The Quest for a Corpus of Jewish Military Ethics in Modern Israel

Post-biblical Jewish religious thought devoted little attention to analyses of warfare and the religious and ethical problems that it poses. During the past 50 years that situation has changed dramatically. The ubiquity of military service and armed conflict in the contemporary Israeli experience has stimulated intense interest in hilkhot tzava u-milhamah ([religious] laws concerning the army and warfare), which have been elucidated in detailed and erudite publications, often authored by rabbis who have themselves experienced military service. This article focuses on four themes: (1) the identity of the persons most closely involved in the quest for a corpus of Jewish military ethics in Israel between 1948 and 2005; (2) the formats and forums in which they published and transmitted their findings; (3) the specific military ethical issues addressed; and (4) the exegetical methods employed in order to formulate a specifically Jewish code of military ethics.

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