Can Jewish Law Justify Stealing from Palestinians? | 10@9 | 2026.10.23

Good morning. Today is Friday, October 23, 2026. Again, I condemn acts of violence by Jews against Arabs, especially in the West Bank, as I and many others have said before, these are terrorists to our shame Jewish terrorists. Of course, it is a small minority, but it is much more than a few dozen misguided delinquent youths as some portray it. It is a significant number with wide support among a certain section of Israelis. Again, as I've said before, the government, police and the IDF who could stop this are complicit by either minimizing it, not holding perpetrators accountable, standing by while it is happening and doing nothing, and in some cases facilitating and even taking part in this criminal, sinful, destructive terrorist behavior. Beyond the clear legal and halachic prohibitions that are being violated, this behavior has become a significant component of anti-Israel and anti-Semitic sentiment across the world. It is wrong. It is harmful to Israel and to the Jewish people here in Montreal and around the world. Since the beginning of this month, which is the start of the olive harvest in Israel, there have been numerous attacks on Arab harvesters that have been reported and documented. Dozens of cases of Jews stealing olives from Arab groves across the West Bank, some of them involving Israeli soldiers, or at least under the protection of Israeli soldiers. Last Friday, Israeli Jews were documented attacking Arabs in several olive groves, attacks by Israelis on olive harvesters in several West Bank villages, left at least six people wounded. And keep in mind that olive farming is the main source of income for more than 500,000 Arabs in West Bank communities, according to civil administration data. All of this is terrible and a frightening escalation in this destructive behavior. About two weeks ago, six rabbis from the Gush Etzion settlement publicized a letter in which they said very clearly that Jews harvesting or stealing olives from Arab-grown groves constitutes theft under Jewish law. In their letter, these six rabbis sought to counter the supposedly halachic argument that the owners of these groves, the orchards, have given up. The halachic term is yiush. They have despaired of their ownership of harvesting their own trees, and thereby, according to this misguided logic, it is permitted for Jews to pick the olives or to take the olives. And to counter this supposedly halachic argument, they write, there is no religious permission to act this way. The conduct of the Arab owners of these orchards shows they have not given up on their olives. And beyond the theft, according to Jewish law, when such an act is done by people who observe the Torah in its commandments in other ways, it also constitutes a desecration of God's name. It is a hillel ha'Shem, one of the most serious sins. In addition to these six rabbis in Gush Etzion, the Beit Hillel Rabbit rabbitical organization in Israel condemned these attacks and wrote, to succeed in living in the land of Israel, we must maintain an appropriate moral standard. We must not steal, damage another person's property, or harm anyone who does not pose a threat to us. The Tsohar rabbinical organization added that taking these olives constituted not only theft but also hillel ha'Shem, desecrating God's name, constituting a moral failing, a diplomatic risk, and a source of educational and ethical harm. Now, days after the letter of the six Gush Etzion rabbis, there was another letter, and this letter was issued by Rabbi Dov Lee Orr. He is the former chief rabbi of Kiryat Arba, which is a settlement adjoining adjacent to Hebron, and he issued a halachic ruling saying that Jews are allowed to harvest olives from Palestinian lands. He wrote as follows, The Jewish people have never given up on the land of Israel, as we express in our prayers every single day. The Arabs never purchased the land from the Jewish people or from any individual Jew, and therefore it has stolen land in their hands. They never bought it in any way, and it remains under the ownership of the Jewish people. He argues that based on Jewish law, when one despairs of getting their property back, such as in this case, when Arab owners are denied access to their own orchards, he says they lose their ownership of it. He also says that Jews are allowed to harvest olives of Arab farmers in areas far away from Jewish communities to publicly demonstrate our ownership of the land, excuse me, and in doing so fulfilling the commandment to conquer the land. That is Rabbi Dov Lee Orr. Needless to say, this letter of Dov Lee Orr is highly controversial and has been condemned by many, many groups, but I want to share with you the response of Rabbi Kenny Brander, who I've quoted to you before, with whom I strongly agree. Rabbi Brander writes, I write out of responsibility to our youth who are searching for direction. They must not mistake this letter for sound, halachic analysis. The opposite is true. First, he discusses khilhashem, the desegration of God's name. Khilhashem is not a matter of public relations. It concerns how our words and actions represent God's name in the world. Do not profane my holy name, the Torah says, that it may be sanctified when our Torah is presented as permission to take a person's property, simply because that person is not Jewish. It is made a stand against Torah values, distorting the very Torah it aims to uphold. Khilhashem, a desegration of God's name, to assert that Jewish law allows or even wants this behavior. God forbid. And then Rabbi Brander turns to the halachic argument. On the halachic level, our people's eternal bond with the land and the mitzvah to settle it, which nobody disagrees with, no religious Jews disagree with that, does not make every plot and parcel the collective property of the Jewish people. It does not strip non-Jewish residents of their property rights. Abandonment, this concept of Yehush, cannot be presumed just because harvesting is difficult, because the Arab owners have difficulty or are prevented from getting to their orchards. And it certainly cannot be presumed when Jewish volunteers stand ready to help owners reach their trees. And this is what is happening and it is many of these Jewish volunteers who are injured along with the Arab owners. Jewish volunteers violently injured by these Jewish terrorists. And then Rabbi Brander applies this to our parasha, to the total portion of lech lechah that we read this week. We read in the parasha a quarrel between the shepherds of Avraham and the shepherds of Lot. And Rashi, the classic commentator to the Torah, explains to us what was the quarrel about. Rashi said that their quarrel was exactly about this issue. Lot's shepherds grazed their flocks in other people's fields. Avraham's shepherds limited to themselves only to the fields of Avraham and they criticized, they rebuked the shepherds of Lot for theft by grazing their sheep in the flocks, excuse me, in the fields of other people. Rashi explains, Lot's shepherds defended themselves by saying the land had been promised to Avraham. God promises this land to Avraham and that therefore, and Lot was his heir, remember, Lot is Avraham's nephew. And at this time, early in the parasha, Avraham and Sarah have no children. So at this time, Lot is the heir of Avraham, so he feels entitled to take it. The Torah rejects that answer with a single phrase. The Torah says, Va knani va prizi, the Canaanites, the Parasites, those nations dwelled then in the land. The promise to Avraham was real, but it did not entitle anyone to take what belonged to others. The argument of Lot's shepherds is precisely the argument that is used by Rabbi Leor and others today, and the Torah long ago clearly gave its opinion on that argument and refuted it conclusively. Rabbi Brander concludes, to be Avraham's children is to be the ethical ombudsman to the world. When words like Rabbi Leor's are presented as the voice of Torah and of truth, we cannot remain silent. We must teach the next generation the Torah of Avraham. Respecting our neighbor's property does not lessen our love for the land. It is how we live in the land according to the Torah and how we honor the legacy of our forebearers and live up to the example that they set. Rabbi Leor's position is a distortion and a misrepresentation of Jewish law. This criminal terrorist behavior must be condemned and stopped in order for Israel to be the place it is meant to be and in order for the Jewish people to be the people God means for us to be. My friends, I wish you a good day and a beautiful Shabbos, and I look forward to seeing you soon in person.