1
The moral essence of war is victory of the just. Jewish doctrine in other contexts warns us not to take the side of the rich, and therefore it prohibits bribery, while at the same time warning “and you shall show no deference to a poor person in a dispute” i.e. the weak does not earn the right to automatic support because they are weak. Our moral code is not a moral code for the strong or even for the weak. It is the moral code of the just. The unilateral moral status would be for rockets not to land on the inhabitants of the South and other places in the State of Israel. This must be a unilateral statement without compromise and negotiations. No missile, under any circumstances, should be fired at the people of the State of Israel, and the just moral claim is to bring about a complete end to this attack, involving a unilateral clarification regarding what the future will involve if a single rocket is fired after any agreement is put in place. Not relative silence, not tense silence – total silence.
2
While considering the obligation to win, one must do all that they can in order to minimize the harm caused to those who are not involved in the war. There is no clean war, and this responsibility exists, as stated, in deference to the obligation to defeat the wicked, and woe unto us if we base the war for our existence on the lack of errors. However, it does exist, and we cannot ignore it. It emerges from the fact that despite the obligation to kill at times, the fundamental principle of “one who sheds the blood of a man, his blood will be shed by man, for in the Image of God was man created”, which is a universal biblical ideal that existed even before the establishment of the nation of Israel. There are additional rationales for this moral imperative from our perspective as well – from our responsibility to sanctify the name of the Master of the World and prevent its desecration to practical issues that teach us that any harm caused to people who are not involved in war lessens the war’s achievements, whether justifiably or hypocritically. Therefore, we must work hard in order to prevent innocent people from being harmed and praise the IDF for this effort via providing total public support for their attempts not to harm innocents for no reason and in situations where, chas vechalilah, mistakes are made.
3.
The moral obligation on us, the people who are not distant from the war and away from the missiles, is first and foremost – solidarity. This solidarity cannot be encapsulated by listening to the news alone and backstage analyses of the strategic interests of the State of Israel. It comes from our readiness to do much more than we do at normal times in any field that we engage in. Every person will assess for themselves where they can do more for the Jewish nation, for the people of the South, by carrying the shared burden with the rest of the population. When we are discussing ourselves, Yeshiva students who are not currently in active service, these matters are obvious. Beyond the responsibility to learn Torah that exists by its very own nature, the very same commitment to the Nation of Israel that shortens active service of yeshiva students so that they may learn Torah – gives us the obligation in this time of emergency to do what we are responsible for doing in this time and learn with more strength and fervor. A yeshiva student who does not take their studies serious now damages not only the eternal foundations of learning Torah, but his spiritual role and obligation as well. Only through this position may one turn outwards and do what he can to contribute to the special Nation of Israel in times of emergency and through all-inclusive national servitude.
4.
When things are normal, this last point would have appeared first. One of the foundations that we learn in yeshiva during the study of Tanach is that there is no dangerous time for social morality and justice than a time of emergency. At this time all moral obligations towards a convert, orphan, and widow as representatives of people who are pushed to the fringes are forgotten, and their rights are harmed in the pursuit of national interests. The prophets deal with this