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Is this a Torah concept?
I believe this would come under the category of “mitzvah habah al yedei aveirah..” No, the ends do not justify the means.
In the Torah, often, the rule is that the ends do justify the means.
i.e. lying for shalom.
A different kind of example that I don’t agree with, but some rule as such, is in the name of kiruv causing someone to be mechallel Shabbos (i.e. inviting him for Shabbos despite knowing he’ll probably drive there.)
no
gadol aveirah lishmah m’mitzvah shelo lishmah
ca: Quotes without context are incredibly dangerous.
The answer to the original question is that it depends on the ends and the means. There are cases where yes and cases where no.
Exactly. So to answer Torah613: No, it is not a set Torah concept.
The ends re-classify the means.
Means need an end to justify them. E.g., I am walking to the pet store to buy food for my cockatiel. Without the end (which is obtaining food for my bird), going to the store and buying the food is unjustified. If I don’t have a purpose, it is wrong to make the trip.
What’s that got to do with the Torah?
Torah is not a legal system, it is a thought system. So sevara which aligns with the Torah is Torah.
Torah is, first and foremost, a legal system – ?????? ?? ?? ???. Its Law governs every moment of a person’s life.
It is one which is an expression of Hashem’s Will, and which is designed to train and mold us in a specific mode of thought, but it is a legal system nevertheless.
I do not understand the idea that “sevara which aligns with Torah is Torah.” Much of the sevara expressed in the literature of Christianity aligns with Torah; would you apply this idea to that as well?
Rev S.R. Hirsch writes many times that “the ends justifies the means” is a decidedly un-Jewish concept. ??? ?? ???? ??? ?????.
ends sometimes justify means. yaakov avinu lies to get eisav’s berachah, yael lures in sisera in order to kill him and save klal yisroel (the source of aveirah lishma), you’re allowed to save someone’s life by breaking shabbos (means) so that they’ll go on and observe more shabbosos (end), at least acc. to one of the gemara’s explanations for pikuach nefesh being docheh shabbos.
Emes L’Ya’akov (Bereishis 27:12):
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