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War and the Military in Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach's Halakhic

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The Review of Rabbinic Judaism 21 (2018) 134–149 brill.com/rrj War and the Military in Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach’s Halakhic Decisions Amir Mashiach Ariel University of Samaria and Orot Israel College, 19 Weizmann Street, Petach Tikva, Israel, 4955619 [email protected] Abstract Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach (1910–1995) was one of the most influential Halakhic authorities of the twentieth century. Although he was an ultra-Orthodox rabbi, Rabbi Auerbach dealt with the complexity of army and military life. This article shows that he possessed of a clear “operational way of thinking,” reflecting deeply on the unique needs of the military of the Jewish State. Additionally, the article examines various ap- proaches of filling the normative gap in issues of war and the military. Rabbi Auerbach based his specification of the Halakhah on his personal understanding and his own S’vara, that is, Halakhic logic. Keywords Shlomo Zalman Auerbach – Halakhah – laws of war – operational thinking – Shaul Yisraeli – Shlomo Goren Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach (RA, 1910–1995), one of the most influen- tial Halakhic authorities of the twentieth century, for more than forty years headed the Kol Torah yeshiva in Jerusalem.1 He lived in Jerusalem’s Shaarei Chesed, a neighborhood associated with the Yishuv ha-Yashan, the Haredi [ultra-Orthodox] segment of the Jerusalem public. Taken together, these 1 On RA and his philosophy of Halakhah, see Amir Mashiach, Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach’s Halakhic Philosophy in a Dynamic Era of Socio-Technological Transformation (Ramat-Gan: Bar-Ilan University Press, 2013). © koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2018 | doi 10.1163/15700704-12341340Downloaded from Brill.com09/26/2021 08:14:30PM via free access War and the Military in Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach’s 135 things make RA’s Halakhic involvement in military issues and laws pertain- ing to warfare particularly remarkable.2 Rabbi Isaac Kofman, author of Ha- Tzava ka-Halakhah [The Army according to Halakhah], chose RA as the leading Halakhic authority in his work.3 RA read Kofman’s work, making extensive comments that have been preserved dispersed throughout the text. Readers of his Halakhic decisions regarding military issues and laws of warfare will see that, although he was an ultra-Orthodox rabbi with no personal experience of service in a military of any kind, RA nonetheless was possessed of a clear “operational way of thinking.” That is, his Halakhic discourse focusing on the individual Jewish-Israeli IDF soldier, whether in battle or going about his daily routine, is constructed with a sound, objective understanding of lived military reality and its conditions. RA recognized the complexity of army issues and based his specification of the Halakhah on this understanding. An indication of his multifaceted appreciation of the questions arising in connection with the military is that RA not only addressed issues of a soldier’s daily religious life (Orach Chaim) but also dealt with operational military activity. The present article analyzes RA’s Halakhic rulings both from the point of view of content pertaining to military issues and from the point of view of the rulings as such. This is especially called for considering that, as a halakhist, RA seems most closely associated with the Haredi [ultra-Orthodox] segment in Israel, thus oscillating between resistance against and absolute refusal to ac- knowledge the State of Israel and its institutions, including the Israel Defense Forces. Moreover, the ultra-Orthodox in Israel maintain a stance typically 2 Many works have been written on military service, laws of warfare, and Halakhah. The most notable and influential have been: Rabbi Israel Meir Ha-Cohen of Radin (Ha-Chafetz Chaim), Machaneh Yisrael [The Camp of Israel] (Jerusalem, 1941). The work was written for Jewish soldiers forced to serve in non-Jewish armies in Europe. The book does not deal with Jewish soldiers in a Jewish state; Shlomo Min Hahar, Dinei tzava u-milchamah [Laws of the Military and Warfare] (Jerusalem, 1973); Shlomo Goren, Meshiv milchamah [He Who Responds on War] (Jerusalem, 1983); Zecharya Ben Shlomo, Hilkhot tzava [Laws of the Military] (Shaalabim, 1986); Avraham Moshe Avidan, Shabbat u-moed be-tzahal [Sabbath and the Festivals in the IDF] (Jerusalem, 1990); Eliezer Nachum Rabinovitz, Melumadei milchamah [Those Experienced in War] (Maaleh Adumim, 1993); Shlomo Aviner, Hilkhot tzava [Laws of the Military] (Jerusalem, 1994); Zecharya Ben Shlomo, Nohal achid [Unified Regulation] (Shaalabim, 1997); Michael Rubin, ed., Ha-morim ba-keshet [Those Shooting with a Bow] (Kiryat Arba, 1999); Avi Rontski, Ke-chitzim be-yad gibbor [Like Arrows in the Hand of the Strong Man] (Jerusalem, 1996–2006). 