Heck are reform Jews even halachic? Look at this garbage!
http://rac.org/advocacy/issues/issuegc/Jewish Values and Gun Control
Mark J. Pelavin
Associate Director,
The Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism
September, 1999
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In recent weeks, my office has received more than a dozen letters this week lambasting the Reform Movement's support for gun control. While the number of letters is relatively small, it is more feedback than many other controversial issues have garnered. In sum, these letters assert that the shootings at the Los Angeles Jewish Community Center summer camp underscore the folly of Jews supporting gun control; they cite historical precedent (mainly the Warsaw Ghetto uprising) as support for the assertion that only when Jews have guns have they been able to preserve Jewish honor and dignity. They point to Israel as an example of Jews' need for guns, and they use both Constitutional and Talmudic citations to rebut any attempt to limit access to firearms.
Yet, despite their appeals to history and the Judaic tradition, these pleas to oppose gun control are far from convincing. To argue that as Jews we must respond to gun violence with a paranoid impulse to grab our guns in self defense is a provincial and dangerous perspective. Such an argument assumes that a vast majority of the gun violence tearing America apart is specifically aimed at Jews, or, at a minimum, that the Jewish community has no stake in addressing the larger national epidemic of gun violence. Despite a rash of highly-publicized anti-Semitic incidents, it is simply not the case that Jews are disproportionate victims of gun violence. While we as a community undoubtedly feel under attack at the moment, the bigger picture does not support an ethos of constant persecution in America today.
In fact, study after study clearly demonstrates that the use of a firearm to resist a violent attack increases the likelihood of injury to the gun owner. According to the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, "residents of homes where a gun is present are five times more likely to experience a suicide and three times more likely to experience a homicide than residents of homes without guns. Additionally, a gun kept in the home is 43 times more likely to kill a member of the household, or friend, than an intruder." Guns certainly endanger the rest of us. Every year, 35,000 Americans die from gun-inflicted injuries; 14 children are lost to gun violence every day in this country; and American children are more than 12 times as likely to die from gun violence as are the children of any other developed nation. If trends continue, 2003 will see gun violence overtake automobile accidents as the leading cause of fatalities in the United States.
The effort to call Jews to arms in self defense could have significant, and troubling, effects on our society. Arming ourselves to the teeth in a quest to protect our community would be questionably effective in accomplishing its goals, but it would undoubtedly lead to a greater balkanization within the United States. We would alienate ourselves from the larger society, and we would be seen (correctly in this case) as arming ourselves in direct opposition to those with whom we share this country. Just as most of us would be dismayed to see the African-American community or the gay and lesbian community self-segregate and stockpile weapons, so would the rest of America view Jews who did the same with suspicion and fear. The inadvertent but inescapable effect would be heightened incidents of prejudice, vandalism, and hate-fueled violence.
Our tradition calls for each of us to participate in tikkun olam, repair of the world. For us to insist that America's culture of gun violence — and the epidemic of killing that it has wrought — is important to us only as it effects our fellow Jews is to turn our backs on the rest of America. Admittedly, addressing society's problems is an overwhelming and perhaps unattainable goal, but our tradition demands no less. It is not up to us to complete the task, but neither are we free to desist from it.
We face a critical time: a period of unprecedented technology, of wondrous prosperity, and yet of great fear. We can choose to turn inward as a community, to protect only ourselves and our narrow interests, or we can look beyond our community, into our nation and our world, seeking common solutions, and working for the general welfare. The latter is the much harder path, but I believe that it is the one that will provide our children a better world, the one to which we as Jews are committed, and the one to which we should all rededicate ourselves. Let that commitment be our resolution for the new year.
Note: This op-ed ran in Jewish newspapers nationwide.
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Fighting For Lives, Banning Junk Guns
Junk guns -- despite a name which conjures images of a child's toy -- are weapons that create sorrow, not joy. Children and adults, alike, use these "toys" not for playing, but for killing. Today, we commit ourselves and our communities to removing this blight on our society.
As Jews, we are taught that "one who destroys one soul has destroyed the whole world." Our tradition speaks clearly of our responsibilities to care for one another. Securing the public safety by banning Junk guns, otherwise known as Saturday Night Specials, is an extension of this basic tenet. The crucial objective of the Junk Gun Violence Protection Act is to ensure that the same regulations and limitations which we already impose on imported weapons will be applicable to domestically manufactured weapons.
These guns that go unchecked are over three times as likely to be used in the perpetration of a crime, and are central to arsenals maintained by organized crime rings, gangs, and drug traffickers. Furthermore, their low cost places them within the reach of our youth, and their shoddy construction makes them unreliable, and a threat to lawful handgun users.
Today the blood of innocent victims marks our streets and sidewalks just as mourners' faces are marked by tears. Yet, today our inaction allows incessant spread of violence and hatred as these deadly weapons invade our neighborhoods. Junk guns have already claimed innumerable lives, but our efforts to ban these dangerous devices will ensure that the victims memories are not forgotten, and the lessons of their senseless deaths are heeded. If we are devoted to keeping streets safe for our families, schools safe for our children, and our actions linked to our values then we have no choice but to act immediately.
