By Rabbi Yair Hoffman for 5tjt.com The world is about to enter a new era that we can call, “ASAT Wars.” It is an era that military think-tanks knew we would eventually get to, but who knew that it would come upon us so fast? [ASAT, by the way, stands for anti-satellite technology – a technology still in it’s infancy.] This article is divided into two parts – the first is a discussion of how we got here and ASAT technology and the second is a discussion of the underlying halachic topic. THE BACKGROUND How did we get here? Russia, formerly on friendly terms with the State of Israel, did something that gives new meaning to the term “stabbing in the back.” They helped build and launch a spy satellite for Iran – a country that has openly said that they plan the destruction of Israel. And Iran isn’t just saying it – they are the ones providing all the rockets that are being shot into Israel – whether from PIJ,HAMAS in Gaza or by Hezbollah toward the north. The satellite is named, “Khayyam” – after a 12th-century Persian mathematician who was known for unifying the fields of algebra and geometry. Of course, Iran is saying that the satellite was launched in order to help the environment. But the fact of the matter is that this satellite launch places Israel in grave danger as it includes a high-resolution camera that gives it continuous monitoring of all of Israel and also the Middle-east. This places Israel, and Ukraine, and the moderate Arab neighbors of Iran in the category of, “Habah l’harg’cha Hashkaim l’hargo – if someone is coming to kill you, wake up early.” This satellite has the potential to give Iran the ability to pinpoint specific targets in Israel and to give over that information to its proxies. It is a game-changer, for the enemy, Heaven forbid. It also has world-wide repercussions in that Russia will probably be using it to bring Ukraine to its knees. And the entire middle-east is now fearful that Iran will use it to expand around them as well. THE SATELLITE NEEDS TO COME DOWN There is no question that this satellite needs to come down. The problem is that only China, India, Russia, and the United States have successfully used anti-satellite tech, and have only done it on their own obsolete satellites. The good news is that Israel has something called the Chetz III (Chetz means “arrow” in Hebrew). The Chetz III is a missile that is capable of taking down satellites and was jointly funded and developed by Israel’s Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and the United States (specifically Boeing). Israel, the United States, Europe, and the Arab World all need to join forces to bring down the satellite. And now is the time to do it. Will such a move precipitate an exo-atmospheric international cold war? Probably. But, nonetheless, it must be done because human life is at stake here. THE SOURCE FOR PERMITTING SUCH A MOVE There are actually three different sources that allow for such a rescue of human life. Two of them are based on a Gemorah in Sanhedrin, and the third source is found in the Rambam. The Braisah cited in Sanhedrin (73a) asks: From where is it derived […]
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