3 Isaac Kofman, Ha-tzava ka-Halakhah [The Army according to Halakhah] (Jerusalem, 1992). For the author’s relationship with RA, see pp. 14–15. The Review of Rabbinic Judaism 21 (2018) 134–149 Downloaded from Brill.com09/26/2021 08:14:30PM via free access 136 Mashiach referred to as the Talmudic-defensive ethos.4 That is, the ultra-Orthodox or Haredi sector is opposed to resorting to organized use of force as a means of solving any problems whatsoever; this implies that the ultra-Orthodox do not support armed undertakings of any kind. This is why there is no Haredi Halakhic authority taking part in the Halakhic discourse devoted to issues of warfare or the army. These questions are entirely the domain ruled by rab- bis from the Religious Zionist fold, who maintain a very different ethos—the biblical-offensive.5 This is precisely why RA’s involvement in these issues is of particular interest. Not only did he work together with Rabbi Kofman; he also propounded views that, as I will show, are even more far-reaching Halakhically than the ones put forth by the rabbis of the Israeli military. RA did not assume any clear-cut stance vis-à-vis the State of Israel; even so, his Halakhic rulings suggest that he acknowledged the sovereignty of the state and municipal authorities in Israel.6 He goes so far as to ascribe Halakhic status to these sovereign institutions, even calling the government of Israel “Malkhut Yisrael,” or Kingdom of Israel.7 This is not a mere emotional gesture or burst of enthusiasm; it formally endows the regime in power with Halakhic authority. For instance, as the Kingdom of Israel, the secular government of the State of Israel is authorized to determine the borders of the Land of Israel, Eretz Yisrael, with the several Halakhic implications that this has.8 Yet even recognizing the State does not necessarily entail embracing ag- gressive military policy, considering especially that this approach is rejected in traditional rabbinic texts. Nevertheless RA, the ultra-Orthodox Haredi rabbi from Shaarei Chesed in Jerusalem, dealt, among other things, with issues relat- ed to the military and laws of warfare. As has already been noted, Rabbi Isaac Kofman, in his Ha-Tzava ka-Halakhah, chose RA as his Halakhic authority,9 relying on RA’s rulings based on an operational way of thinking. This refers 4 See Amir Mashiach, “From Past to Present—An analysis of the Various Sectors in Modern Israel Based on Jewish Identities from Ancient Times,” in Social Issues in Israel 17 (2014), pp. 38–68. 5 Ibid. 6 Amir Mashiach, “Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach’s Halakhic Rulings regarding the Sovereignty of the State of Israel,” in Avinoam Rosnack, ed., Halakha: Explicit and Implied Theoretical and Ideological Aspects (Jerusalem, 2012), pp. 115–132. 7 This answer was censored in the various editions of Minchat Shlomo. It appears full length in Mashiach, Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach’s Halakhic Philosophy, pp. 241–244. 8 This finds its expression in the case in which RA was asked whether the city of Eilat should observe the “Exiles’ Second Day of the Biblical Holidays” (Yom tov sheni shel galuyot). See RA, Minchat Shlomo, part 2, 44. 9 Kofman, Ha-tzava ka-Halakhah. The Review of RabbinicDownloaded Judaism from 21 Brill.com09/26/2021 (2018) 134–149 08:14:30PM via free access War and the Military in Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach’s 137 to the awareness and understanding of the complexity of military reality, whether in combat or as part of the daily routine. The same conception is gen- erally to be found among rabbis who have themselves served in the army and are familiar with military routine, operational requirements, and the Halakhic problems facing the observant soldier, especially one serving in a combat unit.10 It is therefore a rare enough case where we find a Halakhic authority with an operational way of thinking like that of RA, a Haredi rabbi with no experience of service in any army or of contact with acquaintances who may have had any such experience. But this does not seem to have posed an obstacle to RA’s remarkable ability to achieve a balance between the needs of the military and the requirements of Halakhah. RA’s Halakhic rulings address not only the ob- servant soldier’s Orach Chaim, or Halakhic day-to-day life, but also military procedures and operational combat activities that the religious soldier has to deal with in the course of military service. The paragraphs below provide instances of RA’s operational way of think- ing, showing his way of balancing the needs of the military with the require- ments of the Halakhah. I Minimizing Military Operations on the Sabbath in a Manner Visible to the Enemy A Halakhic issue presented to RA was whether the army should minimize mili- tary operational activities on the Sabbath—a measure that would be visible to the enemy. His answer was a definitive and unambiguous, No. Reduction in operations of this kind is prohibited. The army should carry on its opera- tional activities on the Sabbath just as on any other day.
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