Rescuing Captives....

Throughout Jewish history, thousands of Jews were captured and held for ransom.  Jewish communities responded by redeeming its captives.  The act of redeeming captives, pidyon shevuyim, is considered a great mitzvah.  Why?  An individual who is captive can face starvation and even death. 

Rescuing captives is seen as following the Toraitic commandments which state, “you shall not harden your heart” (Deut. 15:7), “you shall not stand idly by the blood of your brother” (Lev. 19:16), and “you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Lev. 19:18) “You must not hesitate to save a person from danger.” (Lev. 19:16)  By not redeeming captives, one is considered like a murder. “Whoever saves one life is considered by the Torah as if he saved an entire world.” (Mishnah Sanhedrin 5:5)

Maimonides wrote rules for the redemption of captives in the Mishneh Torah which is a compilation of Jewish Law.  He wrote:  Pidyon shevuyim takes precedence over supporting the poor or clothing them.  There is no greater mitzvah than pidyon shevuyim for the problems of the captive include the problems of the hungry, the thirsty, the naked, and (s/he) who is in moral danger.

If funds had been raised to build a synagogue, and a captive needed to be rescued, the money collected should be donated toward that mitzvah.  If the stones and beams for the building of the synagogue had been purchased, they should be sold for the mitzvah of pidyon shevuyim.  If the stones and beams had been brought to the site of the building and the foundation had been laid, the beams, carved, and everything prepared for the building, all the materials should be sold for pidyon shevuyim.  But if the building is completed, the synagogue need not be sold, but money must be raised by the community for pidyon shevuyim.  (Talmud Bava Batra 3b)

Although there is an absolute commandment that captives must be rescued, the Mishnah stipulates:  Captives may not be ransomed in excess of their actual worth, on account of the protection of society. (Gittin 4:6)  What does on account of the protection of society mean?  The discussion offers two explanations:  1) To spare the community excessive ransom which could lead to its impoverishment; 2) To not give the captors an incentive to take new captives and increase their ransom.

Ransoming captives is seen as a communal responsibility, but that being said, it is recognized that it is also the community which could be in more danger if the kidnappers feel that is the way they can achieve their goals.   

What does it mean that one should not redeem a captive for more than they are worth?  In ancient times, it meant for the value that individual would bring in the slave market.  In reality, the Talmudic sages and medieval rabbis found ways to circumvent those Mishnah’s interpretation.

Two prominent Rabbis in Israel, Rabbi Goren (former chief Rabbi of the IDF)  and Rabbi Hayyim David HaLevi (former chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv), have varying opinions on the encouragement of kidnappers to kidnap more Jews and making the public face more danger.  Rabbi Goren opposed freeing hundreds or thousands of terrorists because he felt it would encourage further attacks on Israel for the purpose of taking more hostages.  Rabbi Halevi felt that terrorists would kidnap Jews regardless of what price was paid to them.

In Israel, the approach has been to redeem captured soldiers, for it is felt that it would be worse for a soldier to feel that it would be better to retreat than to be captured. Retreating endangers the nation.   In America, we are involved in a debate about what our policy should be.  Is one soldier’s life, worth the return of terrorists who might turn around and kill Americans later down the road?  Does it matter who that soldier is or how he came into the hands of his captors?

Yesterday, we heard about the kidnapping of three students in the west bank by terrorists.  We heard that an Islamic cleric in Gaza called for the kidnapping of Israeli soldiers and civilians to free prisoners. Judging by the response of Israel, saving the lives of these three students is a prime concern of the entire nation.  The fear is that hostages in the West Bank are often killed immediately, while those in Gaza are held for ransom.  We pray that Yaakov ben Rachel Devorah, Gilad Michael Ben Bat Galim, and Ayal ben Irit Teshurah will be rescued from their captors, returned in safety to their families, and that all those in the IDF who are involved in the search for them will be safe as well.

Shabbat Shalom.