1. Introduction
On October 7th, a tragic event unfolded that shook the foundations of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. A massacre orchestrated by Hamas claimed the lives of over 1000 individuals, while hundreds more were unfortunate victims of kidnappings. In response, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched a determined effort to suppress Hamas activities and locate the hostages believed to be inside Gaza.
As tensions escalated, a series of hostage negotiations unfolded, drawing global attention. The culmination of these efforts saw a controversial deal materialize at the end of November. This deal involved the release of 50 Israeli hostages in exchange for 150 Hamas terrorists, raising questions about the ethics, consequences, and potential implications of such agreements.
Today we will begin the Discussion, and only touch the surface of the Halachic discussion about Hostage Deals.
2. How is 'Redeeming Captives' Viewed In The Torah?
וְאֵין לְךָ מִצְוָה גְּדוֹלָה כְּפִדְיוֹן שְׁבוּיִים שֶׁהַשָּׁבוּי הֲרֵי הוּא בִּכְלַל הָרְעֵבִים וְהַצְּמֵאִים וַעֲרוּמִּים וְעוֹמֵד בְּסַכָּנַת נְפָשׁוֹת. וְהַמַּעֲלִים עֵינָיו מִפִּדְיוֹנוֹ הֲרֵי זֶה עוֹבֵר
1) "לֹא תְאַמֵּץ אֶת לְבָבְךָ וְלֹא תִקְפֹּץ אֶת יָדְךָ"
2) "לֹא תַעֲמֹד עַל דַּם רֵעֶךָ"
3) "לֹא יִרְדֶּנּוּ בְּפֶרֶךְ לְעֵינֶיךָ".
וּבִטֵּל מִצְוַת
1) "פָתֹחַ תִּפְתַּח אֶת יָדְךָ לוֹ".
2) "וְחֵי אָחִיךָ עִמָּךְ".
3) "וְאָהַבְתָּ לְרֵעֲךָ כָּמוֹךָ".
4) "וְהַצֵּל לְקֻחִים לַמָּוֶת"
וְהַרְבֵּה דְּבָרִים כָּאֵלּוּ.
וְאֵין לְךָ מִצְוָה רַבָּה כְּפִדְיוֹן שְׁבוּיִים:
There is no greater mitzvah than the redemption of captives
For a captive is among those who are hungry, thirsty, and unclothed and he is in mortal danger (For at any time, his captors may take his life.)
If someone pays no attention to his redemption, he violates the negative commandments:
1) "Do not harden your heart or close your hand"
2)"Do not stand by when the blood of your neighbour is in danger" and
3)"He shall not oppress him with exhausting work in your presence".
And he has negated the observance of the positive commandments:
1) "You shall certainly open up your hand to him"
1) "You shall certainly open up your hand to him"
2) "And your brother shall live with you",
3)"Love your neighbour as yourself"
4)"Save those who are taken for death", and many other decrees of this nature.
There is no mitzvah as great as the redemption of captives.
Question: According to this, Do you think there would be a limit to what one should do to redeem captives?
3) Limit to Redeeming Captives
מַתְנִי׳ אֵין פּוֹדִין אֶת הַשְּׁבוּיִין יָתֵר עַל כְּדֵי דְּמֵיהֶן, מִפְּנֵי תִּיקּוּן הָעוֹלָם.
MISHNA:The captives are not redeemed for more than their actual monetary value, for the betterment of the world
Question:What do you think it means מִפְּנֵי תִּיקּוּן הָעוֹלָם?
גְּמָ׳ אִיבַּעְיָא לְהוּ: הַאי ״מִפְּנֵי תִּיקּוּן הָעוֹלָם״ – מִשּׁוּם דּוּחְקָא דְצִבּוּרָא הוּא, אוֹ דִילְמָא מִשּׁוּם דְּלָא לִגְרְבוּ וְלַיְיתוֹ טְפֵי?
GEMARA:
A dilemma was raised before the Sages: With regard to this expression: For the betterment of the world, is it due to
1) The financial pressure of the community? Is the concern that the increase in price will lead to the community assuming financial pressures it will not be able to manage? Or perhaps
2) Is it that paying exorbitant amounts will only encourage future kidnappings?, as they will see that it is not worthwhile for them to take Jews captive?
Question:What could be a practical difference between these two cases?
What is the bottom Line - I.e. What do we say the reason is that one is not permitted to pay 'more than their value'?
אֵין פּוֹדִין אֶת הַשְּׁבוּיִים בְּיֶתֶר עַל דְּמֵיהֶן מִפְּנֵי תִּקּוּן הָעוֹלָם. שֶׁלֹּא יִהְיוּ הָאוֹיְבִים רוֹדְפִין אַחֲרֵיהֶם לִשְׁבּוֹתָם.
We do not redeem captives for more than Their worth for the benefit of the world at large, i.e., so that enemies will not pursue people to hold them captive.
(ד) אין פודין השבויים יותר מכדי דמיהם מפני תיקון העולם שלא יהיו האויבים מוסרים עצמם עליהם לשבותם
(4) Captives are not to be ransomed at an unreasonable cost, for the safety of society; otherwise, the enemies would exert every effort to capture victims.
