There is a well-known Yerushalmi (Chagigah 6:7) that relates the following:

Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi sent Rabbi Chiya, Rabbi Assi, and Rabbi Immi to travel through the towns of Eretz Yisrael and appoint teachers of Torah and Mishnah. When they arrived at one town, they found no such teachers. The townspeople said to them, “Bring us the guardians of the city.” They brought the town’s soldiers. The sages responded, “These are not the guardians of the city; they are its destroyers.”

The townspeople then asked, “Who, then, are the true guardians of the city?” The sages replied, “The teachers of Torah and Mishnah,” and cited the pasuk: “If Hashem does not build the house, its builders labor in vain…” (Tehillim 127:1).

At first glance, this passage seems to portray soldiers as a very negative force, while elevating Torah teachers as the true protectors of society. Indeed, some cite this Yerushalmi as a source to argue against serving in the Israeli army.

But is this truly the intent of the Gemara?

Such an........

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