Another infant has frozen to death in Gaza. This is not only a crime against international law—it is a violation of Judaism’s most sacred teachings, carried out through excessive cruelty and sustained policy.
Jewish scripture is unequivocal. Pikuach nefesh—the obligation to preserve human life above all else—stands at the core of the Torah (Leviticus 18:5). The deliberate creation of conditions where babies die of cold mocks this commandment. Every child is created b’tzelem Elohim, in the image of God (Genesis 1:27). To allow an infant to perish from exposure is to desecrate that divine image.The Torah further commands, “Do not stand idly by the blood of your neighbor” (Leviticus 19:16). Yet the October 10 ceasefire has been violated repeatedly while homes remain destroyed, fuel blocked, and aid denied. Deuteronomy warns against oppressing the vulnerable—the widow, the orphan, the displaced—precisely those now freezing in tents (Deuteronomy 24:17).
This is not self-defense. It is achzariyut—excessive cruelty—explicitly forbidden by Jewish ethics and prophetic tradition alike. A ceasefire that permits infants to die is not restraint; it is moral collapse. When Jewish law is invoked to justify such suffering, it is not being upheld—it is being betrayed.
No comments:
Post a Comment