04-17-2013, 06:52 AM
(This post was last modified: 04-18-2013, 03:52 AM by Director Michael.)
The following Torah laws are quoted from the main text of Chapter 14 of "Sheva Mitzvot HaShem", Volume 2, by Rabbi Moshe Weiner. This free translation of the Hebrew is copyright © 20'13 by Ask Noah International, all rights reserved:
Governmental Authority and The Laws of Land Conquered in War
[For one of the sources for these rules, see Rambam, Laws of Robbery (Gezelah), topics 5:11-18]
1. If a king establishes a law for the whole country, this is the legally binding law. What is considered a king? One who was appointed by the people of his country. If he rules despotically, he and all his government are considered robbers, and their laws are merely a matter of theft...
2. Any governing body chosen or appointed by the country has the same laws and authority as a king; and therefore any country run by a government is under the rule of the “king”.* Any place in these laws where the word “king” is written, it refers to the governing body, and “the laws made by the king" are binding laws.
[*This is clear, as the reason that the laws of the king are legally binding is because they are accepted by the people of the country, as explained in the wording of the above-cited topics in Rambam, Laws of Robbery... a decree of the king is not legally binding until the majority of the country’s people accept it. This would be the case with any governing group for whom the people of the country accept their rules.]
3. The laws of the king are only binding regarding a matter which is equally incumbent upon the whole country, such as a tax which falls on everyone equally. If, however, the king rules that a specific person or group are alone obligated, this law is not legally binding, but is only extortion and robbery.
As well, the governmental laws are not binding unless it is for a matter that has benefit for the king or is good for the country as a whole, but not regarding a specific matter between two people.
Therefore, if the king decreed that one who violated a certain rule will have his property seized, and he enforces this, another person may buy this property from the king as it came to him lawfully. However, if the king took a property not on the basis of laws binding on all the citizens, and it is assumed to be stolen, it is forbidden to buy such a property from the king, and one who does so does not lawfully own the property, as property cannot be acquired through theft...
4. ... [It] is the right of the king to take the possessions of one who disobeys or defies him, and this is lawfully binding and not theft.
5. One who evades taxes set up by the king is a thief, as he is stealing from the money of the government... the whole land of the country as is as if it belongs to the king and is subservient to him, and a tax evader is considered as having stolen an existent item which belongs to the king, and he is actually a thief, not just a cheater.
6. One may not conceal any required taxes from a tax collector employed by the government, as they are working lawfully and are not stealing.
If they are illegally taking a cut for themselves, without permission from the king, over that which is set out by the king, this is utter theft ... any possessions they seize unlawfully are considered to be stolen, and it is forbidden for others to benefit from them.
8. A king may demolish houses to build a needed wall, or pave a road through private fields, and this is not considered theft, as this is the law of the government and is done for the benefit of the country...
9. Any country conquered in war is the acquisition of the king ... Therefore (as explained above in topic 1), any decree made by the king in a conquered land is legally binding, and the inhabitants of that land are obligated to accept the decree, as they are essentially subservient to him.
Governmental Authority and The Laws of Land Conquered in War
[For one of the sources for these rules, see Rambam, Laws of Robbery (Gezelah), topics 5:11-18]
1. If a king establishes a law for the whole country, this is the legally binding law. What is considered a king? One who was appointed by the people of his country. If he rules despotically, he and all his government are considered robbers, and their laws are merely a matter of theft...
2. Any governing body chosen or appointed by the country has the same laws and authority as a king; and therefore any country run by a government is under the rule of the “king”.* Any place in these laws where the word “king” is written, it refers to the governing body, and “the laws made by the king" are binding laws.
[*This is clear, as the reason that the laws of the king are legally binding is because they are accepted by the people of the country, as explained in the wording of the above-cited topics in Rambam, Laws of Robbery... a decree of the king is not legally binding until the majority of the country’s people accept it. This would be the case with any governing group for whom the people of the country accept their rules.]
3. The laws of the king are only binding regarding a matter which is equally incumbent upon the whole country, such as a tax which falls on everyone equally. If, however, the king rules that a specific person or group are alone obligated, this law is not legally binding, but is only extortion and robbery.
As well, the governmental laws are not binding unless it is for a matter that has benefit for the king or is good for the country as a whole, but not regarding a specific matter between two people.
Therefore, if the king decreed that one who violated a certain rule will have his property seized, and he enforces this, another person may buy this property from the king as it came to him lawfully. However, if the king took a property not on the basis of laws binding on all the citizens, and it is assumed to be stolen, it is forbidden to buy such a property from the king, and one who does so does not lawfully own the property, as property cannot be acquired through theft...
4. ... [It] is the right of the king to take the possessions of one who disobeys or defies him, and this is lawfully binding and not theft.
5. One who evades taxes set up by the king is a thief, as he is stealing from the money of the government... the whole land of the country as is as if it belongs to the king and is subservient to him, and a tax evader is considered as having stolen an existent item which belongs to the king, and he is actually a thief, not just a cheater.
6. One may not conceal any required taxes from a tax collector employed by the government, as they are working lawfully and are not stealing.
If they are illegally taking a cut for themselves, without permission from the king, over that which is set out by the king, this is utter theft ... any possessions they seize unlawfully are considered to be stolen, and it is forbidden for others to benefit from them.
8. A king may demolish houses to build a needed wall, or pave a road through private fields, and this is not considered theft, as this is the law of the government and is done for the benefit of the country...
9. Any country conquered in war is the acquisition of the king ... Therefore (as explained above in topic 1), any decree made by the king in a conquered land is legally binding, and the inhabitants of that land are obligated to accept the decree, as they are essentially subservient to him.