In
the history of nations, sovereignty is never free. It is purchased and
maintained at the cost of sacrifice, often of blood. For Jews, the
modern State of Israel is not just a political convenience—it is the
first return to Jewish self-rule in two thousand years. And yet, there
are those who claim the full right to live here, enjoy the freedoms and
protections the state provides, and still refuse to serve in its
defense. At a time of existential threat, this position is not merely
controversial. It is morally indefensible.
The
argument is simple: if you claim the benefits of a community—its
safety, infrastructure, freedoms—you are bound by justice to share in
the burdens of maintaining it. This is as true for a neighborhood watch
as it is for a sovereign state. When rockets fall, borders are breached,
and enemies openly declare their intention to wipe us out, choosing to
live here without helping to defend the land is choosing to let someone
else risk his life for yours.
To live in a state where Jewish
soldiers guard your home, patrol your streets, and stand ready to die in
your place, yet insist that you bear no part in their burden, is to
live at the expense of others’ courage. The Torah command “Do not stand
idly by the blood of your neighbor” (Leviticus 19:16) is not fulfilled by watching from the sidelines.
Jewish history is filled with moments
when disunity and the refusal to share in defense led to catastrophe.
The Talmud’s account of the destruction of the Second Temple (Gittin 55b–56a)
is a grim reminder of what happens when a nation fractures internally
while enemies surround it. The lesson is clear: if sovereignty is to
endure, all who enjoy it must protect it.
In times of peace, a debate about the
exact nature of one’s obligations to the state can be an academic
exercise. In times of existential danger, such debates are stripped of
their abstraction. If we will not defend our right to live here with our
bodies as well as our hearts, we forfeit the moral claim to live here
at all. Sovereignty without shared sacrifice is a hollow shell. And a
hollow shell, in the harsh winds of history, does not last long.
Rabbi Hirsch - Love it, fight for the one and only Jewish state, or leave it!
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