When the state of Israel was established in 1947, it was immediately thrust into war, and rabbis in the religious Zionist community were confronted with the formidable challenge of constructing a body of Jewish law to deal with this turn of events. A body of law had to be "constructed" here because Jewish law had developed mostly during prior centuries when Jews had neither a state nor an army, and therefore it did not include much material on war. Leading rabbis in the religious Zionist camp responded to this challenge with remarkable ingenuity and creativity. They used their interpretive skills to greatly expand the little material on war in Jewish law that already existed. They also used those skills to draw out insights from other areas of Jewish law that could be applied to war. The result was a substantial corpus of law on war where almost none had existed before. The work of these rabbis represents a fascinating chapter in the history of Jewish law and ethics, but it has attracted relatively little attention from academics. This book is a pioneering attempt to make up for that shortfall. It examines how five leading rabbis in the religious Zionist community in the twentieth century dealt with key moral issues in war. Chapters are devoted to R. Abraham Isaac Kook, R. Isaac Halevi Herzog, and R. Eliezer Waldenberg, R. Sha'ul Yisraeli, and R. Shlomo Goren. The moral issues examined include the question of who is a legitimate authority for waging war, why Jews in a modern Jewish state can be drafted to fight on its behalf, and under what circumstances the killing of enemy civilians is permitted. This study also examines how the positions of these rabbis on such issues compare to those of international law.

About the Author
Professor of Religion and Judaic Studies and Chair of the Department of Religion at George Washington University

Reviews
Eisen has done a great service by bringing the thoughts of these rabbis, whose Hebrew works remain largely untranslated, to English readers. Furthermore, the clarity and organization of the book makes it potentially useful for undergraduate courses. * Samuel Hayim Brody, Journal of Religion *
To understand how Judaism copes with war, Robert Eisen, professor of religion and Judaic studies at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., focused on the writings and teachings of five influential rabbis in the religious Zionist movement ... The result of Eisen's remarkable enterprise is...[a] scholarly but also superbly written book. * Jonathan Kirsch, Jewish Journal *



Book Information
ISBN 9780190687090
Author Robert Eisen
Format Hardback
Page Count 312
Imprint Oxford University Press Inc
Publisher Oxford University Press Inc
Weight(grams) 1g
Dimensions(mm) 155mm * 239mm * 31mm