Religious Zionism, Jewish Law, and the Morality of War

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Eisen
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Legitimate Authority ◽  
Jewish Law ◽  
Jewish State ◽  
Moral Issues ◽  
Law And Ethics ◽  
Present Book ◽  
History Of ◽  
State Of Israel ◽  
Morality Of War

When the state of Israel was established in 1948, it was immediately thrust into war, and rabbis in the religious Zionist community were challenged with constructing a body of Jewish law to deal with this turn of events. Laws had to be “constructed” here because Jewish law had developed mostly during prior centuries when Jews had no state or army, and therefore it contained little material on war. The rabbis in the religious Zionist camp responded to this challenge by creating a substantial corpus of laws on war, and they did so with remarkable ingenuity and creativity. The work of these rabbis represents a fascinating chapter in the history of Jewish law and ethics, but it has attracted relatively little attention from academic scholars. The purpose of the present book is therefore to bring some of their work to light. It examines how five of the leading rabbis in the religious Zionist community dealt with key moral issues in the waging of war. Chapters are devoted to R. Abraham Isaac Kook, R. Isaac Halevi Herzog, R. Eliezer Waldenberg, R. Sha’ul Yisraeli, and R. Shlomo Goren. The moral issues examined include the question of who is a legitimate authority for initiating a war, why Jews in a modern Jewish state can be drafted to fight on its behalf, and whether the killing of enemy civilians is justified. Other issues examined include how the laws of war as formulated by religious Zionist rabbis compares to those of international law.

War in Jewish Law before Zionism

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Eisen
Keyword(s):  
Legitimate Authority ◽  
Jewish Law ◽  
Laws Of War ◽  
Jewish State ◽  
Moral Issues ◽  
Preemptive War ◽  
Land Of Israel

This chapter provides the necessary background for understanding the positions of the five rabbis on war by describing the material in medieval Halakhah dealing with this topic in greater detail. The basis for discussion is Maimonides’ treatment of laws of war in his Mishneh Torah, the most important source for laws in all of Halakhah. Also included is a discussion of Nahmanides’ highly influential position on the imperative to conquer the land of Israel, as well as a discussion of preemptive war which is not addressed by Maimonides. Finally, the chapter gives a more in-depth discussion than that presented in the first chapter about the key moral issues at the center of the study: which types of war in medieval Halakhah are still applicable, who has legitimate authority to wage war, whether a modern Jewish state may conscript soldiers, and whether Jewish soldiers may kill enemy civilians even accidentally.

Anti-Semitism, Unhappy Consciousness and the Social Construction of the Palestinian Nakba

2012 ◽  
Vol 49 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 397-427 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yakub Halabi
Keyword(s):  
Social Constructivism ◽  
Balance Of Power ◽  
Jewish State ◽  
Anti Semitism ◽  
Socially Constructed ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of ◽  
Palestinian Refugee ◽  
Refugee Problem ◽  
State Of Israel

The history of Zionism is composed of two narratives: One is the history of anti-Semitism that begot Zionism, and the other is the history of the Zionist–Palestinian conflict that begot the Palestinian refugee problem (the Nakba). So far, these two narratives have been investigated in parallel and, thus, they were kept artificially disconnected from each other. The history of the Palestinian catastrophe has been examined mainly in the light of the 1947–1949 events that culminated in the 1948 War and the birth of the Nakba. This narrative ignores the identity of the Zionists, especially the link between anti-Semitism and the Nakba. Many Israeli scholars claim that the territorial demands of the two groups had ushered in the 1948 War, the outcome of which was determined by the balance of power between the Zionist forces and the Arabs. Based on theories of social constructivism, this essay claims, however, that the Nakba and the establishment of the state of Israel are a socially constructed enterprise that reflected the shared ideas, the collective unhappy consciousness and the identity of Zionists and their protracted history in Europe. Anti-Semitism shaped the world views of Zionists and their desire to establish a Jewish state on the total area of mandatory Palestine—the area west of the Jordan River under British administration—in which the Jews aspired to live alone with themselves. Finally, in order to uproot the ‘diaspora mentality’ from the Jewish newcomers to Palestine and to construct a Jewish nationality, the Zionists had excluded the Palestinians from the Hebrew labour market.

