Question

Hello,
I read your arguments regarding the existence of the collective as an entity in its own right, and that from this insight one can derive rules of morality and Jewish law that relate to the collective. Even so, it is still not clear to me what tools can be used to derive moral rules with respect to the collective. With respect to the individual, the central tool (even if not the only one) is analogy to myself—what is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow. By contrast, I do not know how a public or collective “feels,” and I cannot make that analogy with regard to it. So I do not understand how, for example, one can conclude that it is permissible to kill innocent enemy civilians in war (as in the example you gave of relating to the enemy as a collective).
I would be glad if you could clarify this for me.