Violence or Restraint?- If Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai’s approach can be taken to represent the attitude of "Chazal," the account in Masechet Gittin (56a) seems to indicate a marked reticence with regard to violent behavior against a superior force, when there is little if any reason to believe that Hashem would intervene on the side of the Jews. There we find an account of a conflict between the Rabbis, who seem to have advocated a policy of "passive resistance" against the Romans. They were waiting, hopefully, "ad yaavor zaam," "until the wrath (of Hashem) would pass," caused by the repentance of the Jewish People. On the other side were the "Biryonim," a group who basically wanted to "fight it out" with the Romans. Unfortunately, the "Biryonim" destroyed the provisions which would have enabled Yerushalayim to withstand a 21-year siege. The starving Jews were forced to fight the powerful Roman legions, with the expected tragic result. What does our Parshah have to say on the subject of violence versus restraint? The opening verses seem to advocate the idea of "kanaut," zealotry, in their praise of Pinchas, for his killing of Zimri and Cuzbi "in the act" of their public display of immorality. But the Talmud rules that in a case of a "Jew who is publicly intimate with a non-Jewish woman, where a zealot is permitted to kill the perpetrator," that "Bet Din," the Jewish Court, would not rule in favor of carrying out the mission. Further, if the sinner were to overcome and kill the zealot, he would not be prosecuted for murder (RAMBAM; Issurei Biah, 12:4-5). And the Talmud goes so far as to say that Pinchas acted "against the spirit of the Rabbis" (Yerushalmi, Sanhedrin; 9,7) And still further, where it indicates that Pinchas would have been excommunicated, had G-d Himself not intervened and promised him His Eternal Covenant of Peace. Another case in which there seems to have been an unresolved conflict between "kanaut" and restraint, is in Bereshit, where Shimon and Levi destroyed the entire male population of Shechem, because of the behavior of their prince towards the brothers’ sister, Dinah. When Yaakov protests that his name has been defamed among the nations, Shimon and Levi respond that they could not tolerate their sister being treated as a prostitute. Both Yaakov and his sons are right! Who but Yaakov himself could better represent the spirit of "Yisrael Sava," the classic Jewish spirit? Yet the Torah does not record a counter-argument by Yaakov to theirs. Except that in the "Birchot Yaakov," the "Blessings" of Yaakov to his sons, he appears to pronounce his verdict on this type of behavior, of taking justice violently into one’s own hands: "Into their conspiracy may my soul not enter! With their grouping, let my soul not unite, for in their wrath they murdered (innocent) people.and their uncontrollable will caused them to maim (Yoseph, who is called) an ox. Cursed is their rage, for it is intense, and their wrath, for it is too harsh; I will separate them within Jacob, and I will disperse them in Israel." (Bereshit, 49: 5-7) In modern times, it seems that there were instances where there had to be a split-off from the conventional armed forces, to accomplish the historic purpose of founding the State of Israel. "Lechi" and "Irgun" had to battle the British "underground." When the British were "out of the picture," the underground forces joined with the conventional, to form the Israel Defense Force. With the verdict of the latest Israeli Election "in," and Ehud Barack, May Hashem help him, in the seat of the Prime Minister, it remains to be seen how he will deal with the Arab "conventional" and "unconventional" forces. Before writing another letter, let me state clearly that it is hardly possible to use the same language to describe their fighters versus ours. Because what David HaMelech wrote in Tehilim (120:5-6) remains true now as then, "Woe unto me, for I live with Meshech, that I dwell among the tents of Kedar. Long has my soul dwelt with those who hate peace. I am for peace - but when I speak, they are for war." Rabbi Pinchas Frankel Rabbi Frankel is an Educational Coordinator at the OU |
