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DEUTERONOMY — 13:7 incite

DEUT622 R. Yochanan said in the name of R. Shimon b. Yehotzadak: Where is the prohibition against being alone with those who are sexually forbidden intimated in the Torah? "If there shall incite you your brother, the son of your mother." Now does the son of the mother incite, and not the son of the father? The verse, then, is an illusion to the halachah that a son may be alone with his mother, but [otherwise] it is forbidden to be alone with those who are sexually forbidden (Kiddushin 80b)

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DEUTERONOMY — 13:8 entices

DEUT623 (Continued from [[LEV613]] Leviticus 19:17 reprove DORFFWITO 83). … Another kind of situation in which a person should say something negative about someone else is if that person is doing something wrong. That is precisely the case where the Torah demands that even the closest of relatives shun the person and contribute to the person's death ... (Deuteronomy 13:7-12). Although Jewish courts no longer have the authority to execute people, presumably if someone is leading Jews astray theologically (e.g., Jews for Jesus) or morally (e.g., to take drugs or to harm someone), then we clearly must argue against what they advocate, maybe even to the point of suggesting (or, in the case of family or close friends, urging or even demanding) that one stay away from such people. Along these lines, some recent research suggests that complaining publicly about slackers or those who threaten a group's identity or success in other ways can have the positive effects of defining group membership and reinforcing group norms. It also alerts people, especially newcomers, to guard against those in the group who are not reliable or trustworthy. These cases involve speaking negatively about others to avoid a clear harm, not just for the sake of feeling superior. The research indicates, though, that sometimes gossip and slurs function in a socially and psychologically healthy way even when all they do is relieve loneliness and self-doubt by confirming that other people are having the same problems you are. Defining the line where such speech becomes prohibited lashon hara is not always easy.

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DEUTERONOMY — 13:9 inclined

DEUT625 Because it is written (Leviticus 19:18): "And you shall love your neighbor as yourself," I might think that you should love this, one, too; it is, therefore, written: "You shall not be inclined towards him." Or I might think, because it is written (Exodus 23:5): "Unload shall you unload [an animal] with him," that you should unload for this one, too; it is, therefore, written: "and you shall not hearken to him" (Sifrei).

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DEUTERONOMY — 13:9 pity

DEUT629 In the section of Midrash that discussed Jewish law, Sifri describes proper Jewish behavior in times of war. In addition to the prohibition to intentionally defeat the enemy by tactics of starvation (unless they resist all peace overtures), is also forbidden to kill the women and children in war, the "innocents" (Midrash, Sifri, Shoftim 56-57). Thus, even in obligatory war, a Jewish army should be sensitive not to cause collateral damage, whenever possible. It should be noted that this was written at a time when every other army in the world killed innocents indiscriminately, including women and children in the course of war, unless they were later "saved" for slave labor or other future (generally nefarious) uses by the soldiers. In accordance with the verses quoted above, Jewish law mandates that when fighting a conventional war, the Jews must first publicly declare their intentions to fight by sending public letters to the enemy (Maimonides, Hilchot Melachim 6:5). This allows the innocent civilians and those who do not want to fight to escape the battle scene. Unfortunately, as noted above, this tactic could not possibly be used in our situation [i.e., fighting terrorists who are located within civilian populations], since the element of surprise is a prerequisite for killing the terrorist. As soon as the Israeli army would warn the residence of an apartment house that it intends to kill the terrorist living there and that they should therefore leave the place, the element of surprise would be lost, and the terrorists would be able to escape along with the others. When fighting a Jewish war, Jewish law also forbids an army from completely surrounding the enemy (Maimonides, Hilchot Melachim 6:7). One of the reasons for this is to allow any civilians and those that do not want to fight to leave the camp or escape the city, thus preventing the bloodshed of innocent lives. Even when there is a Torah Mitzvah to completely destroy a city of idol worshipers by burning the city--Including all lives and all booty--according to the simple reading of the text, Nachmanides says that innocent women and children may not be killed (although not all opinions agree) (Deuteronomy 13:9 with Nachmanides commentary). Although this principle of not killing innocent people during a war seems obvious by twenty-first-century standards, the massacres that took place in Sudan and before that in Rwanda just a few years ago demonstrate that many nations even today do not abide by or practice this principle. At the time Nachmanides lived, and certainly in Torah times, no army observed these ethics in war except for the Jewish people. Similarly, Maimonides rules that in the course of any non--obligatory war, a Jewish army may not kill innocent women and children (Maimonides, Hilchot Melachim 6:5).

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DEUTERONOMY — 13:9 pity

DEUT630 It is axiomatic that every human impulse can be made to serve a good purpose (Berachot 54a), not excluding hatred and harshness. Hate of crime is salutary. The withholding of pity from murderers is commendable. Indiscriminate compassion unwittingly rewards the criminal and punishes his victim. The biblical injunction "thine eyes shall not pity him" [this verse] is repeated many times to stress the necessity of acting mercilessly against criminals whose offenses are of major gravity. (Continued at [[EXOD591]] Exodus 21:24 eye BLOCH 61-2)

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DEUTERONOMY — 13:9 pity

DEUT633 You possess many different qualities ... two... are mercy and ruthlessness. Mercy should be shown to the needy, the poor, the sick, and to those who [out of piety] withdraw from the world; to one who does not recognize how fortunate he is; to one who does not know how to manage himself; to one held prisoner by his enemy; to one who lost a great fortune; to one who has remorse for his transgressions; and to one who weeps over past sins, out of fear of Divine punishment. Ruthlessness is in place when getting even with the wicked and avenging the corrupters in the land, as it says in Scripture: “Do not look with pity upon him, do not have mercy on him, and do not shield him” (Devarim 13:9).

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