The Sanctity of Life

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Every human being is created in the image of G-d.

וַיִּבְרָא אֱלֹקִים אֶת הָאָדָם בְּצַלְמוֹ, בְּצֶלֶם אֱלֹקִים בָּרָא אֹתוֹ

G-d created man in His image; in the image of G-d He created him (Genesis 1:27). This is why taking a human life is so grave: Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for in the image of G-d He made man (Genesis 9:6).

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One life is an entire world.

Why did G-d create the first human being alone? The Mishnah answers: to teach that whoever destroys a single life is considered as if he destroyed an entire world, and whoever saves a single life is considered as if he saved an entire world (Mishnah, tractate Sanhedrin 4:5).

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Saving a life overrides almost every commandment.

The Torah says of its commandments, a person shall do them and live by them (Leviticus 18:5). The Sages explain: live by them, and not die by them (Talmud, tractate Yoma 85b). To save a life, one must set aside even Shabbos and Yom Kippur.

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Even a doubt about danger to life is enough, and the one who hurries is praised.

Shabbos is set aside not only when a life is certainly in danger, but even when there is only a doubt (Talmud, tractate Yoma 83a). And whoever hurries to save a life without waiting to ask is praiseworthy (Talmud, tractate Yoma 84b; Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 328:2). When a life is at stake, the Torah does not allow hesitation.

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The Torah commands us to prevent danger before it happens.

וְעָשִׂיתָ מַעֲקֶה לְגַגֶּךָ וְלֹא תָשִׂים דָּמִים בְּבֵיתֶךָ

When you build a new house, make a railing for your roof, so that you do not bring blood upon your house (Deuteronomy 22:8). From this the Rambam (Maimonides, the world-renowned scholar and codifier of Jewish law, 1135–1204) rules that it is a commandment to remove anything that endangers life (Laws of Murder 11:4), and the Torah commands, guard yourselves very carefully (Deuteronomy 4:15). Protecting life is not only rescuing people from danger. It is preventing the danger in the first place.

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Standing idly by is forbidden.

לֹא תַעֲמֹד עַל דַּם רֵעֶךָ

Do not stand by the blood of your fellow (Leviticus 19:16). The Torah does not only forbid harming others. It commands us to act to save someone in danger (Talmud, tractate Sanhedrin 73a).

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Even an enemy's downfall is not a cause for celebration.

When your enemy falls, do not rejoice (Proverbs 24:17). When the Egyptians drowned in the sea, the Sages relate, the angels wished to sing, and G-d said: My handiwork is drowning in the sea, and you sing songs? (Talmud, tractate Megillah 10b). The Torah defends against the enemy, but never delights in death.

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The Torah commands judges and officers to enforce the law.

שֹׁפְטִים וְשֹׁטְרִים תִּתֶּן לְךָ בְּכָל שְׁעָרֶיךָ

Appoint judges and officers in all your gates (Deuteronomy 16:18). Judges to rule, and officers to carry out their rulings. A law that is not enforced protects no one.

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Justice is the condition for life in the Land.

צֶדֶק צֶדֶק תִּרְדֹּף לְמַעַן תִּחְיֶה וְיָרַשְׁתָּ אֶת הָאָרֶץ

Justice, justice you shall pursue, so that you may live and inherit the Land (Deuteronomy 16:20). In the Torah, justice, life and the Land are bound together.

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Without law and order, people would swallow one another alive.

The Mishnah teaches: Pray for the welfare of the government, for if not for the fear of it, people would swallow one another alive (Mishnah, tractate Avos 3:2). Order is not the opposite of compassion. It is what keeps the innocent safe.

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Courts of justice are a duty for all mankind.

Among the seven commandments the Torah gives to all the descendants of Noah is the duty to establish courts of justice (Talmud, tractate Sanhedrin 56a; Rambam, Laws of Kings 9:14). A society that protects life must judge and stop those who take it.

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Gazans are told to stay in harm's way.

Hamas was elected by the local populace in 2006 and seized full control of Gaza in 2007. In July 2014, its interior ministry called on residents not to heed Israeli warnings to leave their homes. In October 2023, when Israel urged civilians to move south, out of harm's way, Hamas told them to stay.

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Their leaders have openly praised using civilians as shields.

In 2014, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri praised civilians who stood on rooftops to block Israeli airstrikes, and called on the people of Gaza to adopt this “policy.” In 2008, Hamas legislator Fathi Hammad declared on Hamas television that death has become an industry for his people, and boasted that they had formed human shields of women, children and the elderly. Hamas has also built rocket launchers, weapons stores and tunnels in and under homes, schools, mosques and hospitals.

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Murderers are celebrated as “martyrs” and paid for their crimes.

Terrorists who kill innocent Jews are hailed as shahids, “martyrs,” and schools and streets are named after them. For decades the Palestinian Authority paid monthly stipends to imprisoned terrorists and to the families of those killed while carrying out attacks. In 2023 alone it paid out about $176 million. The United States passed the Taylor Force Act in 2018, named after an American murdered by a terrorist in Tel Aviv, to cut aid to the Palestinian Authority until these payments end.

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Every civilian death is a tragedy, and those who hide behind civilians bear the blame.

International law forbids using civilians to shield military targets. When a terror regime places its weapons among families, forbids them to flee, and celebrates their deaths as victories, the responsibility for that suffering lies with the regime that chose it. Israel mourns every innocent life. Its enemies use innocent lives as weapons.