Here's a timely quote about militarism and the use of force in national "self defense," taken from The Prophets, a masterpiece by Avraham Yehoshua Heschel z"l illuminating the inner world and perspectives of the prophets of Israel:
The prophets were the first men in history to regard a nation's reliance upon force as evil. Hosea condemned militarism as idolatrous.
Israel has forgotten his Maker
And built palaces;
Judah has multiplied fortified cities....
You have trusted in your chariots
And in the multitude of your warriors,...
[Israel has] gone up to Assyria,
A wild ass wandering alone;...
They hire allies among the nations....
When Ephraim saw his sickness,
And Judah his wound,
Then Ephraim went to Assyria,
And sent to the great [?] king.
But he is not able to cure you
Or heal your wound.
Hosea 8:14; 10:13; 8:9-10; 5:13
Having anticipated Isaiah's vision of enduring peace, Hosea proclaimed in the name of the Lord: "I will not deliver them by bow, nor by sword, nor by war, nor by horses, nor by horsemen....I will make for you a covenant on that day with the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the creeping things of the ground; I will abolish the bow, the sword, and war from the land, and I will make you lie down in safety" (Hos. 1:7; 2:18).
"The gods are on the side of the stronger," according to Tacitus. The prophets proclaimed that the heart of God is on the side of the weaker. God's special concern is not for the mighty and the successful, but for the lowly and the downtrodden, for the stranger and the poor, for the widow and the orphan.
The heart of God goes out to the humble, to the vanquished, to those not cared for.
I will restore health to you,
And your wounds I will heal, says the Lord,
Because they have called you an outcast:
It is Zion, for whom no one cares.
Jeremiah 30:17
The Lord has founded Zion,
And in her the afflicted of His people find refuge....
The meek shall obtain fresh joy in the Lord,
And the poor among men shall exult in the Holy One of Israel.
Isaiah 14:32; 29:19
"For not by force shall man prevail" (I Sam. 2:9). "The nations shall see and be ashamed of all their might" (Mic. 7:16). "Not by might,...says the Lord of hosts" (Zech. 4:6).
Some boast of chariots, and some of horses;
But we boast of the name of the Lord our God....
His delight is not in the strength of the horse,
Nor is His pleasure in the legs of a man.
But the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear Him,
In those who hope in His steadfast love.
Psalms 20:7; 147:10-11
This is the man to whom I will look,
He that is humble and contrite in spirit,
And trembles at My word....
For thus says the high and the lofty One
Who inhabits eternity, Whose name is Holy:
I dwell in the high and holy place,
And also with him who is a contrite and humble spirit.
To revive the spirit of the humble,
To revive the heart of the contrite...
Zion shall be redeemed by justice,
And those in her who repent, by righteousness.
Isaiah 66:2; 57:15; 1:27
Powerful words to heed, as we address some of our challenges: extreme militarization in Israeli society and the marginalization of apolitical diplomacy independently conducted on a popular level. Bringing Zionism into the 21st century, as a living social movement that remains holy and meaningful to Jews across the world, may entail some thoughtful reconsideration of suppositions and premises that underly the attitudes and policies we've supported thus far. May this be a year of looking beyond brawn and bullets for safety, security, and peace!
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