War, Musar, and the Construction of Humility in Modern Jewish Thought
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/37329Keywords:
<i>musar</i>, Menachem Mebdel Lefin, Simhah Zissel, Kaufmann Kohler, Meir KahaneAbstract
This article considers how the musar (virtue-focused) tradition in Jewish ethics may shape Jewish moral judgments on questions of war and peace, focusing on various constructions of the virtue of humility in modern Jewish thought. It gives particular attention to concepts of humility advanced by Menachem Mendel Lefin, the leading figure of the Polish Haskalah, and it suggests that Lefin’s model of critical selfassessment, especially if carried out in partnership with those from different nations or traditions, could help to restrain the misplaced pride, enthusiasm, and impulses to dehumanize enemies that may emerge at times of war. The article brings Lefin’s approach into dialogue with three Jewish thinkers who argued that proper humility should in some cases encourage the use of violence and even the dehumanization of enemies: the Lithuanian Orthodox rabbi Simhah Zissel Ziv, the American Reform rabbi Kaufmann Kohler, and the militant Orthodox Israeli rabbi Meir Kahane.
References
Afterman, Adam and Gedaliah Afterman. 2015. "Meir Kahane and Contemporary Jewish Theology of Revenge." Soundings: An Interdisciplinary Journal 98(2): 192-217. https://doi.org/10.5325/soundings.98.2.0192
Ariel, Yaakov. 1991. "Kaufmann Kohler and His Attitude Toward Zionism: A Reexamination." American Jewish Archives 43(2): 207-223.
------. 2001. "Christianity Through Reform Eyes: Kaufmann Kohler's Scholarship on Christianity." American Jewish History 89(2): 181-191. https://doi.org/10.1353/ajh.2001.0021
Blidstein, Gerald J. 1991. "Holy War in Maimonidean Law." In Perspectives on Maimonides: Philosophical and Historical Studies, edited by Joel L. Kraemer, 209-220. Oxford: Littman Library of Jewish Civilization. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv1rmhcd.16
Bor, Harris. 1996. "Moral Education in the Age of the Jewish Enlightenment." Ph.D. Thesis, University of Cambridge.
Breslauer, S. Daniel. 1986. Meir Kahane: Ideologue, Hero, Thinker. Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen.
Chazen, Levi. 2014. "The Midianites Did Not Get Leaflets." July 17, 2014. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/15343
Claussen, Geoffrey D. 2015a. "A Jewish Perspective on War, Scripture, and Moral Accounting." Journal of Scriptural Reasoning 14(1): 1-15.
------. 2015b. "Pinhas, the Quest for Purity, and the Dangers of Tikkun Olam." In Tikkun Olam: Judaism, Humanism, and Transcendence, edited by David Birnbaum and Martin S. Cohen, 475-501. New York: New Paradigm Matrix.
------. 2015c. Sharing the Burden: Rabbi Simhah Zissel Ziv and the Path of Musar. Albany: State University of New York Press.
------. 2017a. "Repairing Character Traits and Repairing the Jews: The Talmud Torahs of Kelm and Grobin in the Nineteenth Century." Polin 30: 15-41.
------. 2017b. "The Promise and Limits of R. Simhah Zissel Ziv's Musar: A Response to Miller, Cooper, Pugh, and Peters." Journal of Jewish Ethics 3(1): 154-177. https://doi.org/10.5325/jjewiethi.3.1.0154
------. forthcoming. Modern Musar: Contested Virtues in Jewish Thought. Lincoln and Philadelphia: University of Nebraska Press and Jewish Publication Society.
Dan, Joseph. 1975. Sifrut Ha-Musar Ve-Ha-Derush [Hebrew Ethical and Homiletical Literature]. Jerusalem: Keter.
Eisen, Robert. 2011. The Peace and Violence of Judaism: From the Bible to Modern Zionism. New York: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199751471.001.0001
Etkes, Immanuel. 1993. Rabbi Israel Salanter and the Mussar Movement: Seeking the Torah of Truth. Translated by Jonathan Chipman. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society.
Firestone, Reuven. 2012. Holy War in Judaism: The Fall and Rise of a Controversial Idea. New York: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199860302.001.0001
Franklin, Benjamin. 1818. Memoirs of the Life and Writings of Benjamin Franklin. Volume 1. Philadelphia: William Duane.
