Rabbi Offers Biblical Lesson to Pope

Following Pope Leo’s recent appeal for peace amid the U.S. airstrikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, Orthodox Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt offered a pointed biblical response, drawing from the Old Testament to underscore the complex nature of conflict and peace.

The Pope had tweeted: “War does not solve problems; on the contrary, it amplifies them and inflicts deep wounds on the history of peoples, which take generations to heal. No armed victory can compensate for the pain of mothers, the fear of children, or stolen futures. May diplomacy silence the weapons! May nations chart their futures with works of peace, not with violence and bloodstained conflicts!”

In reply, Rabbi Goldschmidt cited Ecclesiastes 3:8: “There is a time to love and there is a time to hate. There is a time for war and there is a time for peace. There is a season and time for everything under the sun…”

Rabbi Goldschmidt, born in Zurich in 1963, served as Chief Rabbi of Moscow from 1993 until 2022, leading the historic Moscow Choral Synagogue and founding the Moscow Rabbinical Court for the Commonwealth of Independent States. He also served as President of the Conference of European Rabbis, representing over 700 communal rabbis, and in 2024 was awarded the prestigious Charlemagne Prize for promoting peace and European unity.

This exchange highlights differing perspectives among religious leaders on how to interpret and respond to modern conflicts. While Pope Francis emphasized the deep human cost of war and called for diplomatic solutions, Rabbi Goldschmidt pointed to a longstanding biblical view acknowledging that, at times, war may be necessary.