Question: How does this Halachic ruling impact our topic?
4) Can we ever go past this Limit?
Question: Do you think there ever could be a time that one could go above this limit?
The Gemora tells Two different stories of Individuals paying absobrment amounts of money to release their loved ones
תָּא שְׁמַע: דְּלֵוִי בַּר דַּרְגָּא פַּרְקַהּ לִבְרַתֵּיהּ בִּתְלֵיסַר אַלְפֵי דִּינְרֵי זָהָב.
The Gemara suggests: Come and hear an answer based on the fact that Levi bar Darga redeemed his daughter who was taken captive with thirteen thousand gold dinars (Which is well over the market value)
תָּנוּ רַבָּנַן: מַעֲשֶׂה בְּרַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בֶּן חֲנַנְיָה שֶׁהָלַךְ לִכְרַךְ גָּדוֹל שֶׁבְּרוֹמִי, אָמְרוּ לוֹ: תִּינוֹק אֶחָד יֵשׁ בְּבֵית הָאֲסוּרִים, יְפֵה עֵינַיִם וְטוֹב רוֹאִי וּקְווּצּוֹתָיו סְדוּרוֹת לוֹ תַּלְתַּלִּים. הָלַךְ וְעָמַד עַל פֶּתַח בֵּית הָאֲסוּרִים, אָמַר: ״מִי נָתַן לִמְשִׁיסָּה יַעֲקֹב וְיִשְׂרָאֵל לְבוֹזְזִים״? עָנָה אוֹתוֹ תִּינוֹק וְאָמַר: ״הֲלֹא יהוה זוּ חָטָאנוּ לוֹ וְלֹא אָבוּ בִדְרָכָיו הָלוֹךְ וְלֹא שָׁמְעוּ בְּתוֹרָתוֹ״.
אָמַר: מוּבְטְחַנִי בּוֹ שֶׁמּוֹרֶה הוֹרָאָה בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל, הָעֲבוֹדָה! שֶׁאֵינִי זָז מִכָּאן עַד שֶׁאֶפְדֶּנּוּ בְּכׇל מָמוֹן שֶׁפּוֹסְקִין עָלָיו. אָמְרוּ: לֹא זָז מִשָּׁם עַד שֶׁפְּדָאוֹ בְּמָמוֹן הַרְבֵּה, וְלֹא הָיוּ יָמִים מוּעָטִין עַד שֶׁהוֹרָה הוֹרָאָה בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל. וּמַנּוּ? רַבִּי יִשְׁמָעֵאל בֶּן אֱלִישָׁע.
The Sages taught another baraita: There was an incident involving Rabbi Yehoshua ben Ḥananya who once went to the great city of Rome, where they said to him: There is a child in prison with beautiful eyes and an attractive appearance, and his curly hair is arranged in locks. Rabbi Yehoshua went and stood by the entrance to the prison. He said, as if speaking to himself: “Who gave Jacob for a spoil, and Israel to the robbers?”. That child answered by reciting the continuation of the verse: “Did not the Lord, He against Whom we have sinned, and in Whose ways they would not walk, neither were they obedient to His law?”
Rabbi Yehoshua said: I am certain that, if given the opportunity, this child will issue halakhic rulings in Israel, as he is already exceedingly wise. He said: I take an oath by the Temple service that I will not move from here until I ransom him for whatever sum of money they set for him. They said that he did not move from there until he ransomed him for a great sum of money, and not even a few days had passed when this child then issued halakhic rulings in Israel.
How could it possible to do this? Isn't this going against Halacha?
Tosofot (A commentary on the Gemora) Gives 3 different reasons from both these stories
"כל ממון שפוסקין עליו"
1) כי איכא סכנת נפשות פודין שבויין יותר על כדי דמיהן...
2) אי נמי משום דמופלג בחכמה היה:
1) He was legally allowed to do this because where there is a threat to life, we redeem the captives for more than their value.
2) Alternatively, [he was allowed to redeem the baby for more than its worth] because [it possessed] great wisdom.
דלא ליגרבו ולייתו -
3) אי נמי בשעת חורבן הבית לא שייך דלא ליגרבו:
3) Because because it was during the time of the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash the concept of "Promoting Future Kidnappings" Does Not Apply... (I.e. only when there is peace, then you are not allowed to pay more then ones value)
Questions:
1) According to Tosfos, What are 3 potential reasons that one could pay a higher value than their market value?
2) What are the implications of Tosfos’s answer for the current Israeli captives, who are being held captive by Hamas?
5. Money vs Prisoner Exchange? Does it make a difference?
Question: Do you think there is a difference between Monetary Exchange vs Prisoner Exchange? What factors should be taken into cosnideration?
