While Sterling still seems to be a lead story in the US press, the Malaysian plane has not been found and bodies are still being found in the ferry in South Korea, there is another story that I am more concerned about.
276 school girls were abducted by terrorists in Nigeria. 53 have escaped leaving 223 girls in captivity. It is not the lead story. It is buried in the press. Secretary of State Kerry made a comment about it in Eithiopia. There were finally rallies in several western cities yesterday but still, it was not the lead story this morning. http://www.cnn.com/2014/05/03/world/africa/nigeria-abducted-girls/
Why do I care? How is this part of counting the Omer? Because our Amidah, the central, standing portion of our service describes G-d as the one who frees the captive. However, it is not enough to pray. Our tradition teaches that we have an obligation to set aside money to rescue those who are captives. It is one of the most important mitzvot. Pidyon Shvuyim is called a “mitzvah rabbah,” a great mitzvah in the Talmud (Bava Batra 8b) and not redeeming captives is considered even worse than starvation and death.
It is the motivation behind keeping the awareness of Gilad Shalit who was an Israeli soldier captured by an terrorist organization. Many people kept Gilad’s picture as their Facebook picture as negotiations progressed. Today is Yom HaZikraron in Israel. Israeli Memorial Day. How can we forget?
Remember the sense of pride we had on the 4th of July, 1976 when we woke to the news of the raid on Entebbe. Israel had swept in while we slept and rescued the hostages of a hijacking. It was their Independence Day! It was driven by this commandment.
Traditionally, Pidyon Sh’vuyim applies to rescuing Jews by Jews. However Maimonides wrote that “The redeeming of captives takes precedence over supporting the poor or clothing them. There is no greater mitzvah than redeeming captives for the problems of the captive include being hungry, thirsty, unclothed, and they are in danger of their lives too. Ignoring the need to redeem captives goes against these Torah laws: “Do not harden your heart or shut your hand against your needy fellow” (Deuteronomy 15:7); “Do not stand idly by while your neighbor’s blood is shed” (Leviticus 19:16). And misses out on the following mitzvot: “You must surely open your hand to him or her” (Deuteronomy 15:8); “…Love your neighbor as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18); “Rescue those who are drawn to death” (Proverbs 24:11) and there is no mitzvah greater than the redeeming of captives.” (Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Hilchot Matanot Aniyim 8:10-11]
The Shulchan Arukh strengthens it: “Every moment that one delays in freeing captives, in cases where it is possible to expedite their freedom, is considered to be tantamount to murder.” (Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh De’ah 252:3)
Despite the importance of this mitzvah, it comes with a limitation. “One does not ransom captives for more than their value because of tikkun o’lam, as a precaution for the general good) and one does not help captives escape because of Tikkun Olam.” (Mishna Gittin 4:6)
I understand the rationale behind this caveat is to prevent negotiating with terrorists. Paying a ransom opens many ethical debates both in for the Israeli government in the case of fulfilling this mitzvah on behalf of someone like Gilad Shalit or in this case:
- Can we pay a ransom for a captive without endangering the entire community?
- Does paying a ransom encourage enemies to take more captives?
- If attempts are not made to rescue captives, will other soldiers want to fight on behalf of their country if they think they could be abandoned?
- How can you tell a family that one life (in this case 223 lives) are not worth the risk to the entire country posed by paying a ransom.
- Is it worth the risk of more students being kidnapped to pay a ransom for the release of one?
- If you arrange an exchange of hostages, how do you explain to the families of victims of terrorism that their loved ones received justice? Did they? Shouldn’t terrorists have to pay for their crimes?
- If terrorists know that if they are captured their leaders can eventually win their release by kidnapping others, will they be more motivated to attack again?
How do you put a value on a captive? How do you explain to a mother that her girl is not coming home because of this terrorism? How do we capitulate to terrorists? How do we say that a group of schoolgirls is worth less than victims of a plane still missing or another group of school children killed in a ferry that capsized? I can’t. My tradition commands that I keep working for their release. That is how I will mark Yom HaZikaron. Bring our girls home.