War and Conflict
We bring several perspectives on the ethics of war and hope to add further material relating to the application of the ethical principles to current contexts. One critical message from our sources, however, is that there is an ethics of war, relating both to its initiation and to its conduct, to which governments, officers and soldiers must be held to account.
Sefer Devarim and the ethics of war, with Rabbi Alex Israel
What does the Torah have to say about the ethics of war? In this thought-provoking session, Rabbi Alex Israel explores Sefer Devarim through close textual study, examining one of the most challenging and enduring moral questions in Jewish thought.
Featuring guided source-based learning followed by a shiur, this session offers a nuanced exploration of the ethical framework of war in the Torah - one that remains deeply relevant today.
Listen on YouTube.
The Ethics of Sovereignty | Can Power Remain Moral? with Rabbi Mosheh Lichtenstein
In this episode of the Jewish Ethics Project podcast, Elkan Adler speaks with Rabbi Mosheh Lichtenstein, co-Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivat Har Etzion (Gush), about the moral tension between power and restraint in a sovereign Jewish state, asking how a society committed to ethical ideals navigates the realities of war, security, and political conflict. The conversation explores responsibility toward non-Jews in situations of national conflict, the role of Torah learning in shaping moral decision-making, the polarisation of Israeli society and the importance of education to build a better future.
Listen on YouTube.
The Ethics of Halacha in Speech and War | with Rabbi Yuval Cherlow
In this episode of the Jewish Ethics Project podcast, Elkan Adler speaks with Rav Yuval Cherlow, Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivat Orot Shaul and founding member of Tzohar, about the ethical foundations of halacha in times of conflict and public discourse. The conversation explores the tension between prohibitions on lashon hara and the responsibility to speak out against wrongdoing, as well as broader questions of truth, misinformation, sexual abuse reporting, and the moral obligations of a Jewish state in war.
Listen on YouTube.
"Purity of Arms": A Religious-Zionist Perspective by Israel Rozenson
This essay which sources secular Zionist military values in Jewish religious ethics and insists on the continuing relevance of both, was Published late in 2025 in Hebrew by Professor Rozenson in De’ot. Professor Rozenson has kindly allowed us to publish an English version of his essay.
Read the article here.