Fundamentalism into the mainstream

You kill the enemy However thats only if they are the enemy. It is certainly interesting to see what the Torah and Halachah says about war. I doubt though that this book was practical Halachah probably theoretical. I'm glad people are researching Halachah and war. We must be careful to look a the context and not take things out of context but some of the Halachah about war may be politically incorrect and unpopular. Other aspects may resonate more. I hope more research about these issues come out. There are usually various views in Halachic literature. I see nothing wrong with their research and it seems to me this is theorectical not practical Halachah.

The Defense Ministry is the governmental body which "approves" the Yeshiva academies in which high-school graduates can study and thus delay and shorten their military service. The problem is that the Ministry does not select APPROPRIATE yeshivas, but agrees to any extreme place run by extreme rabbis. The good thing about not having a Pope is that one can pick one's rabbi, as long as that one is properly accredited. One can pick a moderate rabbi (such as Rabbi Lichtenstein) and study in his Yeshiva, and one can pick an extreme zealot rabbi (like Rabbi Lior) and study with him. The Defense Ministry should not approve extreme rabbis and yeshivas for the "Hesder" arrangement (study before military service). Any rabbi who advocates disobeying military orders should be kicked out of the program. This is a "must". People are free to go to any yeshiva AFTER their military service, but if they want a Hesder yeshiva, they must go to an approved one.

What do you do when you are immersed from childhood in pre-medieval law which distinguishes between killing a Jew and killing a Gentile? While killing anybody is forbidden by Halakha, the murderer is punished by execution if he killed a Jew, but is only "punished by Heaven" if he killed a Noahide (e.g., a Muslim). Today you have rabbinic opinions that allow killing of Arabs, even innocents, that endanger Jewish control of the Land. They simply compare the importance of the various commandments and come to such conclusions. Rabin's assassination was also sanctioned by some according to Jewish law of "mosser". The settlers see no problem in burning down Arab crops, or uprooting their olive trees, just to get back at the IDF, and not for any wrong the Arabs committed. The Halakha was not updated much, certainly did not have a chance to evolve naturally under conditions of Jewish control over Gentiles. Since changes in it are extremely slow, it is best to override it wholesale, as was done in laws concerning financial issues, according to the ruling of "Dina d'malchuta dina", "the law of the land is valid." But I wonder how long it will take to also change the moral/ethical influence that goes with the outdated Halakha.

It's quite open. Go talk to the settlers in Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan. The settlers' hatred and bigotry is completely frank and in-your-face, which means that the government and the municipality are both actively complicit. These fundamentalists are the government's enforcing arm and thus mainstream, whether they are the majority of religious people or not.

In a Jewish Srate, The Law of the Torah is first, and The Law of the Land is only complementary.If Israel is aLand like all other lands, and not a Jewish Land, You can admit The Law of the Land First, But in these case forget of all that make us Jews. ISRAEL IS FIRST OF ALL A JEWISH STATE, and the zionists ,the liberal left can nothing do about it, HALAHA , IS THE RULING LAW IN A JEWISH STATE.

all over the world people are dying because of Islamists. Get real!

Your condemnation of the substance of Torat HaMelech is well taken However your credibility would have been enhanced had you also criticized the hauling in of the author and his questioning by the police. I cant believe that a democratic society ,where freedom of speech is paramount ,would allow that kind of interference by the authorities

Religious extremism and fundemantilism be it of any religion is one of the most destructive forces in the world. We very often hear of Wahhabi fundamentalist but hardly enough about Christian and Jewish extremism which has sought wanton destruction around the globe in modern history. It is refreshing to see such articles being published. Hopefully, the many books and articles that have been published to expose Jewish Wahhabism will find its way before it's too late.

The first quotes which refer to the 'possibility' of killing enemy soldiers and civilians who are supporting them in war time is hardly novel. It sounds as if the authors are saying that soldiers are permitted to bomb enemy targets even if enemy civilians may be killed. Bar'el should take a course on World War 2 and the allied bombing campaigns if he thinks this is unusual. The next quote, about killing children, is more interesting. But the Hebrew Haaretz article uses the word 'yesh sevarah' to introduce the possibility of killing enemy children. In Jewish legal texts that typically means that this is a minority opinion which is not to be followed, one would have to consult the text to be sure. Moreover, even according to this opinioni, it must be 'clear' that enemy children will continue hostilities when they grow up. This is hard to understand as Jewish texts provide examples of grave enemies whose children were converts. We might also note that under Jewish law, enemies must be given the chance to accept peace, and to flee if they wish to escape death. Were these mentioned in the book? I imagine they were, again one would have to consult the original text to know for sure. Perhaps Haaretz could provide access to the original text in Hebrew so we can all judge for ourselves. Mr. Bar'el might also want to provide an alternative moral system for dealing with the horrible questions of war, along with examples - perhaps he is comfotable with Soviet war methods? or Palmach methods? Or the Muslim methods? Or the American methods used against Japan and Germany?

Is the rise of religious fundamentalism. When nations allow themselves to become lobotomized by religious nut-cases, nothing good may come of it.

