The Messianic dream of a divinely established peaceful resolution to the struggles brought hope to war-torn biblical Israel . In the subsequent centuries when Jews lived in other lands or without freedom in the land of the Bible , it brought a vision of a wonderful future. This dream was sufficed during centuries of political powerlessness both within and outside the Land of Israel. Prophets and mystics hoped that God would fulfill the dream. Perhaps it would occur through a miraculous, sudden heavenly intervention in the affairs of the world. Others thought that a divine cataclysmic end of the world would destroy all evil and bring peace. A few understood themselves as Messianic ambassadors through whom the vision of a world perfectly at peace would be realized. All witnessed the horrors of warfare with helpless dismay. Each despaired of any human solution.
Contemporary Jews , however, refuse to despair; modern Jews , both religious and secular are less passive and want to take part in efforts toward peace and not simply wait. The creation of Israel along with two centuries of Jewish partnership in social revolutions in the diaspora testify to this optimistic impatience. Some have seen themselves as partners with God . This approach is less utopian and begins where we are; in the case of warfare, not the elimination of war, but mitigating its effects. Along with many others this has led to forming rules of warfare which attempt to control soldiers even in the midst of the fighting. Treaties among nations have limited the destructive effects of war and occupation on the general population. The mass slaughter of innocent bystanders around the world in the previous century have moved us in this direction. We know that civilian casualties in the wars of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries have vastly outnumbered military dead.
The Israeli armed forces had to begin anew, set standards, and provide guidelines. When viewed broadly, we see that they reflect the ethical basis of the halakhah. We can and should endorse the path set by Israel for its armed force. That path is simple and direct. As the millennia of traditional material was sparse, starting anew was appropriate.