Fighting in National Armies 101

rights although not guaranteed, so even individuals as Ezekiel Landau whose statement began this paper saw military service in a positive light.

All of that may be the justification on the part of a young generation seeking a better life, but what about the rabbinic leadership which needed to consider the long term implications of service in the armies of non-Jewish rulers? They too viewed it as an essential move toward Emancipation . There was reluctant agreement shown by those who wrote responsa; they went much further in public utterances and sermons which fully supported Jewish soldiers.

SOME CONCLUSIONS

Jewish tradition provides no basis for military service in foreign armies, nor was this desired by any nation before modern times. The question, in other words was never raised. All of this changed toward the end of the eighteenth century with mass conscriptions; this development came unexpectedly and had to be faced quickly. The initial response of the Jewish leadership and much of the population was negative. Efforts were made to procure exemptions, but as the new national armies were hungry for manpower, they failed. Military service in national armies had to be accepted. It was soon undertaken with enthusiasm in western Europe, accompanied by new hopes for emancipation and complete equality. As with much else the orthodox rabbinic authorities adjusted themselves and accepted it, albeit reluctantly as also much later in the case of military service in the State of Israel .

Military life was not glorified. In modern Israel military leadership has become a possible path to political leadership. That has had some influence in Israel , but not on the rest of the Jewish community’s view of military life. The number of Jews choosing it as a career path in the diaspora remains small.

Jews in the nineteenth century quickly accepted the modern nation state and recognized that it would provide civil rights, equality and economic opportunity. Military service was seen as an obligation which came with these rights. There was no precedent in the halakhah for such military service and the rabbinic tradition as we