Professor talks on ancient Israeli holy wars

Drawing on stories from the Old Testament, Social Science Professor Michael Walzer of the Institute for Advanced Study in New Jersey discussed the ancient Israelis' views of holy war in an hour-long lecture in Houston Hall Tuesday. In his speech, entitled "The Idea of Holy War in Ancient Israel," Walzer focused on the Israelites' invasion of Canaan as told in the Bible from "a political perspective." Walzer, who has written several books on political philosophy, read verses from the Book of Deuteronomy to show that the Bible often offered conflicting directions. He said the book's general message of peace contrasted with God's decree that "the Israelites must slaughter all Canaanites to satisfy His will." Walzer added that Deuteronomy prophets saw this as the only way for the Israelites to protect themselves from conversion. "Many Jewish scholars and rabbis ignore these bellicose messages," he said. "But we must realize that unlike the Christian crusades, which were aimed at regaining the Holy Land, and unlike the Islamic Jihad, which has converting the unbelievers as its objective, the Jewish Holy War was aimed solely at exterminating non-Jews." However, Walzer stressed that this war-like attitude was popular not with the Israelite kings, who realized its impracticality, but with the prophets and intellectuals. Walzer said this thinking is still prevalent today, since "those most removed from the trenches are still most eager to go to war." Many of the 70 students and faculty members at the talk said they found it interesting and informative. The speech was the sixth annual Joseph Alexander Colloquium, sponsored by the Jewish Studies Program. "The Joseph Alexander Colloquium intends to explore relevant Jewish issues in a scholarly forum," said Barry Eichler, Jewish Studies Program chair. The colloquium was started six years ago from a grant from the Joseph Alexander Foundation, a Philadelphia organization.

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