{"id":72122,"date":"2020-03-21T19:41:19","date_gmt":"2020-03-21T17:41:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=72122"},"modified":"2020-03-21T19:41:19","modified_gmt":"2020-03-21T17:41:19","slug":"potential-threats-and-proportionate-responses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/potential-threats-and-proportionate-responses\/","title":{"rendered":"Potential Threats And Proportionate Responses"},"content":{"rendered":"
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How does one assess a potential threat and a proportionate response?<\/span><\/p>\n

One of the great tragedies in Jewish history, commemorated by fasting each year on the third of Tishrei, was the assassination of Gedaliah, son of Ahikam, the Babylonian-appointed Jewish governor of Judah, at the hand of Ishmael, son of Nethaniah. Several reasons are offered for seeing his death as a particular disaster, including the fact that his murderer was a fellow Jew as well as the impact it had on the future of organized Jewish autonomy.<\/span><\/p>\n

The tragedy of Gedaliah\u2019s death was further compounded by the fact that it was preventable; in fact, the Talmud points out a verse that implies the deaths of Gedaliah and others were his own fault.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jeremiah 41:9 tells of \u201cthe cistern into which Ishmael [son of Nethaniah] threw all the corpses of the men he had killed \u2018<\/span>b\u2019yad\u2019 Gedaliah<\/span><\/i>.\u201d\u00a0 While \u201cb\u2019yad\u201d literally means \u201cat the hand [of]\u201d; several interpretations have been offered. Metzudat David reads simply as \u201cin the place of Gedaliah, i.e. in Mizpah.\u201d Radak suggests the phrase means \u201cbecause of Gedaliah\u201d and explains that Ishmael had come to Mizpah in order to kill Gedaliah; he also killed others, but only because they were with Gedaliah or coming to visit him. The Talmud (Niddah 61a) goes a step further, understanding the phrase more literally as \u201cby the hand of Gedaliah.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBut did Gedaliah kill them? Didn\u2019t Ishmael kill them?\u201d ask the rabbis of the Talmud. They then explain on what grounds the deaths could be attributed to Gedaliah, himself the primary victim: \u201cSince he should have been concerned about the counsel of Johanan son of Kareah, but he was not concerned, Scripture considers it as if he killed them.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What\u2019s that about? At the end of chapter 40, Johanan had told Gedaliah of Ishmael\u2019s plot to kill him and offered to carry out a preemptive strike (40:15). Gedaliah dismissed the warning and Johanan\u2019s offer to kill Ishmael, insisting Johanan was \u201cspeaking falsely about Ishmael!\u201d (ibid. 16). Instead, he welcomed Ishmael in \u2013 making it easy for Ishmael to kill him and the others. We can see, then, how Gedaliah was responsible: he was too trusting and neglected to take appropriate action when warned.<\/span><\/p>\n

One wonders whether Johanan himself might share the blame, for similarly not taking Gedaliah\u2019s skepticism seriously. Would Gedaliah have been more willing to listen if Johanan had proposed a more appropriate action, instead of jumping to kill a man who had yet to sin? Perhaps his extreme rejection of the report was a reaction to the extreme recommendation that came with it: presented with all or nothing, Gedaliah chose nothing.<\/span><\/p>\n

What he should have done, as one Talmudic rabbi further clarifies, was somewhere in the middle: \u201cEven though one should not accept bad speech, one should be concerned about it.\u201d Gedaliah might be commended for hesitating to assume what he heard was true, but he is also criticized for completely dismissing the warning of a fatal threat.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":72129,"id":72129,"title":"jer41-checkmate","filename":"jer41-checkmate.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer41-checkmate.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/potential-threats-and-proportionate-responses\/jer41-checkmate\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"jer41-checkmate","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":72122,"date":"2020-03-21 17:41:05","modified":"2020-03-21 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