D'var Acher: Engaging in Righteous Killing
March 8, 2009
Ethics | Torah
(2 comments)
by Barry Cohen
(Originally published in Ten Minutes of Torah and Reform Voice of Torah)
 Something has always bothered me about this week's Torah portion: to regain control of the rebellious mob dancing around the Golden Calf, we engage in "righteous killing."Moses exclaims, "Whoever is for the Eternal, come here!"(Exodus 32:26). He proceeds to give instructions to the tribe of Levi to "slay sibling, neighbor, and kin"(Exodus 32:27).
On a smaller scale, such "righteous killing"had happened before, after the rape of Dinah (Genesis 33:18-34:31). Simeon and Levi massacred the perpetrators and their families. Many years later at Sinai, we kill three thousand of our own (Exodus 32:28). Arguably, if this did not happen, the story of our people could have ended in the wilderness.
What's God's response to the bloodletting? Killing even in the name of God requires a purification period; what had to be done had to be done, but there is a price. After the chaos is controlled, Moses tells God, "Now, if You will forgive their sin [well and good]; but if not, erase me from the record which You have written!"(Exodus 32:32). (Let's assume that "their sin"refers to those who killed to control the chaotic mixed multitude.)
Have you seen the movie Taken? In it, a former spy is forced to engage in righteous killing when his daughter is kidnapped overseas to become a sex slave.
I have four-year-old twins, a boy and a girl. As the movie progressed, I began to wonder what I would be willing to do to save my family. Could I engage in righteous killing? Could I even take the life of my extended family or neighbors if they stood in my way?
We can be moralistic and claim to know what "God"demands of us. But when we are forced to protect the good and welfare of our closest kin, what are we willing to become? In the aftermath, will we too seek purification for what we have done? Would we even have the chutzpah of Moses to demand forgiveness for engaging in "righteous killing"?
I wonder.
Rabbi Barry Cohen serves Temple B'nai Israel in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
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Comment
The killings in the Torah were historical cases and were not meant to set precedent. Because the age of prophecy ended millennia ago, there is no risk of a heavenly voice commanding any of us to kill. Death during wars and self defense still happen. However, in a situation like "Taken" calling the police is the correct thing to do.