רוצח גופיה מנא לן סברא הוא דההוא דאתא לקמיה דרבה ואמר ליה אמר לי מרי דוראי זיל קטליה לפלניא ואי לא קטלינא לך אמר ליה לקטלוך ולא תיקטול מי יימר דדמא דידך סומק טפי דילמא דמא דהוא גברא סומק טפי
The Gemara asks: From where do we learn that with regard to a murderer himself, that one must allow himself to be killed rather than commit murder? The Gemara answers: It is based on logical reasoning that one life is not preferable to another.
The Gemara relates an incident to demonstrate this: As when a certain person came before Rabba and said to him: The lord of my place, a local official, said to me: Go kill so-and-so, and if not I will kill you, what shall I do? Rabba said to him: It is preferable that he should kill you and you should not kill. Who is to say that your blood is redder than his, that your life is worth more than the one he wants you to kill? Perhaps that man’s blood is redder.
This logical reasoning is the basis for the halakha that one may not save his own life by killing another.
Question: How does this Gemora impact our potential halachic decision about the release of dangerous terrorists (and potenitally harm other Jewish lives) to save current Jewish hostages?
6. What do Modern Day Rabbi's Say
Based on all the Relevent Information there are many opposing oponions about such deal should be permitted or not:
In Support of such a Hostage Deal
The below opinions were Responsa regarding the "Operation Entebbe"
Rav Ovadya, Yabia Omer (Vol. 10, CM 6)
Under these circumstances, freeing terrorists for hostages is permitted since the danger to the hostages who face imminent execution is certain and immediate (ודאי סכנה), while the danger to others as a result of the release of terrorists is merely doubtful (ספק סכנה).
ר' שאול ישראלי, חוות בנימין, כרך א, סימן טז:
לא קיימת שום הגבלה בפדיון השבויים ואעפ"י שקיים החשש "דלא ליגררו ולייתי", אין דוחים ודאי סכנה מפני ספק סכנה.
Rav Shaul Yisraeli, Chavat Binyamin, Section 16:9:
In every situation of a tangible danger no restriction was established for the redemption of captives, and even though we established a concern for "not encouraging [the captors] to kidnap", we do not ignore a certain danger because of an uncertain danger.
הרב יובל שרלו, אתיקה יהודית (כה): שחרור שבויים
ההשפעה המוראלית על הצבא עלולה להיות משמעותית ביותר. בשעה שיידע חייל כי לא נעשה הכל כדי לשחררו - כולל נכונות לשחרר רוצחים בתמורה להשבתו - תיפגע המוטיבציה שלו להילחם.
R' Yuval Sherlow, Jewish Ethics (25): Redeeming Captives
The impact on the morale of the army could be significant. Once a soldier knows that [the state] will not do everything it can to free him - including a willingness to release murderers in exchange for his freedom - it will diminish his motivation to fight.
Against Hostage Deal
Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak HaLevi Kilav, Techumim 4 (1983)
Furthermore, it seems that nowadays, when terrorists declare their desire to kidnap and murder Jews and, in fact, act upon these declarations without any compassion for the victims whether me, women or children, that releasing terrorists is actual danger and is therefore forbidden. This is true even according to those who maintain that [the prohibition] is based on “the burden imposed on the community”, since the danger [here] is tangible and arises immediately upon their release. Added to this is the fact that they join the forces that battle us from their countries with long range weaponry and thus represent a threat even if they don’t actually penetrate our borders. It therefore seems that it is forbidden to release terrorists and murderers in exchange for captives, not just an exchange of many [terrorists for one [Jew], but even one for one, because of the future danger.
R' Kilav, "Releasing Terrorists," in Crossroads: Halacha and the Modern World, vol. 1 (Gush Etzion, Israel: Zomet Institute, 1987), 201-210
If the prohibition is based on the need to discourage future abductions, it will be prohibited to release terrorists, as experience has shown that this will surely encourage more abductions in the future.
Rav Tzvi Schachter, "The boundaries of the state and its wars", Beikvei HaTzon, pp. 206-208
At the end of the Summer in 5730 [1970], Arab terrorists seized two planes filled with Jewish tourists returning from Israel to America, and took them to Jordan, and threatened to kill them all. And amongst the captives was the Gaon HaRav Yitzchak Hutner (of blessed memory), the head of the Yeshiva Rabbeinu Chaim Berlin (in the United States). And so the rich students to collect several million dollars outside the United States to hand over this fortune to the Arab terrorists on condition that they release the Rabbi...And [according to] what Tosfot writes there (Starting with the words "We do not"), [in the case of] a captive who [possesses] great wisdom, it is permissible to redeem them for more than their worth.
And there were some Rabbis who thought that this law was applicable to HaRav Yitzchak Hutner as a great scholar, and that he should therefore be redeemed for more than his worth. But HaRav Yaacov Kaminetzky argued that this law was not applicable at all [in this case]. [This was because the laws regarding] the redemption of captives are only [applicable] at a time of peace, but at a time of war it is impossible to say that we are obligated to stop fighting on condition that we redeem the prisoners with money...
[Rather, one cannot redeem captives in this situation] because then we would be helping our enemies in the middle of the war, since this large monetary gift to our enemies would allow them to further strengthen their position in the war.