[Avodah] border issues.....pikauch nefesh??

[Hankman]

RZS wrote:
> Not "notwithstanding" but "because of".  They are protecting the rest of
> the yishuv; their presence makes it more difficult for the enemy to attack
> the rest of the Jews.

Your assertion that "They are protecting the rest of the yishuv" is not
at all obvious or a forgone conclusion. The location at which they may
plant themselves may in fact be detrimental to the overall safety of
the Jews in the Yishuv. They may take up a spot too thinly held and/or
too sparsely populated that will only put their lives at further risk
as well as that of others (IDF) who may be called upon to defend and or
extract them to safety from the untenable position they chose to stake
out. But they do not, I think, see it as a position with its primary goal
of defending Jews as much as an attempt at securing or defending part
of Israel within its gevulim, whichever they may consider relevant in
our time. I think that even many of those religious zionists who move to
the shetachim in the more heavily populated areas near Yerushalayim, may
share the same primary goal as their confrere who move further out, their
primary goal is staking out parts of E"Y rather than protecting Jews.



RMB wrote:
> In which case, it's a matter for generals and perhaps politicians (if you
> can find one you feel comfortable assuming can give an objective answer)
> to decide, nothing to do with qedushah, with historical or legal borders,
> etc...
....
> I like the idea of this, since it would make such milkhamos far easier to
> understand in terms of native (intuitive) ethics.

I think we are on the same wave length here. Whereas the issues of defending unclear present halachik borders can be an extremely complex issue and subject to much doubt. Such "doubt" or internal dispute can easily become a morale eroding question for those in the front lines and sap some of that much needed and essential commodity.

Kol Tuv
Chaim Manaster