Is it Bittual Torah to learn to be a Marksman?

They apply the pasuk הקל קול יעקב והידים ידי עשו Yaakov is suppose to accomplish things with his voice and not with arms, let others protect us and at this time, those who sit at learn, should do so.

I can’t speak for anyone else, but I personally have plenty of other sources of bittul Torah to be concerned about before this.

Habah l’hargecha hashkem l’hargo.
Laskern, the posuk clearly states you should kill him, not wait for someone else to do it.
And you will need a gun to kill a gunman, so it is not bitut torah to get a gun. And having a gun without learning to use it us clearly a lack of hishtadlus.

Hiring someone to protect you is another option, just like hiring a mohel or teacher for your kids, or hiring someone to learn torah on your behalf.

Wouldn’t supporters of banning weapons oppose allowing non-law enforcement people having weapons in worship houses?

Joseph, your need to show how clever you are knows no limits.

Please provide a source for that concept.
(Someone else can count the number of wars we fought in Tanach.)

The most important thing isn’t to be a good shot. It’s to be good at not having the gun go off accidentally.

On a list of “My 10 Favorite Bitul Torah Activities”, learning how to defend oneself/family would not even register….posting stupid threads in the CR would certainly be no. 6 or 7….

Have the women carry the guns, it’s less bitul Torah that way.

בגד איש?

Jews are not pacifists. One ex-jew – whose name i omit – maybe.
Lakol zman va’eis (koheles, ecclesiastes)

RebYidd do you have experience with guns or are you shooting in the dark? Modern firearms have excellent accident-prevention features.

@joseph
I don’t believe private citizens should have guns in the USA and support strict gun control as well as bans on certain weapons.
That said, I would draft the laws to allow licensing of private security guards such as work in banks to be trained and guard houses of worship and schools.

Back when I was in Junior High School (more than 50 years ago) we walked from yeshiva to the public school for physical education classes three times a week. There was a shooting range and we were taught to fire pistols and rifles. I assume they expected most of the publicrandchil school kids would end up going to Viet Nam after High School.
At age 18 I was issued a pistol permit based on this training. I have never owned a gun and would not allow it in the house. I do occasionally go to a local range and target shoot and take gun safety classes.
None of my children or grandchildren have ever fired a gun and that’s fine with me.

StuartW, one of the most common types of gun accident is human error. The gun can’t tell if you mean it when you shoot, and it can’t tell if someone else takes the gun.

Rabbi Dr. Raymond Apple, 29/10/18 11:37 | updated: 23:33

Rabbi Dr Raymond Apple AO RFD is Emeritus Rabbi of the Great Synagogue, Sydney. He is now retired and lives in Jerusalem, where he publishes OzTorah, a weekly email list and website with Torah insights from an Australian perspective.

Q. Should people be prohibited from having guns?

A. Guns have wrought immense harm in the United States and elsewhere in the hands of people on a rampage. Hundreds of innocent victims have been killed and hundreds wounded.

Whatever the perpetrators’ motives they have made normal life like going to school and shul vulnerable and unsafe.

There can be no justification for imperiling or destroying human life: everyone, young or old, must be able to “sit under their vine or fig tree with none to make them afraid” (Micah 4:4). Wanton killing is the worst crime there is (Exodus 20:13), even if it is unpremeditated (Numbers 35:11).

The problem with guns is threefold:

1. The gun, which is the symbol of all means of doing harm.

In Jewish law a person must not own a dangerous dog (Bava Kamma 79a). If one owns a dangerous dog it must be kept under restraint at all times (Choshen Mishpat 409:3). Even a dog that is unlikely to do harm must be kept under restraint because it can frighten people (Shabbat 63b).

Hence it is best that nobody should own a gun and if they do they must keep it under restraint. Not only guns but all potential means of harm must be identified and dealt with as if they were guns, though it is admitted that guns seem to have a worse potential for harm than many other means of damage.

2. The motivation: society must train its members to be law-abiding and peaceful and not use violence even if they are aggrieved or angry. In the long term, therefore, moral education must aim for good citizenship…

The community as a whole has this responsibility because no-one should “stand idly by when your fellow’s blood is shed” (Leviticus 19:16). This recommendation does not imply that teachers should be armed. That would be an irrelevant “quick fix”.

Some gun owners will insist that they have valid reasons to possess weapons. This may have an element of validity but there is still something that they can do.

Acknowledging that other gun owners are a threat to others, “decent” gun owners must exercise self-discipline and allow themselves and their genuine motives to be placed on a register and be regularly monitored. Fair’s fair and this is something they can do to alleviate the problem.

CTL – “I don’t believe private citizens should have guns in the USA”

You seem to disagree with the Bill of Rights.

—————————————————————–

There is a famous story of the Chofetz Chaim, who was asked by a non-religious father to daven for his son that was to be drafted into the (Austrian?) army. (Note – The son was presumably not learning Torah at the time.) He refused the request and said “Vos Iz Shleck as Er Vet Lernin Tzu Shissin?” – ‘What is so bad if he learns how to shoot?’

The father went home angry and never forgave the Chofetz Chaim. The son did indeed get drafted. Then came WW2, and the son found himself running away from the Germans in the forest along with a group of other Jewish young men. They were discovered by non-Jewish Partisons (non-army independent freedom fighters) who were ready to kill them to prevent them from drawing attention from the Germans. This man spoke up in their defense by offering to join them with his expertise in weapons on condition they take all of them together. They accepted him and thus he saved not only himself, but a group of other young Jewish men as well.

The son realized then the Chochma of the saintly Chofetz Chaim, and regretted only that his father never lived to understand the truth.

I am quoting a story I last heard some 15 years ago. Excuse me if I messed up some of the details. The punchline is still relevant – ‘What’s so bad if you learn to shoot?’ (But maybe not during Seder. Use your Bein Hazmanim or other off time.)

“decent gun owners must exercise self-discipline and allow themselves and their genuine motives to be placed on a register and be regularly monitored.”

One thing about guns that my father was worried about. I asked him why he didn’t buy any guns (legally) and he said – when the situation eventually changes in America and becomes bad for the Jews, the first ones they will round up and shoot are the ones on their list that they know own guns and are a threat to them.

Maybe paranoid, but it has happened before elsewhere, and just because it didn’t happen here yet, doesn’t mean that it never could happen.

On the contrary, Time. He was in favor of military service for Jews so that we would be prepared for our own state.

Stuart, Yaakov also prepared for war. I imagine that he took weapons training.

CTL and Time, criminals will obtain guns no matter what. Today one can even print a gun from the Internet. After a wave of terrorist shootings in Israel the Minister of Public Safety eased the regs for gun licenses. Many attacks have been completely prevented or at least stopped because of armed civilians. However, to get a license one must show need (living in certain areas in considered an ipso facto need) or be a reserve officer in the IDF. Periodic weapons and psychological training are also required.

What does the record show about lawful gun owners using guns in violent crimes?

Let me amend that.
“…violent crimes motivated by personal anger or grievance against the victim?”

Who’s that? (I assume he’s not the Jewish pitcher for the NY Giants, 1941-6.)

🙂