From the Cyber Torah Archives

"When you go out to war on your enemies" (Dt 21:10) We like to talk about a God of peace, a God who teaches us to "Love your neighbor as yourself." We like to focus on the end of this parasha, where we are commanded to separate gleanings for the poor. We prefer to gloss over rules about war and its sanctioned unpleasant outcomes. Yet the Torah deals with the real world. It copes with humans as we are.

"When you capture a women" and want to keep her, you must cut off her hair, you must dress her in plain, ugly clothing, and you must wait a month before having relations with her. People can be overcome by their passions: there is no reason to deny it. I would rather the Torah say "Don't take captive women to be your sexual objects." But such a Torah flies in the face of human nature. People would simply ignore such a Torah. Instead: take your passion and regulate it. Legalize and tax it. Place barriers in the face of a moment of lust so that in most cases the woman eventually goes free. Acknowledge human desires but control them. The Torah has to deal with war and violence because they are part of the human condition. To ignore that part of ourselves that we try to forget in our safe civilized American comfort is to ignore what happens to people when they are pushed into a corner, when they lose their choices and their options. It would make the Torah relevant only in peaceful safe happy conditions.

Bombs do go off in what should be safe areas. Innocent people get killed. Further, the commitment to peace by those who should be our partners in negotiation appears weak to non-existent. Is Israel white as snow? Absolutely not. Settlements, particularly in Jerusalem, are inflammatory. At the same time, Israel has stated clearly that Jerusalem will remain Jewish and Israeli. We too are human which means we too bear responsibility. Yet building settlements in Israeli controlled areas cannot be equated with killing innocent people. Opening tunnels in the Old City is not equivalent to a continued commitment to the destruction of Israel in the PLO charter.

Ki tetze l'milkhama, when you go out to war. Certain realities call for harsh responses. Closing the territories does damage the Palestinian economy and move peace further away. In an ideal world, filled only with loving people and a loving God, such measures would prove unnecessary. That is not the world we live, nor the Torah we were given. Israel must deal with the Palestinians in a way that ensures Israeli security. Protecting their citizens has to be the first duty Israeli, or any, society. Until such a time as the Palestinians stop the violence, Israel cannot do business with them. Peace is only a word. The Palestinians must demonstrate through action their commitment. Yehi Ratzon Milphanekhah, May it be Your will, My God and God of my Ancestors, to place a true commitment to peace in the hearts of Israelis and of Palestinians. Bring an end to the violence and destruction before it engulfs all of Israel. Somehow bring about the miracle that Jew and Arab, Palestinian and Jew, can live together in peace, connected economically and socially. Until that time, guard Israel and watch over Jerusalem in peace.