Q&A: Punishment for Murder? For Titus’s Soldiers?
Originally published:
This is an English translation (via GPT-5.4). Read the original Hebrew version.
Punishment for Murder? For Titus’s Soldiers?
Question
As severe as murder is, there still is no punishment for it in wartime, since it is permitted. That is the very nature of war.
Is there going to be punishment for Titus’s soldiers in the future to come? Or is that their legitimate action / profession? Does this apply to those killed in wars, may God avenge their blood?
Is everything requested in “Av Ha-Rachamim” specifically about those murdered in the Crusades and pogroms, where it was not war, and so the appeal of “may God avenge their blood” applies?
Answer
I don’t know. That is something you would have to ask the Holy One, blessed be He. You can ask a moral question: is it proper for a soldier to take part in an unjustified war in which people are killed? My answer is no.