Looting during wartime
Hello Rabbi Michael,
In the current war in Gaza, most of the forces are staying in civilian buildings that have been cleared and there are many belongings left behind from people who abandoned the place (private homes, schools, etc.). Is there a halakhic reference to taking those belongings? According to military law, this is prohibited, but is there a halakhic reference to this?
Thank you very much.
There is a prohibition on plundering a Gentile. Although looting and spoils are permitted in the context of war, these are ancient norms derived from the norms of war at the time. Today, the situation is different.
I understood that according to some of the early scholars there is a mitzvah of plundering ‘and you shall eat the spoils of your enemies’
And if you do not plunder, then you have nullified a positive mitzvah
And there are opinions that there is even a mitzvah of eating, as it is said: ‘and you shall eat’
Even if it is not kosher
And even if the Military Rabbinate ensured that there was delicious and kosher food in abundance, there is a law to eat the enemy's food
And as for the kezait of Sagi.
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