QUESTION: Is pacifism part of Judaism ? Has it been a major factor in Jewish life and thought in the past? Is there a pacifist halakhic tradition within Judaism which we may follow?(Rabbi R. Lehman, New York )
ANSWER: The ideal of peace has been so important in Judaism that we have used it as a common daily greeting—shalom with biblical roots for this custom(Gen. 43:23; Ex. 4:18). The biblical prophets emphasized the goal of peace with such statements as:“Peace, peace to him that is far off and to him that is near”(Is. 57:19);“I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them(Ezek. 37:26);“My covenant was with him of life and peace,”(Mal. 2:5);“The Lord will bless his people with peace,”(Ps 29:11);“seek peace and pursue it(Ps. 34:15);“they shall beat their swords into plowshare and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore,”(Micah 4:3; Is 2:4);“the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the young lion, and the fatling together and a little child shall lead them(Is.11:6).
These statements magnificently proclaimed the Jewish ideal of peace. This was our Messianic dream. The vast rabbinic literature continued to foster it with hundreds of statements; poetry through the ages yearned for it. The halakhah supported it as a noble ideal, but without providing a practical path which would bring it about in the
roader world of national strife. The biblical quotations, mentioned above and many others, were mentioned in numerous discussions in an effort to bring about peaceful resolutions in conflict situations through the bet din. The goal of justice both in personal conflict and communal strife was attained. Physical violence was curbed and and the bet din rarely invoked physical punishments in its decisions. A Peaceful environment was created within the Jewish communities and %0 the biblical and rabbinic ideal of peace became a reality.
Taking this ideal into the broader world was neither possible
nor considered in a theoretical way. No statement forbade war. The
alakhic codes make peace on a broader scale their goal and a hold it Up as a grand ideal, but do not mandate it.