Land and Peace in Judaism
______Four Divergent Approaches h ______
A SELECTION OF JEWISH SOURCES
yachad.org.uk INTRODUCTION
The peace process in the Middle East is based on the formula of ‘land for peace’, but what is the status of the Land within Judaism? In the following texts we explore four different Jewish perspectives on the role that land plays in the Jewish religion. Indeed, these different perspectives are in many ways incompatible with each other. However, they are all part of our heritage. In addition, they serve as a starting point for understanding the way in which religious beliefs inform current political opinions, and can be drawn upon to shape our own thinking about the role that land can play in creating peace for the peoples of the Middle East.
QUESTIONS
Some of the questions that should be considered when studying the following texts are:
1. According to the laws of ‘lo tehannem’ who is entitled to own land in Israel? Can someone be evacuated from their land, even if it is for the sake of peace?
2. Does the Jewish religion hold human life, or holy land, to be more important?
3. If removing people from a piece of land would guarantee their safety, according to the laws of ‘pikuach nefesh’, what course of action should be pursued?
4. Does one need to be in a holy ‘physical’ place in order to be in the presence of God?
5. How should we view decisions made by governments if they contradict our interpretation of halacha?
6. Are we obligated to follow the law of the land, and does this principle extend to international legal conventions?
7. When two people are in dispute over something which they both believe they own, what is the fairest way to resolve the dispute? Should each party seek to prove or concede their claim of ownership?
8. Do each side have to renounce part of their national narrative for the sake of peace? Do not be gracious (lo tehannem)
Rabbi Avraham Shapira, Former Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel According to Torah law, it is completely forbidden (issur midoraita) to give land in Israel to a non- Jew, due to the prohibition of lo techannem (“Do not give them a foothold in the Land,” Devarim 7:2) and due to the nullification of the commandment to settle the Land of Israel that is incumbent upon every individual of Israel. This prohibition applies to every Jew, soldier or civilian alike. An order to take part in the evacuation of Jews from their homes in order to give over the land to non- Jews is an order that is against the religion of our holy Torah and forbidden to fulfill. Anyone who violates this prohibition will not be exonerated (lo yenakke), not in this world and not in the world to come. (Pesak Halacha, July 2005)
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Ramban on Sefer Hamitzvot (Omissions, 4) D ,[FFWOE YUR MS P"BOY The fourth mitzvah states that we are commanded to take VYAE [ZYM FQJFIWQZ [JSJBY EFWO possession of the land that God has given to our FQJ[FBAM EMS[JF KYB[J MAE P[Q YZA forefathers, to Avraham, Isaac and Jacob. We should not DJB EBGSQ AMF BXSJMF XHWJM NEYBAM leave it in the hands of any other people or allow it to lie AFEF EOOZM FA [FOFAE PO FQJ[MFG waste, as it says: And you shall take possession of the land and settle in it, for I have assigned the land to you to N[BZJF VYAE [A N[ZYFEF NEM FYOA possess (Bamidbar 33:53). E[FA [ZYM VYAE [A J[[Q NLM JL EB C .(CM YBDOB) VYAE [A N[MHQ[EF
Devarim (Deuteronomy) 7:2 B.G NJYBD And the Lord, your God, will deliver them to you, and you :N#[J9/9E"F ,J^Q5U Talmud Bavli, Avoda Zara 20a A.L EYG EDFBS Do not be gracious to them, which means, do not allow .SXYXB EJJQH NEM P[[ AM ,NQH[ AM them to settle on the soil. But are not these words needed YOAX JLED EJM JSBJO NQH[ AM JAE to convey the command not to admire their gracefulness? AOJM ,L"A !PH NEM P[[ AM :AQOHY If that alone were intended, the wording should have been SOZ ?NQH[ AM JAO ,NQFH[ AM AYX lo tehonnem. So why then is lo tehannem used? To imply both these meanings. Y . .J[Y[ EQJO The Preservation