{"id":2950,"date":"2015-10-26T09:24:58","date_gmt":"2015-10-26T14:24:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/?p=2950"},"modified":"2015-10-26T09:24:58","modified_gmt":"2015-10-26T14:24:58","slug":"does-torah-command-immediate-execution-of-disarmed-terrorists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2015\/10\/does-torah-command-immediate-execution-of-disarmed-terrorists.html","title":{"rendered":"Does Torah Command Immediate Execution of Disarmed Terrorists?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"By<\/a>
By \u05d0\u05d1\u05d9\u05e2\u05d3 \u05d7\u05d6\u05e0\u05d9 [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>To my liberal rabbinical colleagues who hold the view that the Torah\u2019s wisdom is necessary in the search for morality, I present this necessary reminder that what constitutes the will of the Torah is in the eyes of the rabbis who interpret it.<\/p>\n

And sometimes there is murder in their eyes.<\/p>\n

Rabbi David Stav, of the moderate Israeli rabbinic organization known as Tzohar, issued a halakhic opinion last week ruling that it is forbidden to kill a terrorist who has otherwise been rendered harmless.<\/p>\n

As reported by The Jerusalem Post<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u201cIn these days in which the blood is boiling\u2026 it is important to preserve our moral superiority; [we must] not harm those involved in murderous acts who have already been neutralized and do not represent a threat,\u201d he ruled.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Au contraire!<\/em> was the reply of Chief Rabbi of Tz\u2019fat (Safed), Shmuel Eliyahu, who is a paid Israeli government official:<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is forbidden to leave a murderer alive,\u201d Eliyahu told the Galei Yisrael radio station\u2026. He accused Tzohar rabbis of \u201cforgetting Jewish law\u201d because \u201cthey are only interested in looking good to non-Jews.\u201d<\/p>\n

Continued Eliyahu, \u201cJewish law is clear\u2026 there are courts that can avenge blood and there are individuals who can avenge blood. This is Jewish law: If the court does not avenge the blood, then an individual can avenge the blood.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2026\u201cWe can\u2019t be consumed all day with what others are thinking about us<\/em><\/strong>,\u201d the rabbi concluded. [emphasis added]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

As if the only reason to refrain from an on-site, no-trial execution is that others might think badly of Israelis.<\/p>\n

Both of these Orthodox rabbis have the support of some number of colleagues. Both of these rabbis believe that they are upholding the word of God\u2019s Torah.<\/p>\n

Secular Humanistic Jews hold that both the Torah and its interpreters are ill-equipped to provide us with necessary or adequate moral guidance.<\/p>\n

Rulings like this remind us why that is.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

To my liberal rabbinical colleagues who hold the view that the Torah\u2019s wisdom is necessary in the search for morality, I present this necessary reminder that what constitutes the will of the Torah is in the eyes of the rabbis who interpret it. And sometimes there is murder in their eyes. Rabbi David Stav, of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2281,"featured_media":2951,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[20,21,31],"class_list":["post-2950","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blogentries","tag-israel","tag-israeli-palestinian-conflict","tag-orthodox-judaism"],"yoast_head":"\nDoes Torah Command Immediate Execution of Disarmed Terrorists?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"To my liberal rabbinical colleagues who hold the view that the Torah\u2019s wisdom is necessary in the search for morality, I present this necessary reminder\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2015\/10\/does-torah-command-immediate-execution-of-disarmed-terrorists.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Does Torah Command Immediate Execution of Disarmed Terrorists?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"To my liberal rabbinical colleagues who hold the view that the Torah\u2019s wisdom is necessary in the search for morality, I present this necessary reminder\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2015\/10\/does-torah-command-immediate-execution-of-disarmed-terrorists.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Atheist Rabbi\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-10-26T14:24:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/554\/2015\/10\/Shmuel_Eliyahu.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"480\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"360\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jeffrey L. 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