How the trauma of the Oct. 7 attacks and the ongoing war in Gaza intersect with centuries of philosophical, ethical, and literary thought is the focus of a new research project at the Katz Center. René Bloch, participating in the initiative, points out that the project brings together 20 researchers to examine how Jewish experiences of war and conflict have been developed across history from antiquity to the modern era.
The academic initiative explores whether Jewish experiences of conflict distinctively differ from those of other populations, factoring in the long-term impact of minority status. While ancient Jewish states existed—such as the Hasmonean kingdom and the client kingdom of Herod—the historical trajectory is heavily marked by displacement and diaspora. Bloch notes that the psychological weight of the Oct. 7 attacks consciously or unconsciously influences the participating researchers, mirroring how historical catastrophes like the 38 CE anti-Jewish riots in Alexandria have long shaped Jewish memory and literature.
The Suppression of Ancient Jewish Military History
Mainstream Jewish historical consciousness has largely marginalized accounts of ancient Jewish wars, such as the Maccabean conflicts and the Bar Kokhba revolt, due to the catastrophic losses suffered against the Roman Empire. Bloch explains that the Jewish-Roman wars, the Diaspora revolts under Trajan, and the Bar Kokhba revolt under Hadrian ended in devastating defeats. Consequently, rabbinic literature pivoted away from militarism, adopting a political and spiritual retreat often described as placing a “fence around the Torah.”
As a result, the Books of Maccabees were excluded from the Jewish biblical canon, and the Talmud emphasizes the Hanukkah miracle of the oil rather than the military victories of the Maccabees. This dynamic shifted dramatically with the rise of modern Zionism, which re-engaged with ancient military figures like the Maccabees and the defenders of Masada, though often adapting complex and ambivalent historical sources to fit modern nationalist narratives.
Redefining Diaspora and Statehood After 1948
The establishment of the State of Israel in 1948 is frequently mischaracterized in educational texts as a direct return following the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, which supposedly initiated the diaspora. Historical records indicate a more complex timeline. The Hasmonean state collapsed earlier, in 63 BCE, with the entry of Pompey, while the Jewish diaspora began significantly earlier, between the sixth and fifth centuries BCE. Even after the fall of the Second Temple, substantial Jewish populations remained in the region, as evidenced by the scale of the Bar Kokhba revolt.
Scholars emphasize that the Holocaust represents the primary modern rupture in diasporic history rather than the sole catastrophe in a long continuum of persecution. From Josephus’s writings on the Jewish-Roman war to Chaim Nachman Bialik’s 1903 poetry responding to the Kishinev pogrom, catastrophe has repeatedly catalyzed new literary and cultural output within Jewish tradition.
Monotheism and the Theology of Conflict
The Hebrew Bible frequently characterizes God as a warrior—Isch Milchama—reflecting a monotheistic framework where a single deity encompasses both wrath and mercy, peace and war. Unlike polytheistic systems that divide domains among specialized deities, monotheism concentrates all aspects of the human condition into one divine source. This theological framing treats conflict as an inherent part of the created world rather than an aberration, setting it apart from later theological developments in the New Testament that emphasize divine love.
At the same time, the longing for peace remains a recurring motif in Jewish literature, exemplified by Isaiah’s vision of swords beaten into plowshares. Researchers note that while peace represents an inactive state that yields less narrative drama than conflict, the tension between historical violence and the utopian desire for peace remains a central theme across Jewish philosophical inquiry.
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