How much would you give up to free- to redeem from captivity-your child? How much would you give up to free someone else's chile? After over five years of captivity Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit is free. Operatives of Hamas, the Palestinian terrorist organization that runs Gaza kidnapped Shalit and until a couple of weeks ago held him prisoner despite Israeli, International Red Cross, UN, US and other national and world organizations attempts to get him released. Finally, and I don't yet know why now, Hamas released Shalit in exchange for 1000 Palestinians released from Israeli jails. This is a recurring reality for Israel- time and again they have released hundreds and thousands of Palestinians, some, many, of them guilty of terrorist acts in Israel, for one or maybe two Israelis.
There is a long and strong tradition within Jewish law that the community does everything possible to assure the release of a captive. Kidnapping and ransoming the captive is a very old tactic. (All we have to do is look south the Mexico and we realize it is quite alive in our hemisphere.) Throughout our history there are countless examples of the entire Jewish community in one area pooling resources to redeem a Jewish captive. Discussions in the Talmud and later Jewish legal texts even have a "pecking" order of how much to pay, depending on how important the kidnapped person is. There have been times that some attempted to extort the total net worth of Jewish communities. One of the most famous and important rabbis in medieval Germany, Rabbi Meir of Rotenburg, died in prison after refusing to allow the Jewish community to pay his ransom.
The Israeli Army practices Tohar Haneshek- Purity of Arms. It is a code that demands they protect civilians in the area of battle, be just in battle as well as enter into war justly (different ideas- just war and justice in war-and equally challenging) and they bring every soldier home. From the soldier's viewpoint, working to free Sergeant Shalit was an always ongoing responsibility.
Realize the risks involved for Israelis. By freeing terrorists, they are free to act again, and some have promised to do so. There has been animated discussions within Israel arguing whether or not this exchange is good for Israel. For some the redeeming of a single person just doesn't outweigh the future danger of attack. But, this has been, as always, the minority opinion. Secular and religious Israeli society overwhelmingly supported this action and joyously welcomed Gilad Shalit home. The ethical concept so deeply imbedded within Jewish legal tradition is just as strongly rooted in the entire Israeli mindset. Gilad Shalit became every Israeli's son. Despite the overt risks the future brings, freeing Gilad Shalit was a required community action.
So, we come back to the original question, how much would you give up to redeem your child? How much would you give to redeem another's? Or should we see each and every one as our own? The answer is before us. Welcome home Gilad Shalit.
L'Shalom
Rabbi Ben