According to John Welch, Talmudic law distinguishes between a permissive war (milhemet reshut) that seeks to expand the borders of Israel and a war of obligation (milhemet mitzvah), such as a war of self-defense or of national survival. In the case of a war of national survival, the conduct of war was not optional for the people. In such a situation, scarcely any man would be justified in placing any other interest of church or of personal convenience ahead of winning the war. Indeed, even women were not exempt from military service in a war of obligation: "All go forth, even a bridegroom from his bridal chamber, and a bride from under her canopy." So it was, with his back against the wall, that Captain Moroni even threatened to "arm my women and my children" (Alma 54:12). [John W. Welch, "Law and War in the Book of Mormon," in Warfare in the Book of Mormon, F.A.R.M.S., p. 49]