Awarding of decorations and civil citations

Parsha and its realization – Parashat Pinchas - and the 'Iron Swords' war 5784

Rabbi Eliezer Haim Shenvald

Dedicated to the IDF soldiers' success, to safeguard them lest any harm come to them, to the healing of all the wounded and the return of the abducted.

On the morning of Shabbat Simchat Torah, thousands of the Nukhba Force ⁽¹⁾, Hamas terrorists and residents of Gaza, broke into the State of Israel. Their goal was to harm the citizens of Israel, indiscriminately, to murder in cold blood, rape, kidnap and loot, and set fire to their homes. In addition to harming the border settlements, Sderot and Ofakim, they intended to continue to the settlements in the center of the country and hurt thousands of civilians, and to penetrate and harm strategic targets.

Not all the investigations have been published yet, but according to what is already known, the IDF failed and did not prepare properly to protect the settlements and to block the terrorists from reaching the center of the country. The defense collapsed, the chain of command did not understand the entire situation and was unable to control the incident.

Those who prevented the terrorists from implementing their goals were: the units who fought valiantly against forces with considerable superiority, the Coordinators of Comprehensive Security (רבש"ץ) and the settlements' alert squad units. In addition to them were also members of the security forces of all kinds, the army, the police, the Shin Bet, the Israel Prison Service, that received the information. Most of them did not wait for orders and instructions, but took responsibility and initiative and rushed to the communities in the Gaza Envelope and fought bravely against the terrorists.

In addition to them, there were also thousands of heroic and brave citizens, from all over the country, who understood what was happening, took initiative and responsibility and went out to help. To fight the terrorists, to save the residents of the border settlements, Sderot and Ofakim, to rescue survivors of the massacre at the party in the forest, to treat and evacuate the wounded and the homeless, while they endangered themselves.

They also fought at intersections and crossroads against the terrorists and thus, effectively blocked their progress into the center of the country. In doing so, they saved the country from damage on a much larger scale.

The heroism of the citizens deserves special praise. This is an unprecedented event in the history of the State of Israel where thousands of citizens who do not belong to the security forces saved the country. They enlisted on their own initiative, without being called by the state bodies, and endangered their lives to save the state and the citizens, some of them also paid for it with their lives.

The many acts of heroism must be brought to the attention of the public. The sovereign institutions of the country should honor the civilian heroes for their work for its defense. It is fitting that we educate future generations on these acts of heroism.

Since the War of Independence, Israeli military decorations have been awarded to soldiers in the Israel Defense Forces who exhibit extraordinary bravery and courage. The Law of Decorations in the Israel Defense Forces, which regulates them in legislation, was enacted only in 1970. The law consists of three military decorations: The Medal of Valor (the highest decoration in the IDF), the Medal of Courage, and the Medal of Distinguished Service. It also includes the awarded Citations (Tzalash).

The Medal of Valor (עיטור הגבורה Itur HaGvura) is the highest Israeli military decoration. Awarded for "Performing a supreme act of valor while facing the enemy and risking one's life" by the Minister of Defense, according to the recommendation of the Chief of Staff.

The Medal of Courage (עיטור העוז, Itur HaOz) is an Israeli military decoration. The medal is awarded for carrying out acts of gallantry at the risk of life, during combat duty given by the IDF Chief of General Staff.

The Medal of Distinguished Service (Itur HaMofet עיטור המופת) is an Israeli military decoration. The Medal of Distinguished Service is the third most important medal given by the IDF Chief of General Staff following an act that is done with courage and worthy of exemplary service.

In addition to the decorations, there were added citations (Tzalash) which are awarded by the Chief of Staff, the commanding generals, the division commanders, and the generals.

However, in 2017, the Knesset approved the "Israeli Citizens’ Honoring Law", intended to "regulate the citizens’ recognition and to honor their work during emergency situations. For acting for the country and its residents’ security and to express the appreciation that the public has for them." The law defines the structure of the advisory committee that recommends to the Minister of Defense the awarding of decorations to citizens. The time has come for the Minister of Defense to appoint the committee that will soon recommend the decorations to the citizens who operated courageously in a moment of tangible risk to their own life, out of a sense of shared fate and mutual responsibility, with the goal of saving human lives on Shabbat Simchat Torah.

In our Parasha it is described the awarding of Pinchas’ conduct during the crisis with the daughters of Moab (described in the previous Parasha):

פִּינְחָס בֶּן אֶלְעָזָר בֶּן אַהֲרֹן הַכֹּהֵן הֵשִׁיב אֶת חֲמָתִי מֵעַל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּקַנְאוֹ אֶת קִנְאָתִי בְּתוֹכָם וְלֹא כִלִּיתִי אֶת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּקִנְאָתִי. לָכֵן אֱמֹר הִנְנִי נֹתֵן לוֹ אֶת בְּרִיתִי שָׁלוֹם. וְהָיְתָה לּוֹ וּלְזַרְעוֹ אַחֲרָיו בְּרִית כְּהֻנַּת עוֹלָם תַּחַת אֲשֶׁר קִנֵּא לֵאלֹקיו וַיְכַפֵּר עַל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל.

"Pinchas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned my wrath away from the Children of Israel, in that he was jealous with my jealousy among them, so that I didn't consume the Children of Israel in my jealousy. Therefore say, 'Behold, I give to him my covenant of peace. And it shall be to him and to his seed after him, the covenant of an everlasting priesthood because he was jealous for his G-d and made atonement for the Children of Israel. " (Bamidbar 25:11-13).

Pinchas saved the people of Israel from destruction:

וְלֹא כִלִּיתִי אֶת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּקִנְאָתִי-  ולולי הוא שקנא הייתי מכלה כל ישראל בדבר בקנאתי: 

“So that I didn't consume the Children of Israel in my jealousy - If Pinchas had not been jealous for My sake, then I would have destroyed all of Israel in My jealousy”. (Ibn Ezra ibid)

Pinchas did not have any public role at the time. However, he noticed that the leadership was powerless and did not respond to the situation that had arisen:

וַיָּקׇם מִתּוֹךְ הָעֵדָה - כלומר שקם על עמדו ונתחזק ויצא מתוך העדה ונצטער בצרתם ושם נפשו בכפו להושיע צאן מרעיתו ויצא מן השורה...

" And he rose up from the midst of the congregation -That is, he stood up and strengthened himself and left the congregation and was sorry for their trouble..." (Tzror HaMor ibid vers.7)

He risked his life.

ולא עוד אלא שאם פירש זמרי והרגו פנחס נהרג עליו נהפך זמרי והרגו לפנחס אין נהרג עליו שהרי רודף הוא

“Moreover, if Zimri son of Salu had separated himself from the woman and only then Pinchas killed him, Pinchas would have been executed for killing him, because it is permitted for zealots to kill only while the transgressor is engaged in the act of intercourse. Furthermore, if Zimri would have turned and killed Pinchas in self-defense, he would not have been executed for killing him, as Pinchas was a pursuer. One is allowed to kill a pursuer in self-defense, provided that the pursued is not liable to be executed by the court.” (Sanhedrin 82a:10)

Even though some see his act as 'zealous', he earned him a mark of praise for generations from the Almighty:

הִנְנִי נֹתֵן לוֹ אֶת בְּרִיתִי שָׁלוֹם

'Behold, I give to him my covenant of peace”. (Bamidbar 25:12)

• Nukhba Force or Al-Nukhba are naval commandos in a special forces unit of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas.