both state and non-state, who have vowed quite explicitly to destroy it. And although some of its former enemies and several Muslim States have made peace treaties with her, there remain organizations, militias, and national armies whose unabashed declared aim is to annihilate the Jewish State. Even if there are ceasefires, they in no way resolve the fundamental and persistent threat.
We can debate endlessly whether Israel or the Palestinians and their supporters were or are responsible for the fact that there has been no peace treaty to end the 1948 war. Or who was responsible for all attempts at a peaceful compromise that have failed. But what October 7th reiterated (and Iran constantly repeats publicly) is that continuing aggression against Israel proves the determination to continue the fighting and poses an existential threat to Israel’s existence.
If other people, religions or ideologies have a different perspective, that is their business. Which does not mean we should not engage, co-operate, debate and seek resolution. Only that we have the inalienable right morally to pursue a war against aggression.
From a religious point of view these volumes are by far the most impressive and thorough explanation of what a Milchemet Mitzvah is, and the obligation on us all to be involved in fighting it at some level or another. The core comes from the first Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of the State of Israel, the incomparable Yitzchak Isaac Halevi Herzog (1888-1959). The first volume includes a compilation of Rav Herzog’s responsa on the issues of a Milchemet Mitzvah and associated themes. For this alone these volumes deserve praise. But they also include a distinguished array of scholars, rabbis and thinkers who have contributed to the debate, that I really believe this should put the issue firmly to bed.
However, we Jews love to argue, debate and disagree. And there is a huge swathe of Charedi opinion that rejects the use of the term Milchemet Mitzvah to describe wars today. And questions whether one is obliged to join the Israel Defence Forces. Few issues divide Israeli society more deeply.
This is an emotional issue because the Charedi World, almost annihilated by the Holocaust was so determined to rebuild itself and recreate a community of thousands of dedicated scholars at almost any cost. But the scenes of Charedi hooligans abusing soldiers who may be risking their lives to protect them, or supporting the army on wartime, are shocking. This simply reflects the extent to which a whole community has been utterly spoilt and indulged. Many of the older generation of leaders have been so traumatized by the Holocaust that they are still mired in a mindset that has long lost its moral authority. I pray and hope the mood change we have seen within the Charedi community in the aftermath of the October 7th war, will be the start of a new era.
Despite my implying that much of the Charedi world has closed its mind to these views, these publications of religious sources and arguments might just have a positive impact. I hope that some generous benefactors will make them widely available to the next generation of Charedi young men who will respect their obligation to the whole of the people of Israel and not repeat the mistakes of the previous generation.
The pain we are suffering from this conflict affects us all in our different ways. And I can only end with the well-known words of Kohelet ( Ecclesiastes) in the Bible
There is a time for everything under the heavens
A time to give birth and a time to die…A time to kill and a time to heal
A time for love and a time for hate, a time for war and a time for peace.
Jeremy Rosen May 2025
PS. Note the difference between my usage of Milchemet Mitzvah in contrast to these books’ titles of Milhemet Mitzvah. It’s purely subjective and I just like doing it my way.