Beyond the Nation-State

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dmitry Shumsky
Keyword(s):  
Central And Eastern Europe ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Late Nineteenth Century ◽  
Nation State ◽  
Jewish State ◽  
Zionist Movement ◽  
Theodor Herzl ◽  
History Of ◽  
Late Nineteenth ◽  
State Of Israel

The Jewish nation-state has often been thought of as Zionism's end goal. This bracing history of the idea of the Jewish state in modern Zionism, from its beginnings in the late nineteenth century until the establishment of the state of Israel, challenges this deeply rooted assumption. In doing so, the book complicates the narrative of the Zionist quest for full sovereignty, provocatively showing how and why the leaders of the pre-state Zionist movement imagined, articulated, and promoted theories of self-determination in Palestine either as part of a multinational Ottoman state (1882–1917), or in the framework of multinational democracy. In particular, the book focuses on the writings and policies of five key Zionist leaders from the Habsburg and Russian empires in central and eastern Europe in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries: Leon Pinsker, Theodor Herzl, Ahad Ha'am, Ze'ev Jabotinsky, and David Ben-Gurion to offer a very pointed critique of Zionist historiography.

“Recapturing” the “Other”: Jewish Laws of War and International Law

2013 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-65
Author(s):  
Betina Kuzmarov
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Direct Consequence ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
The Other ◽  
Jewish Law ◽  
Complex Relationship ◽  
Laws Of War ◽  
History Of ◽  
History Of International Law ◽  
The Relationship

The story would recapture the trace of Judaism, particularly the mystical Jew, in the early literature of international law—I think most readily of Gentilis' obsession with Judaism—a Judaism that seems at once the law that revelation and redemption replace and the mysticism that law and state refuse. Paradoxically enough, we find here our own complex relationship between law and religion exactly mirrored in the relationship between Christianity and Judaism.This article examines the relationship between the Jewish laws of war and international law. As Kennedy notes in the opening quote, one way of understanding the relationship between Jewish laws of war and international law is as part of the relationship between international law and its “other.” Kennedy defines Jewish law as mystical, and in so doing he asserts that Jewish law is different in form than state law/international law. Kennedy's opposition of Jewish law and international law is not accidental. It is a direct consequence of the history of international law. As Mutua has noted “[i]nternational law claims to be universal, although its creators have unambiguously asserted its European and Christian origins.” From this point of view, international law has “universalized” its particular origins with the consequence that any non-European or non-Christian tradition is not universal and is the “other.” This fact leads Kennedy to argue that international law has ignored (among many other things) the traces of religion, mysticism and Judaism in its history in its quest to claim secular universality.

Security Council

1960 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 576-577 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Security Council ◽  
Crimes Against Humanity ◽  
Direct Result ◽  
Religious Discrimination ◽  
Draft Resolution ◽  
History Of ◽  
Adolf Eichmann ◽  
The Government ◽  
State Of Israel

From its 865th through its 868th meetings, the Security Council considered the claim of Argentina that its sovereign rights had been violated by the illicit and clandestine transfer of Adolf Eichmann from Argentine territory to the territory of the state of Israel. After the representative of Israel had been invited to participate without vote in the deliberations of the Council, Mr. Amadeo (Argentina), opened the discussion by reviewing the history of cordial relations between the two countries, noting in addition Argentina's traditional attitude of opposition to racial and religious discrimination and persecution. Argentina had brought the case to the UN, he said, only after exhausting all the possibilities of direct bilateral negotiation. While Argentina did not defend the crimes of which Eichmann had been accused, nor did it seek immunity for him, it could not allow a crime to be judged as a direct result of the violation of Argentina's rights; thus this was not the case of Adolf Eichmann and his crimes against humanity, but rather the case of a country claiming justice after an act which, if it were to be repeated, might shake the very foundations of international order. It was in this light that the Argentine delegate presented a draft resolution to the Security Council whereby the Council would, inter alia, request the government of Israel to proceed to an appropriate reparation in conformity with the Charter of the UN and the rules of international law.

