To begin, here are the definitions of proportionality and distinction (also known as discretion), terms General Schwartz uses in the interview:

Proportionality: Proportionality prohibits the use of any kind or degree of force that exceeds that which is needed to accomplish the military objective. Proportionality compares the military advantage gained to the harm inflicted while gaining this advantage. Proportionality requires a balancing test between the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated by attacking a legitimate military target and the expected incidental civilian injury or damage. Under this balancing test, excessive incidental losses are prohibited. Proportionality seeks to prevent an attack in situations where civilian casualties would clearly outweigh military gains. Distinction (Discretion): Distinction means discriminating between lawful combatant targets and noncombatant targets such as civilians, civilian property, POWs, and wounded personnel who are out of combat. The central idea of distinction is to only engage valid military targets. An indiscriminate attack is one that strikes military objectives and civilians or civilian objects without distinction. Distinction requires defenders to separate military objects from civilian objects to the maximum extent feasible. โ€œ,โ€ by Rod Powers

The ancient Jewish philosopher Philo describes ethics in warfare, but does not base his statement on traditional Jewish texts:

When [the Jewish nation] takes up arms, it distinguishes between those whose life is one of hostility and the reverse. For to breathe slaughter against all, even those who have done very little or nothing amiss, shows what I should call a savage and brutal soul. Philo, Loeb Classic Library (London: Heinemann, 1940), vol. 8, โ€œThe Special Laws,โ€ 4.225

Basing his comments on Deuteronomy 20:1, the medieval legalist Maimonides lays out parameters of fighting wars:

ืื™ืŸ ืขื•ืฉื™ืŸ ืžืœื—ืžื” ืขื ืื“ื ื‘ืขื•ืœื, ืขื“ ืฉืงื•ืจืื™ืŸ ืœื• ืœืฉืœื•ื–ืื—ื“ ืžืœื—ืžืช ื”ืจืฉื•ืช, ื•ืื—ื“ ืžืœื—ืžืช ืžืฆื•ื”: ืฉื ืืžืจ “ื›ื™ ืชืงืจื‘ ืืœ ืขื™ืจ, ืœื”ื™ืœื—ื ืขืœื™ื”–ื•ืงืจืืช ืืœื™ื”, ืœืฉืœื•ื” (ื“ื‘ืจื™ื ื›,ื™).  ืื ื”ืฉืœื™ืžื•, ื•ืงื™ื‘ืœื• ืฉื‘ืข ืžืฆื•ื•ืช ืฉื ืฆื˜ื•ื• ื‘ื ื™ ื ื•ื— ืขืœื™ื”ืŸ–ืื™ืŸ ื”ื•ืจื’ื™ืŸ ืžื”ืŸ ื ืฉืžื” One does not wage war against anyone without first calling out for peace, whether in a mitzvah war or a permitted war. As it is written: When you come near a city to wage war against it, call to it for peaceโ€ (Deut. 20:1). If they surrender and accept the Seven Laws of Noah they are not killed. Maimonides, Mishneh Torah: Laws of Kings and War 6:1

Rashi, the 11th-century commentator, in his comment on Exodus 14:7, seems to open the door for a permissive view of killing during wartime:

ืžื›ืืŸ ื”ื™ื” ืจื‘ื™ ืฉืžืขื•ืŸ ืื•ืžืจ ื›ืฉืจ ืฉื‘ืžืฆืจื™ื ื”ืจื•ื’ It is from this verse that Rabbi Shimon would say, โ€œthe fit of the Egyptians were killed.โ€ Rashi on Exodus 14:7

The former chief rabbi of the Israel Defense Forces, Rabbi Shlomo Goren, in his 1983 book Mashiv Milhamah, seeks to limit the application of Rashiโ€™s comment:

ื•ืื™ืŸ ื”ื›ื•ื•ื ื” ืฉืžื•ืชืจ ื—ืก ื•ื—ืœื™ืœื” ืœื”ืจื•ื’ื ื‘ืฉืขื” ืฉืื™ื ื ื ืœื—ืžื™ื ื‘ื ื• ื•ืื™ื ื ืžื”ื•ื™ื ืขื‘ื•ืจื ื• ืกื›ื ื” ื•ื›ืœ ื”ืžืืžืจ ืฉืœ ืจืฉื‘”ื™ ืื ื• ืืœื ืœื”ื•ืจื•ืช ืขืœ ืžื” ืฉืื™ืจืข ื‘ืžืฆืจื™ื   The intention of this comment is not, Heaven forbid, to kill [enemies] when they are not fighting and when they are not endangering our lives. The statement from Rabbi Shimon is only meant to elucidate what happened in Egypt. Rabbi Shlomo Goren, Mashiv Milhamah, (โ€œHaidrah Rabbahโ€: Jerusalem, 1983)

Finally, noted modern scholar Michael Walzer pushes back on the concept of a classic Jewish approach to fighting war:

The Rabbis themselves have no such (explicit) doctrine. Why is it that we think them committed to humanitarian restraint? Why were the modern theorists of โ€œpurity of armsโ€ so sure that theirs was the natural, with-the-grain reading of the tradition? In fact, the tradition is rather thin, for the usual reason: there were no Jewish soldiers who needed to know what they could and could not do in battle. The law against murder would no doubt rule out direct attacks upon civilians, but the issue does not seem to have arisen (after the biblical period) until very recent times. Indirect attacks and unintended or incidental civilian deaths figure even less in the tradition. Walzer, Michael, โ€œWar, Peace, and Jewish Tradition,โ€ (Princeton University Press: Princeton, 1996), 107

Questions to Consider

• Do you agree with General Schwartzโ€™s assertion that the fundamental nature of war has not changed?
• What role should Jewish valuesโ€”or religious values in generalโ€”play in how and when we engage in conflict?

