Like all the religions, Judaism also preaches peace. The divine book Torah was revealed on Moses, the prophet of God. Although the sacred book was destroyed with the passage of time, the collections of Torah were made by different persons at different times. These collections cannot be truly called as the words of God. Even then all the scripts that are now available clearly spell out a disliking for the wars and conflicts and strictly advocates love for humanity and universal peace.
The concept of peace occupy a central value in Judaism: Peace in its vast meaning connotes a state of rest, calm, absence of war, a relationship of mutual respect and friendship between people and between the nations. This is the ideal of every person and is embedded in all the moral and cultural values of the followers of Judaism. Jew’s tradition of peace has a focal position in their religion which is evident from the sacred words that appeared in Torah..
In Judaism war has not been totally negated and sometimes it becomes necessary. Judaism teaches the supreme value of life, yet it does not totally discard war. Wiping out evil is also part of justice. As Rashi explains (Deut. 20:12), “Dangerous disputes must be resolved because if you choose to leave evil alone, it will eventually attack you”..
In Old Testament, the word for peace is shalom. For Hebrew speakers, shalom has a much richer and fuller significance than the English word ‘peace’. Whereas we sometimes limit the idea of peace to the absence of conflict, shalom includes far more. It comprises notions of wholeness, completeness, soundness, and prosperity. The Psalmist sings, “Those who are gentle and lowly will possess the land; they will live in abundant shalom” (Ps 37:11, literal translation). God’s promise of blessing to Israel through Isaiah uses similar language: “I will make your towers of sparkling rubies and your gates and walls of shining gems. I will teach all your citizens, and their peace (shalom) will be great” (Isa 54:12-13,literal translation).
In the Old Testament, peace is also inseparable from righteousness and justice. These later concepts are embodied in one Hebrew word that connotes right-relationship between two or more parties. This word is usually translated as “righteousness,” referring not only to doing morally correct deeds, but also to living rightly in relationship with others. Righteousness is also closely connected to justice, because the righteous person acts with justice in the civil or judicial sphere. The necessary link between righteousness and peace can be seen, for example, in Isaiah’s vision of a future day when a righteous king will reign over Israel and God’s Spirit will be poured out upon the people:
Then the wilderness will become a fertile field, and the fertile field will become a lush and fertile forest. Justice will rule in the wilderness and righteousness in the fertile field. And this righteousness will bring peace. Quietness and confidence will fill the land forever (Isa 32:15-17, NLT).
The teaching of Torah was that murder, conquest, and abuse are wrong and immoral. The values such as respect of life, freedom, and brotherhood, all stem from Judaism. The Torah’s directive to wipe out the Canaanites indiscriminately, in a cruel fashion has been criticized by many scholars. The Jew scholars have clarified this episode. The nations never deserved punishment. That’s why the Canaanites were given many chances to accept peace terms. Even though abominable inhuman practice had been indoctrinated into the Canaanite psyche, the hope was that they’d change
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I disagree with the statement in the first paragraph that says that the modern Torah could not have been written by God. How do you explain the fact that take a Hebrew Torah from absolutely any country in the world, and there is not even a letter’s difference? if the Torah is a compilation, then how could it be that every one is exactly the same?
Dear Leibler,
There are five basic books of old Torah. In many volumes one can find discussions about the time period AFTER the death of Moses. Obviously the book revealed on Moses could not discuss the situation after the death of the prophet.
Moreover the original language of the Jews was Hebrew. After the fall of Jerusalem, the Jews spent their time in captivity in Babylon. When they got freedom their language became Aramaic. The initial scripture of Jews that were found by the world were neither in Hebrew nor in Aramaic but were in Greek language.
Even the Jews scholars have confessed that the way the Old Testament (Torah) was compiled, no one can say how much interpolation has occurred in which chapters. For further studies on the topic, please refer to following:
1) Decline in the West by Spengler
2) Encyclopedia of Biblical Literature by Kitto
3) Antiquities of Jews by Josephs
4) Valentine’s Jewish Encyclopedia
5) Is it God’s Words? by Joseph Whebes