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Psak 5766 Ellul 20


Informal translation from Hebrew of the 20 Ellul, 5766 (13 September 2006) statement:

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Special Court for Matters Concerning the Nation and the State
Secretary: Rabbi Amnon Hever Tel: 054-9400909 b.d.hartzion@gmail.com

Concerning the Officer who ordered the expulsion of Jewish families, and preventing his being called to the Torah

Article in Maariv newspaper:

Halachic Decision: The officer will not be called up to the Torah because he issued orders keeping Jews from their homes.


By Ro'i Sharon

An officer of the rank of captain from the military prosecutor, a resident of Ma'aleh Michmash, will not be able to be called up to the Torah in his community, thus according to the ruling of three rabbis, among them being a former member of the "Kach" movement.

The officer serves in the office of the legal council of Judea and Samaria division, and in the last few months, he put out 12 orders on right wing activists, forbidding them from staying in the boundaries of the territories.

Three rabbis wrote this severe halachic ruling, among them Rabbi Yisrael Ariel, the head of the Temple Institute in Jerusalem, and a former member of the "Kach" movement. Rabbi Ariel serves, among other things, as the head of the Court for Matters of Nation and State - an unofficial body that works according to Jewish law.

The three rabbis note in that the letter sent to the officer that "you were invited for a discussion, with the participation of the expellees, and you did not see fit to appear. You were invited again and you did not appear". Likewise it was written that "expulsion of a family from its home has within it also immediate theft of a family in Israel, cutting off a family and children under duress from their home, and the need to wander as a pursued family, all constitute damage and psychological suffering. In this, behold you are violating in a personal way on negative commandments of the Torah".

At the end of the decision it is written: "In light of your non-appearance in front of the court and in light of all that is said above, it is suggested to the rabbi of the community, the gabbai of the synagogue, and community leaders of the community, to prevent you from being called up to the Torah".

The IDF spokesman said in response that "the IDF sees negatively any attempt to threaten IDF officers who do their job faithfully according to what is imposed upon them".

Response from Court Spokesman

The Court for Matters of Nation and State, under the authority of the Sanhedrin, does not threaten but rather makes decisions according to the laws of Israel. Anything that is done in the name of Israel is under the authority of the court, including criticism of the invalid norms of the IDF, the government, and the judicial system, or whomever on their behalf, causes Jews to err or deceives them, and which all of them, whether they like it or not, are subject to the Torah which was set as a covenant at Sinai, the Plains of Moab, Mount Gerizim, and is renewed every day... The orders of the court are rehabilitative orders which come to remove obstacles from the army which is the army of Israel. Therefore the army needs to acknowledge the court.. Obedience to the Torah and the obligation of holiness of the camp of the Lord of Hosts, which is all of Israel, will contribute to the victories of the IDF in its wars and G-d forbid the opposite of this.. the expulsion of Jews from their homes is a grave error, a desecration of G-d's name in front of the nations of the world by abusing your fellow Jew, which causes the Divine Presence to leave, causing defeat in battle, and while an expelling Jew does not repent from such a serious matter, he should sit outside of the camp alone, therefore we have decided according to halacha.

Hillel Weiss, Speaker of the Court


Click here to see the Hebrew version

References


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