Jews can oppose war
To The Packet:
I respectfully take exception to the local rabbi's position stated in your Feb. 15 "Faith & Values" section: "It's the obligation of the Jewish community to support the government's decisions once it makes them." This flies in the face of 4,000 years of Jewish philosophy and teaching.
Abraham argued with God over God's decision to destroy Sodom. Moses argued with Pharaoh. Esther pleaded with the King of Persia. Arbranel scolded Isabella and Ferdinand. South Carolina's Francis Salvador stood up to England and died in our Revolution. South Carolina's Judah Benjamin stood up to Lincoln as the secretary of war, state and attorney general of the Confederate States of America. Albert Einstein and J. Robert Oppenheimer spoke out against nuclear proliferation. Jews and their rabbis spoke out against the war in Vietnam. Jews and their leaders today are speaking out against the proposed war in Iraq nationally and on Hilton Head Island at the biweekly peace meetings.
Jews were cautioned in their Torah not to have a king but to have faith only in God. The Jewish path is very clear. Peace is the highest of virtues. Jews "are to be like the disciples of Aaron, loving peace, pursuing peace, and bringing people closer to God."
If any government goes against that, any Jew at any time has an ethical obligation to stand up to it.
Dr. Arthur Segal
Hilton Head Island,SC
JEWISH RENEWAL:
JEWISH SPIRITUAL RENEWAL
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