Chabad spokesman Rabbi Menachem Brod, editor of the weekly ‘Sichat HaShavua’ has spoken out against the Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange deal. R’ Brod states that it was expected, that after the jubilation surrounding Gilad’s return home safe and sound the difficult questions would be asked.
Rabbi Brod explains that beyond the obvious, much was lost in this deal, values, including the concept that was once held in high regard, that Jewish blood is not cheap. Heads of the various agencies vowed to members of bereaved families during shiva visits that they would not rest until the outstretched hand of the Israeli system apprehended those responsible for the heinous acts of terrorism. These very same bereaved families feel betrayed and deceived today.
Rabbi Brod ponders what happened to our commitment to a tenacious war against terrorism. For years, Israel taught the world the true value of this concept, but today, the world stares at us in shock, incapable of understanding what changed and how we permit the terrorists to emerge with this victory in hand.
What about the value we place on human life? That is why we are all rejoicing with the Shalits but what about the tears that will be shed in the future as a result of this act?
It is now clear that the murderers released did not sign on any commitment to refrain from future terrorism, and barring a miracle that is exactly what they will do, return to slaughtering Jews. But behind the future bereaved families there is no public relations firm, organized media effort or tee-shirts to brainwash the tzibur.
There is another value that was once cherished, that has also been trampled with this deal. With our own hands we have turned these heinous bloodthirsty terrorists into “prisoners” and “security prisoners”. The “prisoner exchange deal” as it was called involved bloodthirsty criminals, brutal terrorists that have been turned into legitimate fighters for a cause. The moral consciousness has been lost. Terrorists serving their sentences are now ‘prisoners of war’.
The foundation for the war against terror is to remove the legitimacy that surrounds it today. Terrorism is not a part of any legitimate struggle of any part of humanity. One who chooses terror as a means to an end and strikes out against civilians has removed himself from the family called ‘civilized nations’ and is now counted among the ‘sub-human’. The rules of play of the civilized world do not apply to these people and from here on in, an all-out war must be waged against such people. This is the principle behind the war waged by enlightened nations in Afghanistan, Iraq and against other pro-terror regimes.
The wholesale release of terrorists results in a fatal blow to the legitimacy of this battle against terror. The brothers of these despicable terrorists view them as heroes. The PA (Palestinian Authority), with whom we signed peace agreements, pays them salaries and bonuses towards proving they are soldiers imprisoned by the enemy. With the release of these murderers we too accepted this position in total contradiction to our Parsha, (Bereishis 9:6): “Whoever sheds the blood of a man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of G-d He made man.”
“שופך דם האדם באדם דמו יישפך, כי בצלם אלוקים עשה את האדם”.
This article will appear in the coming week’s Chabad Sichat HaShavua.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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6 Responses
I too am pained. Parents, kids, friends… they have lost so much… 1 for so many. Sounds wrong to me…. I let hashem do his work. Who am I to interfere?
the emotions versus the logic of the situation. Emotionally we wanted Gilad back and were over joyed at his return, but logically, we might have made a bad decision.
It is easy to give an opinion in these cases but we do not know all of the details. The government of Israel is generally quiet and does not tell us all of the details.
Didn’t we just the other day claim “The Rebbe” the one who is credited for Shalit’s release?
http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/news/Headlines+&+Breaking+Stories/106760/The+Rebbe%27s+Dollar+That+Reached+Aviva+Shalit.html
And now today, we are stating that “the Rebbe” would never have allowed such a trade!?
!!!סתירה!!!
There was a spirit of euphoria and simply hakoras hatov that Gidon Shalit was released …and released alive. Beyond that, Rabbi Brod has a very important point that is worth discussing at length. Jewish blood is not cheap and should not be considered by the world as cheap. The official Israeli position is that they will never abandon a soldier…and that is good and the right thing to do. At the same time everything has a price which we have to consider as well. This price only partially includes the pain and suffering of those families that have loved ones brutally murdered by these fiends. We know, of course, that once released, after a short period, there will chas v’chlela be other victims brutally murdered by these same fiends. The bottom line is we have to look to how our Gedolim in the past reacted. The tragic case of the Maharam m’Rottenberg most clearly shows the path. The Maharam was held for ransom…which was never paid at the Maharam’s direction. His reasoning was clear. It would cause others to hold other Rabbonim for ransom and would result in Jewish blood becoming cheap in the eyes of the world. As a result the Maharam unfortunately died in prison. I am not a posek but this is a point to consider for the future.
#4 Mottel1 – First of all, your bringing down the case of the Maharam is at best non-related and at worst contradictory to what you were trying to prove.
1) The Maharam was not kidnapped by terrorist, but rather falsely accused by wicked people. The danger for him was rotting in jail, not torture and possible execution.
2) The reason why the Maharam died in jail is not because it was forbidden to ransom him. On the contrary, they were מחויב to ransom him! Rather, the Maharam refused to allow them to ransom him do to a worry that it may cause the goyyim to do the same with others in order to extort money from the Jewish community. Gilad Shalit could have refused to be ransomed as well, but being that he did not we were not freed from trying to secure his release.
I will state my opinion about the trade off in another comment.
Many have argued whether it was proper to trade 1000 for 1. Some state that the terrorist released will go out and kill more Jews. Others state that the life of one Jew is precious and we must make sacrifices to save him.
What surprises me is the lack of bringing down halachic sources to support one’s opinion.
To be honest, when the news came out about the trade off for his release I was at a quandary. I could see both sides to this issue, but didn’t know what was right. So instead of deciding on my own, I contemplated the yesodot in halacha that seemed pertinent to this case (albeit limited knowledge).
I do not know what Poskim would paskin, but it seems to me that under the circumstance unfortunately we may need to apply the concept “אין ספק מוציה מידי ודאי”. It is a ספק that these wicked 1000 terrorist will successfully kill other Jews. It is a ודאי that they would eventually kill Shalit. The trade off is tragically great, but it seems to me that halachicly we had no choice.
Of course, I am not a posik and have not yet spoken to any poskim on this issue, so I can’t claim that my view holds weight.
I’d be interested in hearing others’ view points by those that bring down some halachic basis, not just opinions. If anybody knows of psakim in this case and the reasoning given I’d be interested in hearing. (Note: I know as well as others that Rav Ovadia, shlita was in favor of the trade off, but I don’t know his reasoning. To tell me that he or another posik was in favor or against doesn’t tell me too much. If you know their reasoning, that’s what I’m looking for.)