of Life (pikuach nefesh) Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, Former Rosh Yeshiva, Yeshiva University Our Judaism is not a religion of shrines. The significance of our victory lies in the fact that the Malchut Yisrael was saved. A Jew does not need holy places in order to be lifnei Hashem (before God). There is a lifnei Hashem which spreads out over the entire world, wherever a Jew does not sin, wherever a Jew learns Torah, wherever a Jew does mitzvos, minayen sheshnayim yoshvim veoskim be-Torah ha-Shechinah imahem (“Wherever two people learn words of Torah together, the Shechinah is present,” Pirkei Avot 3:2) - through the entire world. If pikuach nefesh (‘the preservation of life’) supersedes all other mitzvot, it supersedes all prohibitions of the Torah, especially the pikuach nefesh of the yishuv in Eretz Yisrael. The borders that must be established should be based on that which will provide more security. ( Al Hateshuva, August 1967) ______ Vayikra (Leviticus) 18:5 E.HJ AYXJF You shall therefore keep my statutes and my rules; obey Y8:=A J6I51<:9O-[8A"F J$[@2?H-[8A N83*6O<:. them and live by them, I am the Lord. E :E\FE"J J!Q=A ,N8E5- J6H\F N'5A5E N#[@A E8;=S]J Talmud Bavli, Sanhedrin 74a A.DS PJYDEQR Rabbi Yochanan said in the name of Rabbi Shimon ben PB PFSOZ JBY NFZO PQHFJ JBY YOA Yehotzadak: ‘It was decided by a vote in the loft of the EG[Q [JB [JMSB FYOCF FQOJQ :XDWFEJ house of Nitzeh in Lod: For all the transgressions in the PJYOFA NA EYF[BZ [FYJBS ML :DFMB Torah, if a man is told, 'Transgress and you will not be ,CYEJ MAF YFBSJ :CYE[ MAF YFBS NDAM killed,' he should transgress and not be killed, except for avoda zara (idol worship), gilui arayot (illicit sexual [FLJUZF [FJYS JFMJCF EYG EDFBSO VFH relations) and shefichut damim (bloodshed). F .NJOD Rambam, Hilchot Shabbat 2:16 GI.B [BZ [FLME ,N"BOY All activities necessary to save a life should be performed KJYW PJAF [BZB ZUQ HFXJU PJHXUO on the Sabbath; there is no necessity to receive license MJWEM NJDXOEF ,PJD [JBO [FZY MFIJM from the court. The more zealous one is in this regard, the SOZ ... ?DWJL HBFZO EG JYE ZUQE more praiseworthy. What is implied? If a person heard F[FMSEM EDFWO ZYUF NJB XFQJ[ SBIZ that a child drowned at sea, and he spread out a net to rescue him, but he only caught fish, he is exempt from all PJFL[Q .NFMLO YFIU DBMB NJCD EMSEF liability. In fact, even if he also intended to raise up fish, YFIU XFQJ[F NJCD EMSEF NJCD [FMSEM and lifted up both fish and a child, he is exempt. EMSEF MJAFE SBIZ SOZ AM FMJUA ! .YFIU NJCDE NS XFQJ[ The Law of the Kingdom is Law (dina malchuta dina) Rabbi Dr Aharon Lichtenstein, Rosh Yeshivat Har Etzion In the final analysis, we - the government, the army, and it goes without saying the citizens and their spiritual leadership - face a hazy reality. Even if we agree that it is the arbiters of halacha who define the level of danger and of utility that permits eating on Yom Kippur, only physicians know how to determine the extent to which a certain meal is needed for a said patient. Similarly, diplomatic issues that are veiled in the darkness of the decision-making apparatus should be entrusted to the government, partly because it has the tools and the perspective that are not always available to others. Although there is no absolute certainty that the realistic assessments of the government are correct, there is absolute certainty that it is the administration and that it has the right and obligation to govern. When it comes to taking initiatives that fall within its decision-making purview, in accordance with an assessment of the reality it faces, the government's opinion and will are sovereign. (Haaretz, August 2005) ______ Talmud Bavli, Nedarim 28a A.HL NJYDQ [In certain cases it may be allowed to give a false vow, for ?9AQJD A[FLMOD AQJD .MAFOZ YOAEF instance in order to avoid taxes.] But did not Shmuel :MAFOZ YOA AQEL Y"A AQQJH BY YOA teach, dina malchuta dina? Rabbi Hinena said in the name . .EBWX FM PJAZ RLFOB of Rabbi Kahane in the name of Shmuel: This refers to an N unauthorised debt collector. Talmud Bavli, Baba Batra 54b B.DQ AY[B ABB Rav Yehudah said in the name of Shmuel: The property of DBFS JRLQ :MAFOZ YOA EDFEJ BY YOA a non-Jew is on the same footing as desert land; whoever PEB XJGHOE ML ,YBDOL PE JYE NJBLFL first occupies it acquires ownership... Said Abaye to Rav YOA JO .TRFJ BYM JJBA M"A ...