7. Zionism in a Jewish state, 1948–1967

2016 ◽  
pp. 64-80
Author(s):  
Michael Stanislawski
Keyword(s):  
Real Life ◽  
Jewish State ◽  
Arab Population ◽  
Declaration Of Independence ◽  
The Real ◽  
History Of ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
State Of Israel

After the declaration of independence, the history of Zionism became entangled with the history of the new State of Israel. But Zionism as an ideology continued to evolve. Challenges for the new state under the leadership of David Ben-Gurion included: the local Arab population; immigration; differences between the Ashkenazic and Mizrachi Jews; schooling; and ongoing squabbles between the Labor Zionists and the Revisionists. Zionism had to face the real-life implications of its definition of the Jews as a nation and not a religion. The “Who is a Jew?” debate continued to erode the consensus of what it meant to be a Jew in a secular Jewish state.

Introduction

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-23
Author(s):  
Alexander Kaye
Keyword(s):  
Political Thought ◽  
Legal Pluralism ◽  
Religious Studies ◽  
Israeli Society ◽  
Modern World ◽  
Jewish Law ◽  
History Of ◽  
State Of Israel ◽  
Society Today ◽  
Legal Centralism

The introduction to The Invention of Jewish Theocracy introduces the idea of the halakhic state, which is the belief that the State of Israel should be governed by traditional Jewish law (halakha). It offers a definition and history of the religious Zionist community, whose leaders are the main proponents of this belief, and provides an overview of the idea’s origins and development. The chapter proposes a framework and methodology, which is based on legal and political thought, and especially the ideas of legal centralism and legal pluralism. It lays out some of the main arguments of the book and its implications for Israeli society today, as well as for key debates in the fields of history and religious studies, particularly debates over theories of secularization in the modern world.

The Invention of Jewish Theocracy

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Kaye
Keyword(s):  
Religious Tradition ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Israeli Society ◽  
Culture War ◽  
Jewish Law ◽  
Law And Politics ◽  
History Of ◽  
Civil Courts ◽  
State Of Israel ◽  
Common Understanding

The Invention of Jewish Theocracy is about Jewish religious approaches to law and politics in the State of Israel. It uncovers the forgotten history of religious Zionists who tried to create a “halakhic state” by making traditional Jewish law (halakha) into Israel’s official law. This endeavour brought about a conflict over Israel’s legal framework with the majority of Israeli Jews who wanted Israel to be a secular democracy. This struggle over legal authority became the backdrop for a pervasive culture war, whose consequences are felt throughout Israeli society until today. It has also shaped religious attitudes to many aspects of Israeli society and politics, created an ongoing antagonism with the state’s civil courts, and led to the creation of a new and increasingly powerful state rabbinate. The book uncovers the surprising truth, which runs counter to the common understanding, that the religious Zionist ideology of legal supremacy emerged no earlier than the middle of the twentieth century. Even more notably, the book shows that, far from being endemic to Jewish religious tradition as its proponents claim, the idea of the halakhic state borrows heavily from modern European jurisprudence.

Secular Law as the “King's Law”: Zionist Halakhah and Legal Theory

AJS Review ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 43 (01) ◽  
pp. 47-66
Author(s):  
Itzhak Brand
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Legal Theory ◽  
The State ◽  
Private International Law ◽  
Jewish State ◽  
Conflict Of Laws ◽  
The Third ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
State Of Israel

What is the possibility of secular law in the religious Jewish state? This article will focus this question on the attitude of Zionist halakhic decisors toward the secular law of the land when that land is the State of Israel. Are these decisors willing to recognize Israeli law as falling into the halakhic category of “the King's Law” (mishpat ha-melekh)? Halakhic literature offers various justifications for the king's authority. The first justification is philosophical and jurisprudential; the second is political; and the third is legal in nature. Various justifications for the King's Law yield different models of its force and authority, which contrast in the relationship they posit between the King's Law and Torah Law. This article examines this question from the perspective of the legal discussion of the relationship between competing systems of law (private international law and issues related to the conflict of laws).

B'nai B'rith on the European continent after World War Two

1992 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 101-126
Author(s):  
Hans Levy
Keyword(s):  
Second World War ◽  
The State ◽  
Jewish Organization ◽  
World War Two ◽  
World War ◽  
European Continent ◽  
History Of ◽  
State Of Israel ◽  
Second World

The focus of this paper is on the oldest international Jewish organization founded in 1843, B’nai B’rith. The paper presents a chronicle of B’nai B’rith in Continental Europe after the Second World War and the history of the organization in Scandinavia. In the 1970's the Order of B'nai B'rith became B'nai B'rith international. B'nai B'rith worked for Jewish unity and was supportive of the state of Israel.

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