Gelber, Natan M. 1964. "Mendel Lefin-Satanover Ve-Hatza'otav Le-Tikkun Orah Hayyim Shel Yehudei Polin Bifnei Ha-Seym Ha-Gadol (1788-1792)." In The Abraham Weiss Jubilee Volume. New York: The Abraham Weiss Jubilee Committee.
Goldstein, Eric L. 2006. The Price of Whiteness: Jews, Race, and American Identity. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Greenburg, William H. 1898. "Victory or Shame." The American Israelite, July 28, 1898.
Haberman, Jacob. 1998. "Kaufmann Kohler and His Teacher Samson Raphael Hirsch." The Leo Baeck Institute Yearbook 43(1): 73-103. https://doi.org/10.1093/leobaeck/43.1.73
Kahane, Meir. 1983. "Lu Hayyiti Rosh Ha-Memshalah [If I Were Prime Minister]." Atar Ha-Zikkaron Le-Rav Kahane. March 11, 1983. http://www.rabbikahane.org/ArticleView.aspx?id=138
------. 1996. The Jewish Idea. Translated by Raphael Blumberg. 2 vols. Jerusalem: Institute for Publication of the Writings of Rabbi Meir Kahane.
------. 2010. Beyond Words: Selected Writings of Rabbi Meir Kahane, 1960-1990. Edited by David Fein. 7 vols. Brooklyn: Institute for Publication of the Writings of Rabbi Meir Kahane.
Kohler, Kaufmann. 1897. "Jewish Ethics and Methods of Instruction." The American Hebrew, August 6, 1897.
------. 1898a. Guide for Instruction in Judaism; a Manual for Schools and Homes. New York: Philip Cowen.
------. 1898b. "God's Ultimatum to Spain." The American Hebrew, April 29, 1898.
------. 1916. Hebrew Union College and Other Addresses. Cincinnati: Ark.
------. 1918. Jewish Theology: Systematically and Historically Considered. New York: Macmillan.
Levin [Lefin], Menachem Mendel. 1995. Cheshbon Ha-Nefesh. Edited by Dovid Landesman. Translated by Shraga Silverstein. Jerusalem: Feldheim.
Magid, Shaul. Forthcoming. Meir Kahane: The Rise and Fall of an American Jewish Survivalist. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Maimonides, Moses. 1949. "Laws Concerning Kings and Wars." In The Code of Maimonides, Book 14: The Book of Judges, translated by Abraham M. Hershman, 205-242. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Peterson, Christopher, and Martin E. P. Seligman. 2004. Character Strengths and Virtues: A Handbook and Classification. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association and New York: Oxford University Press.
Pugh, Jeffrey C. 2017. "Whose Burden, Exactly, Are We Sharing?" Journal of Jewish Ethics 3(1): 138-45. https://doi.org/10.5325/jjewiethi.3.1.0138
Roth, Sol. 1995. "Towards a Definition of Humility." In Contemporary Jewish Ethics and Morality: A Reader, edited by Elliot N. Dorff and Louis E. Newman, 259-270. New York: Oxford University Press.
Saperstein, Marc. 2008. Jewish Preaching in Times of War, 1800-2001. Oxford: Littman Library of Jewish Civilization.
Silber, Michael K. 2004. "From Tolerated Aliens to Citizen-Soldiers: Jewish Military Service in the Era of Joseph II." In Constructing Nationalities in East Central Europe, edited by Pieter M. Judson and Marsha L. Rozenblit, 19-36. New York: Berghahn. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt1x76fbj.9
Sinkoff, Nancy. 2004. Out of the Shtetl: Making Jews Modern in the Polish Borderlands. Providence: Brown Judaic Studies.
Solis-Cohen, Solomon. 1898. "An Unholy War." American Hebrew, May 13, 1898.
Tishby, Isaiah and Joseph Dan. 1970. Mivhar Sifrut Ha-Musar [Hebrew Ethical Literature: Selected Texts]. Tel Aviv: M. Newman.
Ziv, Simhah Zissel. 1957. Sefer Hokhmah U-Musar. Volume 1. New York.
------. 1964. Sefer Hokhmah U-Musar. Volume 2. Jerusalem
