oped and blows were exchanged.... During the disturbances, windows were broken, tables overturned, and bottles smashed.”
In addition to contravening the laws of the state, these and similar acts also involved forbidden labor on the Sabbath . According to halakhah , if there were two witnesses present who warned that they were about to desecrate the Sabbath , the perpetrators were liable to the death penalty by stoning(Maimonides , Laws of the Sabbath 1:2).
The years of Sabbath riots on the Ramot road in suburban Jerusalem gave rise to sad thoughts concerning our ability to live as equal citizens in a free Jewish state, despite our differences. In any case, the Chief Rabbinate and official religious establishment stood aside and generally maintained perfect silence on this matter. Do they realize that“silence is tacit acknowledgment”(BT Yevamot 87b)?
Particularly worrisome is the attitude of one of the leaders of Neturei Karta , Rabbi Moshe Hirsch, as reported on Israel Radio in September 1979. Rabbi Hirsch offered halakhic arguments that ostensibly justify the use of force to preserve the nature of the Sabbath as he understands it. He also offered a“halakhic solution” to the crisis. Let us investigate the halakhic basis of this rabbi’s arguments.
Zealots Attack Him
Rabbi Hirsch found support for the violence on the Ramot road in a well-known Mishnah :“If a man stole a sacred vessel or cursed by means of witchcraft or had sexual relations with a[gentile] woman—zealots may attack him”(Mishnah Sanhedrin 9:6). The Sages held that even though the Torah does not stipulate the death penalty for those guilty of such misdeeds, those who are zealous for the Lord have permission to assault and kill them. Throwing stones at passing cars on the Ramot road is quite remote from the cases mentioned in the Talmud and by later codifiers. What is more, Rabbi Hirsch seems to have forgotten or purposely suppressed an important element in the license granted to zealots. According to the Gemara, this justifiable zealousness must be a spontaneous and unplanned act:“Rabbi Hisda said: If a person comes to ask[whether he may assault someone who has profaned the sacred] we do not instruct him to do so”(BT Sanhedrin 82a).