Milkhemet Mitzvah
war by commandment
Milḥemet mitzvah or in Tiberian Hebrew milḥemeth miṣwah (Hebrew: מלחמת מצווה, lit. "war by commandment", or what is often termed a "religious war", a "war of obligation," a "war of duty" or a "commanded war") is the term for a war during the times of the Tanakh when a king (of the Kingdom of Israel) would go to war in order to fulfill something based on, and required by, the Torah without needing approval from a Sanhedrin, such as war against Amalek, or the seven nations of Canaan. In contrast, a milkhemet reshut (מלחמת רשות, "authorized war") is a discretionary war, which according to Jewish law requires the permission of a Sanhedrin. During times of war and military conflict, observant Jews are required to both work and fight, to the extent necessary, even on Shabbat, a time where Jews would normally be required to rest.
Unlike milkhemet reshut wars, which tended to be fought to expand territory or for economic reasons and had exemption clauses, milhemet mitzvah tended to be invoked in defensive wars, when vital interests were at risk.
Applicability in modern times
The categories of milhemet mitzvah (religious war) and milhemet reshut (voluntary war) were applied by the later rabbis to describe wars occurring in earlier times, led by or against the kings of the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah. The milhemet reshut has not been applied or used since then; because the Jewish people have neither a king nor universally recognized Sanhedrin, there is no religious authority to authorize a milhemet reshut. Notwithstanding, there is more than one description of the terms "Milhemet Mitzvah" and "Milhemet Reshut". According to the Jerusalem Talmud (4th-5th centuries), "Milhemet Reshut" is described as an offensive war, rather than a defensive war which is "Milhemet Mitzvah".
The discussion over compulsory and permitted (or, perhaps, "optional") wars also applies to certain exemptions given to individuals within the ancient Israelite and Judean society: engaged men, those who have just completed to build their house and have not lived in it and those who have not yet plowed their field before the war.
The public source identifies “Milkhemet Mitzvah” as war by commandment. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Milkhemet, Mitzvah and commandment.
Why this record matters
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Contemporary correspondence, administrative files and participant testimony can test how later narratives organized the event or institution. The source revision retrieved here is dated Mar 13, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q12409220. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
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This entry incorporates text from “Milkhemet Mitzvah” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.