To discuss these important and timely issues, 91ฟ์ฒฅ (91ฟ์ฒฅ) is pleased to present DR. KATHLEEN M. O’CONNOR, McPheeters Professor of Old Testament, Emerita at Columbia Theological Seminary, who will delivered a lecture 91ฟ์ฒฅ titled “Living in Uncertain Times: Responses to Crisis in the Bible and in Our Own Lives.” This program, a Jack and Lewis Rudin Lecture, wa be held on Thursday, February 28, 2013,  at 91ฟ์ฒฅ’s campus at 3080 Broadway (at 122nd Street) in New York City.

Dr. O’Connor, author of the remarkable post-9/11 book Lamentations and the Tears of the World and the groundbreaking Jeremiah: Pain and Promise, draws on her scholarship to explore biblical reactions to crisis in the context of trauma and disaster theory. DR. MICHELLE FRIEDMAN, director of Pastoral Counseling at Yeshivat Chovevei Torah Rabbinical School, and DR. RACHEL YEHUDA, professor of Psychiatry and Neuroscience at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, respond to Dr. O’Connor’s remarks in light of their professional and clinical expertise. The program is cosponsored by the Center for Pastoral Education at 91ฟ์ฒฅ, which is supported by funding from the Charles H. Revson Foundation; the Rita J. and Stanley H. Kaplan Family Foundation, Inc.; and the Caring Commission of UJA-Federation of New York.

Distinguished professor of Bible Kathleen M. O’Connor, PhD, is the author and editor of numerous books and articles. Prior to joining the faculty of Columbia Theological Seminary, she taught at the Maryknoll School of Theology, and has taught courses in venues around the world.

Michelle Friedman, MD, is director of Pastoral Counseling at the open Orthodox rabbinical seminary Yeshivat Chovevei Torah, and an associate clinical professor of Psychiatry at Mount Sinai School of Medicine. Dr. Friedman devotes much of her professional time to the interface of psychiatry and religious life.

Rachel Yehuda, PhD, is professor of Psychiatry and Neuroscience and director of the Traumatic Stress Studies Division at Mount Sinai School of Medicine. She is also the Mental Health Patient Care Center director at the James J. Peters Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Dr. Yehuda has written widely in the field of traumatic stress.

The Jack and Lewis Rudin Lectures provide the opportunity for eminent academics, religious leaders, intellectuals, and public figures to discuss topics of interest with the 91ฟ์ฒฅ community and the public at large.

91ฟ์ฒฅ hosted a panel discussion titled “Yours? Mine? Ours? Economies for a Sustainable Earth” on Earth Day, Monday, April 22, at 7:30 p.m. The event was sponsored by the Louis Finkelstein Institute for Religious and Social Studies of 91ฟ์ฒฅ. 

Panelists

Erik Assadourian is senior fellow at Worldwatch Institute, where he has studied cultural change, consumerism, economic “degrowth,” ecological ethics, corporate responsibility, and sustainable communities over the past 11 years. Mr. Assadourian has directed two editions of Vital Signs and four editions of State of the World, including the upcoming State of the World 2013: Is Sustainability Still Possible? He also directs the institute’s Transforming Cultures project.

Laura Berry is executive director of the Interfaith Center for Corporate Responsibility (ICCR). The organization emphasizes community, social justice, and responsible investing. After working for five years as a chemical engineer, Ms. Berry began a 17-year career as a large-market-capitalization value portfolio manager on Wall Street. In 2001, she began her nonprofit career as the director of the New London Development Corporation’s Community Development Initiative. She joined ICCR in 2007.

Alexa Bradley is program director at On the Commons, where she works to support community solutions rooted in the principles of collective stewardship and equitable use of resources. Her current work includes a focus on the Great Lakes Commons Initiative. Ms. Bradley has worked as an organizer, facilitator, trainer, and popular educator for more than 25 years, with a particular focus on linking community organizing to broader social-movement strategies.

Moderator

Rabbi Nina Beth Cardin is the founder and director of the Baltimore Jewish Environmental Network, an organization dedicated to “greening” her local Jewish community; the founder and director of the Baltimore Orchard Project, an organization that grows, harvests, and gives away urban fruit; and a cofounder and chair of Interfaith Partners for the Chesapeake, an interfaith organization that works on behalf of the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

This panel discussion was cohosted by the environmental organizations Worldwatch Institute, On the Commons, Baltimore Jewish Environmental Network, Hazon, and the Interfaith Center for Corporate Responsibility.

The prophet Jeremiah said, “Shalom, shalom, yet there is no peace.” General Norton A. Schwartz, recently retired as chief of staff of the US Air Force and as a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, expounds on that ancient wisdom when he speaks on the topic “Waging Peace and Making War.” How can the United States defend its freedoms? What is required to promote peace around the world? And, what was it like to be the highest-ranking Jewish officer in the US military?

The Louis Finkelstein Institute of 91ฟ์ฒฅ presents: “Health Care Reform: Where Are We Now? Where Are We Going? Does Judaism Have Guidance to Offer?โ€

Empowered Judaism- What Independent Minyanim Can Teach Us about Building Vibrant Jewish Communities How will the independent minyan movement affect the traditional American Jewish community? What does this new movement imply for the future of synagogues and Jewish education? Rabbi Elie Kaunfer, Rabbi Ayelet S. Cohen, and Professor Steven M. Cohen sit on this engaging panel discussion.