War Between Nations: When is it Permitted

Audio file: https://asknoah.org/wp-content/uploads/radioshow23_2-45.mp3

This recording is a review of an article by Rabbi J. David Bleich of Yeshiva University and Cordoza Law School. He is a renown expert on Torah law, who contributed an important review of our book Sheva Mitzvot HaShem by Rabbi Moshe Weiner. He explains the circumstances that lead to very limited permission within the Torah’s Noahide Code for warfare by Gentile nations.

Information on permissible or forbidden actions for Gentile soldiers, in taking prisoners or booty, is included in Sheva Mitzvot HaShem. In Part VIII on Courts of Law, Chapter 16 covers some Torah laws of wars by Gentile nations. (This book is in Hebrew. The English edition, which does not include that chapter, is titled The Divine Code.)

See also The Divine Code, Part VII, topics 10:1-4 (Taking Captives), and topics 14:1-3 and 9-10 (Land Conquered in War).

– By Dr. Michael Schulman, Director of Ask Noah International