Can the death of Israeli soldiers be linked to neglect of Torah study?

The Mishnah teaches: “Talmud Torah keneged kulam – the study of Torah is equal to everything”. It is a principle we affirm every morning as it is incorporated in our prayers as a daily reminder that a lifelong commitment to learning Torah is integral to our Jewish identity.

Rabbi Sacks beautifully captured this centrality: “When we pray we are speaking to God. But when we learn, we are listening to God.” Torah learning nurtures not only knowledge but character and connection. As the prophet Joshua taught: “This Book of the Torah shall not depart from your mouth… then you will succeed in all your ways”. In other words, our nation’s fortunes are dependent on our ongoing commitment to learn Torah.

The Gemara extends this idea further and explains that when there is suffering with no clear cause, it may be linked to dereliction of Torah study. That is not an accusation – it is a lens, a possible spiritual message to inspire us to feel the true value and power of Torah.

Our willingness to listen to God’s word is essential to Jewish life because it leads to action – the performance of mitzvot – and that is why a person will enjoy some reward for the mitzvah of Talmud Torah in this world, but the principal amount is reserved for the World to Come.

However, while there is much talmudic discussion on the interplay between wrongdoing and suffering, no conclusion is reached that suggests that there is a direct correlation between them. In fact, the book of Job is taken as the prooftext that assigning blame in times of suffering can be both theologically unsound and emotionally cruel.

Above all, we remember the timeless words of the prophet Isaiah: “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not My ways, says God.”

This verse reminds us that God’s calculations are beyond human comprehension. What may seem unjust to us is part of a divine plan we cannot see. We cry. We pray. We grow. But we accept that we cannot know the mind of God.

Alex Chapper is senior rabbi of Borehamwood and Elstree (United) Synagogue

A Progressive view: Rabbi Romain

How about fury, disdain or incredulity?

Fury, because it is those soldiers (be they religious or secular) who risk their lives, and sometimes lose them, so that Charedi students can sit in peace and study all day.

Without the IDF, there would be no Israel, the yeshivot would be overrun and those students massacred. Rather than being admonished by religious authorities, soldiers should be praised, while Charedi students should serve too.

Disdain, because although it is certainly meritorious to study, and it is good to encourage other people to do so, it is utterly callous to use the death of soldiers as an advertisement for the importance of study.

Tell people they should study for its own sake, or for their personal benefit, or for the continuity of Jewish learning, but not because study avoids more soldiers dying. That is emotional blackmail… and unsubstantiated.

But the most powerful response should be incredulity as to the warped theology behind such a remark. It is based on the assumption that whatever happens in the world is the will of God, even if we do not understand it at the time. That is a respectable and well-established belief among several Jewish groups, but sometimes the consequences can be repugnant.

In this case, it implies God killed, or allowed Israeli soldiers to be killed, so as to teach everyone else a lesson about the importance of study. What kind of God educates by taking young lives and uses their deaths as a divine blackboard?

A far better response would have been to say that God may be the source of life, but humans are in charge of the world (as many talmudic rabbis have longed argued, saying that it is our decisions that hold sway now - Baba Metsia 59b).

It means that life is often beyond our control despite our best efforts, random events can happen, we have to expect the unexpected, and much takes place that is unfair and tragic.

Rather than look in vain for tortuous explanations for why things happen, especially when bad things happen to good people, instead we have to ask how we can respond. In the case of these soldiers, it may be safer equipment, better intelligence or some other improvement.

We may also wish to support their families, give to charity or undertake study in their memory. But we should not pervert Judaism to justify their deaths.

Jonathan Romain is convenor of the Reform Beit Din

Image: An Israeli soldier who fell in Gaza is laid to rest (photo: Alamy)

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