Kahane on the Parsha
Rabbi Binyamin Kahane- Parshat Mishpatim
NORMAL PEOPLE THINK AHEAD
On
the verse, "If a thief is found breaking in and is struck so that he dies,
there shall be no bloodguilt on his account" (Exodus 22:1). Rashi cites a
passage in the Talmud that is certain to shock liberal Jews:
"If
one comes to slay you, rise and slay him first. And this thief indeed came to
kill you since he knows that a person will not stand by quietly and watch his
possessions being stolen. Hence, he is prepared to kill you if you confront
him."
Absolutely
amazing! In other words, the Rabbis are telling us that the rule of "If
one comes to slay you, rise and slay him first" does not exclusively address
someone with a knife being held to his throat. The rule is much more expansive.
The Rabbis teach us that a person is obligated to think a few steps ahead and
anticipate. If he thinks there is a real threat that someone may kill him, he
is required to "rise and slay him first."
In
this Talmudic passage, the Rabbis enter the psyche of the thief. They reason
that the thief, knowing the likelihood of resistance, has prepared himself to
kill the owner if necessary. Therefore, the owner may kill him immediately upon
confronting him without waiting to see how the thief will react to being
caught.
How
we have distorted the concept of "If one comes to slay you, rise and slay
him first"! The average Moderdox Jew thinks that one can only rise and
slay the Arab who is throwing a Molotov cocktail or yelling "Allah Akhbar"
as he chases his victim with a hatchet. He believes that if the danger is not
"this very instant" - but rather will reveal itself in one hour or
one week - the law does not apply. What was obvious to the Rabbis - that one
MUST think a few steps ahead and that a person does not "not stand by
quietly and watch his possessions being stolen" - is not obvious in
today's society where "humanism" and distorted concepts of morality
run rampant.
In
Israel, Jews continue to passively accept being beaten and humiliated by our
enemy, lacking the healthy and normal survival instinct to "rise and slay
him first." This self-restraint is justified with the argument that the
situation is not life-threatening. And so, soldiers and settlers shoot warning
shots in the air after being attacked since the danger, as they see it, is not
imminent. According to IDF guidelines, soldiers, upon seeing a terrorist, must
shout a warning, shoot in the air, and, if the situation gets really hot, shoot
at the terrorist's legs. Only a Jew who is already dead can shoot to kill since
anyone who does so before that point will find himself facing murder charges.
[Before the terror attacks today, this used to be the law for soldiers bg]
In
short, we have learned two important lessons. First, the rule "If one
comes to slay you, rise and slay him first" is not limited to a situation
where someone is pointing a gun to your head; one is permitted to anticipate
potential danger to life. Second, only a nation devoid of any self-respect
doesn't rise up and fight back. After all, the Talmudic passage we quoted at
the beginning of this article concerns fighting for one's property. Shouldn't
its logic apply all the more so concerning fighting for one's life?
We
must cease to interpret and define Halacha in accordance with our Western
mentality and mindset. We must rise up, just like one rises early for Vatikin
(shacharit/morning services), and think a few steps ahead so that we can kill
the murderous trespassers before it is too late.
Darka
Shel Torah, 1992
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