Why don't we place the Fundamentalist Rabbis in a ring with Fundamentalist Imams and let them fight it out. When they have killed each other...we can close the hatred chapter and relegate them to the history books of a madness sickness.

all these students are state-subsidised,and the war-preaching rabbis did not do their IDF bit,nor the students,you can say they have boundless khutzpah.you can add that thus,israel the state,is a partner in the crime of dissemination of false "judaism" and strident militant ignorance.

Fundamentalist never see the historical background of a religion. They take parts of a text like a ultimate truth. They can't open their eyes, they are fanatic, they don't look for new solutions in the modern society. The fundamentlism in all religions and ideologies is similar. They don't accept different theories, religions and they hate, kill the other people, who don't believe like them- they don't want a multicultural society. Fundamentalism is the destruction of the culture. House of King David, family of Avicenna, Maimonides, Hegel, T.Jefferson

As a Western outsider I can only note that where the West respects, values and supports Israel as a secular (Western) state, it does not hold any sympathy for states based on religious fanaticism. Islamic, Jewish, or otherwise. On the one hand, the image of a nation that makes the desert bloom and carves out a place in the world through sheer hard work, talent and intelligence is impossible to reject. The (now largely superseded) model of the Kibbutz also commands widespread sympathy. On the other hand however, the image projected by e.g. Mea Shearim is virtually indistinguishable from the image projected by Islamic fundamentalists, with the sole exception of waging Jihad and throwing bombs. But that may be a close thing if the above article gives an accurate account of the situation. As highlighted in the article, Jewish religious fundamentalism may be in danger of becoming mainstream in Israel. If it does, Both secular Israel and the Jewish state lose the moral high ground, and with it the most compelling reason for the West to support Israel. Speaking bluntly: any fate that Israel suffers in its role of one of two otherwise indistinguishable religious fundamentalist antagonists is not something most people in the West view as something to lose sleep over. On the contrary: there is no point in antagonizing large tracts of people (Muslims, Arabs) to support one particular brand of (in this case Jewish) religious extremists over another (Islamic) one. I'm afraid this is not conducive to the safety and security of Israel. What do you think?

1. However objectionable and worthy of repudiating this idiot rabbi's words are, you cannot be a hypocrite. You cannot scream hysterically everytime some radical rightist spouts out his drivel, but then shout "democracy!" every time somebody on the left or and Arab MK openly calls for the end of Zionism or identifies with Israel's enemies or calls for refusal to serve in the IDF. 2. No, this idiot does not represent the mainstream. I don't know where you get this idea. Sarcasm doesn't substitute for logic and facts.

It is rather assimilation being thrown into oblivion.The jewish people have decided.The media and big capital shall respect the people"s decision.They have lost the Kulturkampf in spite of their allover might.

Herzl had a dream, we thought it came true in 1948, did anybody suspect that the dream will be distroyed by men who are no better or worse than for instance the Taliban now or the cruisaders in the middle ages?

I encourage every educated person to read the jewish religion(s), and then make his(her) judgement concerning a state leaded by such extremist people.

"Fundamentalist" is a term sometimes used to refer to anyone who is intolerant of other's beliefs. Fundamentalism is "not so much an ideology as it is an attitude, an attitude of intolerance, incivility and narrowness. That describes the leftys in Israel LEFT FUNDAMENTALISM THAT IS WHAT WORRIES ME!

And attempt to kill as many innocent bystanders they can? Please stop already with the fake moral relativity. There is also mormon fundamentalists, and while the use of the word "fundamentalist" may be applicable, the fact that Islamic fundamentalism represents mass murder of innocents on a global scale as a means of strategty makes it very different than every other type of fundamentalism. So quit trying clever word games, you're missing the clever.

and take things out of context. Hard to believe that u are allowed to print this drivel. The Torah says not to hate an Egyptian in this past week's parshah, as Rashi says, even though they killed your first born, we are also told to request peace from the Canaanites and to fight only if they reject it, you are not knowledgeable enough to judge the "book of books" and had we listened to the Torah, hundreds of Israelis and Palestinians would be alive today, so keep up the good work, and when we give back the land in search of your humane peace and find ourselves facing down a new Holocaust, perhaps you'll understand the wisdom of G-d's Book

with the assistance of IDF chaplins! These men are no different than the Imam's who preach terror - nor are those who embrace their philosophy any different than the terrorists they breed.

That's already happening, isn't it?

Extremism in all regions is dangerous. Movements like wahabism are interested only in the rules of the religion. Yes, religion has some rules but those rules are not the real objective. They are just means. That's why they fall apart from the truth. On the other hand Sufism is the antidote in Islam. Thoughts of Mevlana and Yunus Emre in Anatolia represent it best. So I totally disagree with the people saying that There is no enlightenment period in Islam. And I dont see any difference between a jihadist living in Afghan steps and so-called pious christian preparing himself to burn Koran the book of the god, in USA or rabbis inciting the people against other people. They are all the same...

Fundamentalists (whether Jewish, Muslim, Christian, Communist or economic conservatism) advance their beliefs no matter what damage results. Rational thought is discarded in favor of a thought, belief or supposed endowment from God. They remain disconnected from reality while destroying peoples and institutions for the sake of a sense of superiority for their fundamentalist group. Inevitably they fail, and others must fix the damage. However the fundamentalist misfits inevitably keep resurfacing and repeating history. Unfortunately there are too many complacent people that will not even pay attention to the rise of zealots until the damage is massive.