[Avodah] Jews at war [was: R' Angel & Geirus Redux]

[T613K at aol.com]

In  Avodah Digest, Vol 25, Issue 107 dated 3/24/2008 "Michael Makovi"  
<mikewinddale at gmail.com>
writes:


>>The idea of Jews fighting each other for Germany and  England (or for
the Union and Confederacy in the American Civil War) is  absolutely
contrary to Judaism. B'vadai (IMHO), if I personally feel the  German
or the British cause is true and moral and the other side is in  the
wrong and immoral, then I can fight for it, and the fact that  there
are Jews on the opposing side is irrelevant - IMHO - I am not  fighting
for Germany or Britain per se, but rather for whatever moral  cause
Britain or Germany represents, and any Jews I am fighting are  ones
that are opposing what is moral....


Obviously, if the  country's cause is immoral, then it is irrelevant
whether I will fighting  Jews - if it is wrong, then fighting for it is
to fight Judaism itself  regardless of whether I am fighting against
any actual Jews on the opposing  side. Therefore, I am assuming a war
with no moral claim for or against -  you are fighting for a morally
ambiguous cause, solely because your country  is, and you are fighting
against Jews on the other side - this a Jew cannot  do.

If the war is moral, then you are fighting for a moral cause and  any
opposing Jews are irrelevant, and if the war is immoral, then you  are
fighting Judaism itself, and any opposing Jews are  irrelevant.....<<






>>>>>
All of this exquisitely sensitive "if this, then this but if that, then  
that" reasoning is a pure luxury possible only in an exceptionally prosperous  and 
exceptionally free country like modern-day America -- the first great  world 
power in history to give its citizens a /choice/ as to whether or not  they 
want to be in the army.  
 
In every other country that Jews have ever lived in -- including America  
during the Civil War and WWII -- Jews were drafted along with all other  
citizens, and were not given a choice, and one does hear stories of Jews  facing each 
other on opposite sides of a battle.  (Generally Jewish loyalty  to other Jews 
trumped loyalty to whatever country's uniform they happened  to be wearing -- 
quite properly -- and a Jew who heard an enemy soldier recite  Shema Yisrael 
would hold his fire.)
 
No posek that I've ever heard of ruled that Jews who are citizens of a  given 
country must make an independent judgement as to whether their country is  
fighting a just cause before agreeing to be drafted, or must allow themselves to 
 be imprisoned or executed as draft dodgers if they are unconvinced of their  
country's justice.  The Chofetz Chaim wrote a sefer for Jewish soldiers  
drafted into whatever army -- it's called Machane Yisrael -- and afaik it does  
not say that a Jew must be a draft dodger if he thinks his country is  wrong.  
(OTOH it goes without saying that any Jew who could  get out of serving in the 
Russian or Polish army would get out of it --  because these armies were rife 
with anti-Semitism and forced shmad.)


--Toby  Katz
=============





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