Serving in the US Military

Hello, Rabbi! My fiancé is a man who serves the US military and he recently expressed concerns if his line of work makes him a murderer. I know the Torah distinguishes between Lo Toharog (to kill) and Lo Tirtzach (to murder), and it forbids the latter not the former. May question is then, are soldiers killing or murdering? Is my fiancé transgressing the 6th commandment should he take another’s life while at war or in combat? Can you please provide an explanation I can relay to him? Thank you.

Shalom!

Thank you for your question.

While it is ideal to avoid army service when it will cause one to violate Jewish law, such as the observance of Shabbat, Kashrut, and most everything else, a nything done in the course of this service, even the need to kill sometimes, are done in the context of saving lives of one’s countrymen and are permitted.

Even a Kohen who kills in the course of self-defense or otherwise saving lives does not lose his privileges as a Kohen even though a Kohen who murdered is largely disqualified from serving as a Kohen in the future.

Military (and self-defense) are exceptions to the rules of murder, as it says in the Talmud (Berachot 62b), “If one comes to kill you, rise up and kill him first.”

As such, your fiancée is not violating the transgression of "Lo- Tirtzach". He should continue to be careful to not unnecessarily violate Jewish law.

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