5 replies to this topic

[Morgenstern]

L'kovod Rabbi Shapiro Shlit'a,
I've heard the Rav say something *along the lines of* King David not being a warrior or military hero, and this being a Zionist falsification.

But, how does the Rav re-conciliate that with the fact that King David fought in wars?

[Punims]

(From the husband) King David did not fight in any wars. He won Galyas, but that was a miracle, he wasn't stronger than him and didn't fight him. Yes, he was a king and had generals who fought for him, but he himself did not fight any wars.

[taon]

To add, originally i think he did go to battle, before he was king, but was eventually told not to. 

But lets say he did go to war. DOes that make him the warrior character? Is that who he is? They describe him as the typical depicion of a warrior, bot a tzaddik who, at times, needed to go to battle.

[Morgenstern]

Well Shmuel Alef 16:18 says Dovid Hamelech is a man of war...there is also the time Shaul sent him to collect Philistine orlahs....Rabbi Shapiro shlita said we had no military heroes but what of Avner and Yoav? And Yehoshua when he led the milchama against the Cannani kings? All the battles Bnei Yisrael fought? Avraham went to war with the 4 kings....I'd like to hear Rabbi Shapiro explain this since he was the one who made the statement that we never had military heroes. I understand we don't glorify warriors, as that is the craft of Esav, and the tzaadikim weren't these people who liked fighting wars (we can be sure that there were among them those who had a pension for bloodshed though they channeled it for the good) but to say there were no military heroes?

[taon]

As you say, there is a difference between having Jews who were in battle, and having military heroes who are glorified for it.

[FS613]

From what I understand about the topic,

 

Jews fight a Milchemess Mitzvah when necessary;

 

but the main occupation of every Jew is the Torah.

 

Jews don't have "military heroes" whose occupation is devotion to the military, like non-Jews.