@PEB ELG Yosef: Did Shmuel really say this? Did not Shmuel teach, AQJD :MAFOZ YOAEF ?JLE MAFOZ dina malchuta dina, and the king has ordained that land may not be acquired without a deed? JQXJM AM :YOA ALMOF ,AQJD A[FLMOD Y . .A[YCJAB AMA ASYA Rambam, Hilchot Gezela 5.11 AJ.E EMGC [FLME ,N"BOY The law established by the king is binding law. Indeed, AFEZ AMA DFS AMF ,AFE PJD KMOE PJD anyone who does not pay this tax transgresses, for he is MGFC AFEZ JQUO EG RLOO HJYBOE YBFS depriving the king of his rightful portion. This applies EJEZ PJB JFC KMOE EJEZ PJB ,KMOE [QO whether the king is Jewish or gentile. F .MAYZJ KMO A Template for Conflict Resolution (shnayim ochzim) Yitzhak Rabin (1922 - 1995) I, military I.D. number three-zero-seven-four-three, retired general in the Israel Defense Forces in the past, consider myself to be a soldier in the army of peace today. I, who served my country for 27 years as a soldier, I say to you, Your Majesty, the King of Jordan, and I say to you, American friends: Today we are embarking on a battle which has no dead and no wounded, no blood and no anguish. This is the only battle which is a pleasure to wage: the battle for peace. Tomorrow, on the way up to Jerusalem, thousands of flowers will cover the remains of those rusting armored vehicles, the ones that never made it to the city. Tomorrow, from those silent metal heaps, thousands of flowers will smile to us with the word peace: "shalom". In the Bible, our Book of Books, peace is mentioned, in its various idioms, 237 times. In the Bible, from which we draw our values and our strength, in the Book of Jeremiah, we find a lamentation for Rachel the Matriarch. It reads, "Refrain your voice from weeping, and your eyes from tears, for their work shall be rewarded, says the Lord". I will not refrain from weeping for those who are gone. But on this summer day in Washington, far from home, we sense that our work will be rewarded, as the prophet foretold. (Address to Congress, 26 July 1994) ______ Mishna, Baba Metzia 1 ! ! !2*4/ !"" %17/ Two are holding a garment. One says, ‘I found it’; one *1! :6/&! %' ,8*-)" 0*'(&! .*17 says, ‘I found it.’ One says, ‘All of it is mine’; one says, %' .%*8!4/ *1! :6/&! %'& ,%*8!4/ ‘All of it is mine.’ This one should swear that he doesn’t .*-7 %-&, :6/&! %'& ,*-7 %-&, :6/&! own less than half of it; that one should swear that he ,%*4(/ 8&(3 %" &- 0*!7 2"7* %' doesn’t own less than half of it, and they shall divide it. %*4(/ 8&(3 %" &- 0*!7 2"7* %'& & .&5&-(*& Talmud Bavli, Baba Metzia 5b ".% !2*4/ !""* Does each person swear regarding the part which is theirs, .%*- 8*-$ -2 &! 2"87/ %*- 8*!$ -2 or regarding the part which is not theirs? — Rabbi Huna %2&"7 :6/!$ ,!1&% "6 6/! - ?2"87/ answers: Each person has to say, “I swear that I have a - .%*4(/ 8&(3 %" *- 0*!& ,%" *- 7*7 share in it, and that it is not less than half.” — But why 01*"%* */& - !*-7 %-&,7 %2&"7 :!/*1& not let each person say, “I swear that it is all mine!” — Do we give each of them all of it? — Then let each say, “I .*-7 %*4(7 %2&"7 :!/*1& - ?%-&, %*- swear that half of it is mine!” — They would then impair . .%*6&"*$- %*- 26/ - their own words [this would contradict their initial & statement: “All of it is mine”]. Shulchan Aruch, Choshen Mishpat 138.3 #.(-5 )37/ 07&( ,+&62 0(-&7* Even if the garment were gilded and the gold was on $(! $4- "%'%& 8"%'&/ 8*-)%7 &-*3! one of the sides, one of the parties cannot claim: %8&! 5&-( :6/&- -&,* &1*!& ,.%/ ‘Divide it breadthways so that the gold is on my part.’ !-! ,*5-(- "%'% !"*7 %"(6- They must divide lengthways so that each receives !"*7 * $, %,6!- %8&! .*5-&( the same amount. % .%&7" .%*17-