Rav Yitzchok Zilberstein, rov of Ramat Elchonon, commented in sharp words on the question of carrying weapons in order to defend against an attack.
Recorded in Vavei Ha’amudim, Rav Zilberstein was asked a member of a Bnei Brak kollel, who in light of the security situation, is afraid to be in shul on Shabbos with his children, since there is not a single person in the shul with a weapon. He inquired about the possibility of obtaining weapons from the police for Shabbos and Yom Tov. The man would volunteer for the community watch of Bnei Brak for a number of hours a month driving around in certain places, and by doing so, he would get a license to carry a weapon. This would be at night and not at the expense of hours at his kollel.
Rav Zilberstein replied, “It is a shame that even among the Torah community, there are some who do not know enough about the importance of their Torah learning and do not believe enough how much the Torah protects Klal Yisroel.”
“A person who studies Torah, he should know that when he studies, he spreads over himself and over his entire city the protection of Torah, and this saves from all evil. As Chazal say in the Gemara in Sotah, Torah magna umatzla.”
“We have a mitzvah to make hishtadlus, and we are forbidden to go to a place of danger…but is this the hishtadlus that Hashem wants from us? …Certainly not. This is not the desired approach… On the contrary, when there are terrorist attacks, Hashem hints to us that we must strengthen ourselves in Torah… Hashem does not bring terrorist attacks to imply to us that we should take up weapons…”
{Matzav.com Israel}
Headline is misleading.
‘Rav Zilberstein says putting yourself in danger in order to apply for a license to get a gun is the wrong approach for a Ben Torah’
Where in the article does it say the rav is against carrying a weapon in shul? He may be against this person or persons from getting a gun licenses, but it doesn’t say that he’s against hiring a security company or someone who already has a gun.
Very misleading headline. The Rav (at least according to what the article says) did not at all say that carrying a weapon is not the proper approach. What he said was that that it would be wrong for someone who spends his time learning to instead spend that time being busy with a weapon. Those are two very different statements.