JERUSALEM, Israel – On a geo-political level, the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas is dominating the world’s attention. But what does the Bible and Jewish teaching tell us about the war?
Now in its third month, Israel is fighting a war for its survival against Hamas. CBN News talked with Rabbi David Gottlieb, a noted scholar and teacher on the Jewish view of war.
“So let’s start with the basics, Rabbi Gottlieb told CBN News. “The highest, most basic value in Judaism is life. And at the same time, we have a nuanced or you could say, sophisticated approach and understand that sometimes painfully, the greatest way to protect life is war, and war necessarily means the act of killing other people.”
In the Bible, Ecclesiastes chapter 3 states, “There is an appointed time for everything, including “a time for peace and a time for war.”
“When there are Nazis or Hamas terrorists, it would be wonderful if they would all just surrender and stop killing good people of all faiths,” the rabbi explained. “But when you have ruthless enemies who want to kill good, innocent people, unfortunately, sometimes war is the moral answer. Judaism, certainly in the broad strokes, absolutely
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