Our sages taught, "if one sees that one's neighbor is in trouble, one shall do whatever one can, or hire others to come to one's rescue if one cannot do it oneself."
The Jewish community celebrates the sanctity of each life, and mourns each victim of handgun violence. We commend Senator Boxer and Representative Reed for their leadership on this vital issue, and urge Congress to move expeditiously to adopt this legislation. Truly, lives truly hang in the balance.
--Statement of Mark J. Pelavin, Associate Director, Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism
June 13, 1996
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The Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism is the Washington office of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (UAHC) , whose 900 congregations across North America encompass 1.5 million Reform Jews , and the Central Conference of American Rabbis(CCAR) whose membership includes over 1700 Reform rabbis .
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Gun Control: A Jewish Look
by Rabbi Chaim Steinmetz *
On March 24th, in Jonesboro, Arkansas, two junior high school students armed with rifles murdered four of their schoolmates and one of their teachers. These horrible murders reignited the ongoing international debate about gun control. In Canada, the Canadian parliament has passed several major pieces of legislation requiring gun control. In 1995, it passed Bill C-68 requiring all guns and rifles to be included in a national gun registry. This followed previous laws which prohibited machine guns, and required the training and screening of all owners of firearms. To opponents of gun control laws, these laws are a nuisance for law abiding gun owners, and have little effect on violent crime. Proponents of these laws point to extensive academic research that these laws save lives and increase safety. What does Jewish law (halacha) have to say about this issue?
In Judaism, safety is a religious concern. The Bible requires that a roof be properly gated, in order to prevent people from falling off of it (Deuteronomy 22:
. This commandment is understood by the Talmud as a general directive to remove any safety hazard (Bava Kamma 15b; Shulchan Aruch CM 427:
. Contemporary rabbinic authorities include in this commandment an employer's responsibility to ensure occupational safety (Piskei Uziel 47) and an injunction against reckless driving (Minchat Yitzchak 8:148). Someone who refuses to remove a safety hazard can be punished by excommunication (YD 334:7). In general, safety regulations are treated with far greater stringency than any other section of halacha (YD 116:7). Clearly, any Jewish view of gun control would place high value on safety.
In the Talmud there are specific regulations that resemble gun control. There is a law against owning a dangerous dog (Bava Kamma 79a). One who owns a dangerous dog must keep it tied in metal chains at all times (CM 409:3). Even if the dog is defanged or trained not to harm people, it must be chained because it may frighten strangers, and as a result may cause stress related injuries such as miscarriage and heart attacks (Shabbat 63b). One of the more pious Rabbis, Rabbi Pinchas Ben Yair, was so stringent about this law that he refused to own mules, because they can occasionally cause injury (Hullin 7b; Terumat Hadeshen 2:105). However, there were instances where allowances were made. In border communities, where there is a threat of marauders, owners of dangerous dogs may unchain them at night for protection. Some say that any dangerous city is similar to a border community (CM 409:3).These sources demonstrate that halacha would require any gun to be carefully locked at all times, with allowances made in cases where the gun is actively being used for security. Those who are more stringent would avoid guns completely. (It should also be noted that many authorities prohibit hunting for sport; Rama OH 316:2, Darchei Teshuva YD 117:44)
There is a second halacha that is relevant to this issue. The Talmud prohibits someone from selling offensive weapons to idol worshippers and suspected criminals (Avodah Zarah 15b; YD 151:5-6). The rule against selling to idol worshippers is based on an assumption that the idol worshippers will use them against Jews; however, if the Jews are allied with the idol worshippers, it is permitted to sell them arms. It is likewise prohibited to sell such weapons to anyone suspected of reselling them to criminals. This halacha requires that the buyers of firearms be carefully screened, and resembles in many ways laws requiring a national registry of gun and rifle owners.
Although halacha is extremely concerned about safety, it does not prohibit the ownership of guns. However, recognizing that a gun is a dangerous object, halacha (like many current gun control laws) requires that owners and vendors of guns take all possible precautions to prevent their guns from causing any harm.
Reprinted with permission of Rabbi Chaim Steinmetz
Footnotes
*) Rabbi Chaim Steinmetz is the spiritual leader of Tifereth Beth David Jerusalem in Montreal, Quebec. He writes a column on Jewish Law for the Canadian Jewish News, and writes a column and hosts an internet Jewish study group for the Microsoft Network. He is a member of the executive board of the Rabbinical Council of America, the Vice President of the Montreal Board of Jewish Ministers, and a member of the board of directors of the Jewish Educational Council of Montreal and Hillel-Jewish Students Center of Montreal. He recieved his ordination from Yeshiva University, where he was a fellow of the Gruss Kollel Elyon. He has a M.A. in Jewish Philosophy from the Bernard Revel Graduate School, and a M.A. in Education from Adelphi University.
Join the JPFO (Jews for the preservation of firearm ownership) today and oppose this scum.
http://www.jpfo.orgTORAH DEMANDS SELF DEFENSE!
Topic: Reform Jews are anti-gun (Read 1357 times)