These rabbis don’t seem extremist to me. They are simply explicating Torah. If Torah is extreme, then these rabbis are extreme. <\/p>\n
Haaretz<\/a>: After explaining when it is allowed to kill non-Jews in widely vilified ‘Torat Hamelech,’ rabbis Shapira and Elitzur are downplaying their second volume. They call it a theoretical work, but liberal rabbis fear it may serve as a call to arms. Theoretical document These rabbis don’t seem extremist to me. They are simply explicating Torah. If Torah is extreme, then these rabbis are extreme. Haaretz: After explaining when it is allowed to kill non-Jews in widely vilified ‘Torat Hamelech,’ rabbis Shapira and Elitzur … Continue reading
\nHaving a king seems like such a simple concept. Instead of the tiresome processes of democracy, a king can be anointed \u2013 a single sovereign with extraordinary rights who can enslave prisoners of war and do as he pleases. No elections and no High Court of Justice.
\nThe second part of \u201cTorat Hamelech\u201d (\u201cThe King\u2019s Torah\u201d) \u2013 written by rabbis from the Od Yosef Hai yeshiva in the West Bank settlement of Yitzhar \u2013 is written in the language of halakha (Jewish religious law) and quotes Jewish sources, while revealing the secret aspirations of the most extremist settlers.
\nThe compendium is devoted entirely to laws pertaining to \u201cthe public and the kingdom.\u201d In other words, to the establishment of a religious-Jewish monarchy that will replace secular democracy in Israel. It describes a world in which the king is omnipotent, owning slaves and handmaidens. A world in which Jews have extra rights and non-Jews cannot hold public office; a world in which there is no private property (everything belongs to the king) and rebels are put to death.
\nOd Yosef Hai has justifiably become the emblem of extremist yeshivot in the West Bank. Much of its notoriety comes from the first part of \u201cThe King\u2019s Torah,\u201d published by its rabbis Yitzhak Shapira and Yosef Elitzur in 2009. That book permits the shedding of non-Jewish blood under certain circumstances, and the shedding of Jewish blood under others. The book\u2019s publication led to a police investigation of its authors on suspicion of incitement to racism, but no one was prosecuted.
\nThis affair greatly raised yeshiva members\u2019 distrust of the Israeli media (albeit not the religious outlets). Mainstream journalists presented the book as a racist document, a halakhic abomination \u2013 and rightly so. Its title became synonymous with extremism and racism, partly because the yeshiva\u2019s members are perceived as extremists even within the religious-Zionist camp.<\/p>\n
\nThe first volume of \u201cThe King\u2019s Torah\u201d concerned laws relating to life and death between Jews and non-Jews. It detailed the laws that permit the killing of non-Jews under different circumstances \u2013 such as during wartime, or when a non-Jew threatens a Jew.
\nThe new volume gives a set of \u2013 totally dystopian \u2013 laws that will prevail in the kingdom of Israel. It discusses how the king will be chosen; what his rights will be; and what rights (if any) his subjects will have.
\nThe authors\u2019 associates and students strongly reiterate that their book does not pretend to offer an operative plan. They describe it as a theoretical document, a literary one, almost artistic \u2013 not a plan of action.
\nUpon its publication, the weekly newsletter Shvi\u2019i (handed out in synagogues belonging to the religious-Zionist camp), conducted an interview with the book\u2019s co-author, Rabbi Elitzur. In it, he laid out his vision for the state and its institutions. Among other things, he said his book was \u201cboring,\u201d and that the principles in the book and in reality are on parallel lines. \u201cTaking a sentence from the book and applying it to what\u2019s happening today, without thought or analysis, is a very bad idea,\u201d he noted.
\nRabbis Chaim Navon and Amichai Gordin from Har Etzion yeshiva (which is part of the moderate stream of religious Zionism), published a strong response in the following week\u2019s newsletter. They stated that \u201cclaims that this is purely an academic or halakhic debate are simply untrue. It is not a theoretical book but one calling for action, with practical conclusions at its end.\u201d
\nThey also referred to the first part of \u201cThe King\u2019s Torah,\u201d noting: \u201cThe halakhic discussions in the book seem to be geared to serving one purpose \u2013 to find as many rulings as possible permitting the killing of as many non-Jews as possible. To this end, they use unreasonable assumptions and manipulate the old sources of our sages. Beyond the halakhic conclusions, there is an evil wind blowing from this book. It makes it seem that the life of a non-Jew is worthless, like that of a fly. Even when killing a non-Jew is forbidden, it seems that this is like a prohibition on killing a fly on Shabbat. This is a destructive and distorted way of thinking, which could drive confused youth into criminal and repulsive acts. Such youngsters have indeed been found and criminal acts were committed. Can the authors claim to be innocent?\u201d
\nNavon and Gordin may be referring to the murder of East Jerusalem teen Mohammed Abu Khdeir in July 2014 and the torching of the Dawabsheh family home in Duma the following year.
\nIt\u2019s not certain the second volume will also be read only as an imaginary fantasy. It opens with a letter of \u201cconsent\u201d and a blessing by Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburgh, the spiritual leader of the royalists on the extreme right. He devotes his letter to his \u201cbeloved students\u201d Shapira and Elitzur, noting that \u201cthe issues discussed in the book are very relevant to our current situation, in which we are blessed to be settled in Israel, together with a large part of the Jewish people, in a situation where we hold the power.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"