26 May BRIEFLY; CAPTIVES AND A 2 STATE SOLUTION?
Inspired by the teachings of HaRav Yitzchak Gisnburgh and Rabbi Moshe Genuth
Briefly; Captives and A 2 State Solution
The following article was written in 2011 on the Israel –Palestinian prisoner exchange and release of the IDF soldier Corporal Gilad Shalit (now Sgt 1st Class). a 2011 agreement between Israel and Hamas to release Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in exchange for 1,027 prisoners, 280 if these were sentenced to life including Yahya Sinwar, a prisoner who was sentenced to four life sentences in 1989. In 2008, while serving his prison sentence, Sinwar was operated on by Israeli doctors to remove a tumor in his brain to save his life. The released/exchanged prisoner Yahya Sinwar is the current head of Hamas that orchestrated the October 7 massacre.
Although we are glad for the safe release of Gilad, the cost of the exchange remains controversial.
‘Gilad Shalit 2011’(From Aura of Torah)
As military action is not always an option (or the preferred option), the Talmud and the Midrash tell numerous stories about righteous individuals who engaged in ransoming captives who as communal agents and often traveling great distances at the expense of charitable funds which were established expressly for this purpose.
In medieval times it was common for Jewish communities in port cities to sustain a fund to rescue Jews who had been captured by pirates and were being sold as slaves in the market. The practice of redeeming captives continued in various forms under various circumstances throughout history as recorded in the annals of Jewish communities throughout the world.
The commandment,(or mitzvah) to redeem captives, known in Hebrew as pidyon shevuyim is described by Maimonides in his code of Jewish law, the Mishneh Torah:
The redeeming of captives takes precedence over the feeding and clothing of the poor. Indeed there is no religious duty more meritorious than the redeeming of captives, He who turns his eyes away from redeeming him, transgresses the commandments To sum up, there is no religious duty greater (“mitzvah rabbah”) than the redeeming of captives.2
In the next paragraph, Maimonides explains that the redemption of captives is so important that any money which had been collected, even money previously dedicated for a religious purpose, may be diverted to ransom captives…, even if it was raised for the purpose of building a synagogue. Even if all the materials had already been bought and prepared for construction. If the need arises, they must be used to redeem a captive. This is in contrast to the ruling that synagogue materials should not be sold for any other important fund.
Nevertheless, this too has limits. The sages of the Mishnah (3rd century BCE to 2nd century CE) explicitly state:
Captives should not be ransomed for more than their value, for the sake of the general welfare (in the original Hebrew, tikkun haolam, (literally translated as “repair of the world”).
The Talmud seeks to clarify the purpose of this legislation. Concern for the general welfare, the Talmud points out this could mean one of two things:
- To spare the community the burden of excessive ransom, which could lead to its impoverishment;
- In order not to give the captors an incentive to take new captives and demand high ransom.4
It is interesting to note that according to the first reasoning, the monetary welfare of the community overrides any concern about the threat of future repercussion. Thus, according to this rationale, if there were no financial burden on the community, the risk of encouraging future abductions would not be a sufficient reason to prohibit overspending.
A practical difference would present itself if an individual were to offer to pay the entire ransom. The concern of burdening the community would not apply, yet the fear of increased captures is not alleviated. The Talmud therefore cites a case where an individual did pay the full ransom himself, which would seem to demonstrate that the only concern was the burden on the community which may be consideration to prevent the bandits from increasing their kidnapping activities. >
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Difficulties with Israel and a 2 State Solution
According to Jewish Law land that is Israel may not be given away. This includes any land that was acquired while being attacked and then conquered which is considered no different than the inherited Land of Israel . It may only be given away under the rule of the Sanhedrin as it is Hashem who has delivered to us the victory and the land.
A Jew and the Land of Israel are physically and spiritually intimately connected. An observant Jew that elevates his holiness also brings an elevated holiness to the Land In the process of the Jewish mission of Tikun Olam, Rectification of the World (see laws of shmita). Jews elevate themselves, the Land , the World and as G-d’s Will usher in the Era of Mashiach.(Messiah).
Because the Jew and the Land of Israel are interdependent in a holy mission, making the Land and Her people as a place where G-d dwell… as the Torah prescribes is imperative. As the Torah teaches, only those who are Jews and the Righteous Gentiles may occupy the Land, That requires observance of the Jews in the Land and observance of the Torah principles (as Bnai Noach) for the Righteous Gentile.
These are some of the requirements to sanctifying Israel; The Land and Her People, and ushering in the Messianic Era.>
Leib Getzel (Lawrence) Lax
Addictions and Counseling
http://lawrencelax.com
lawrencejlax@gmail.com