Beit Midrash
- Sections
- Chemdat Yamim
- Parashat Hashavua
- Torah Portion and Tanach
- D'varim
- Ki Tetze
Judaism does not mandate any action that justifies the breaking of boundaries of basic order. To the contrary, the more important a course of action is the more care must be taken to do it in a way that it is not dirtied or spoiled. If the enemy’s army camps are a place where anything goes and semblances of humanity disappear, the Torah way is that our camp must be a holy one. "A soldier" and "holy"? In today’s mind-set, the sound of the two together is strange. However, that is only because the general mind-set is so far from the concepts of the Torah.
The whole concept of war is a different one for us. For the nations, it is a time of wholesale murder, without rules or a search to justify one’s actions. An outburst of the animal within a person, of the basest instincts, is considered a good thing for them. That way the wild soldier can act with greater cruelty and less thought. Judaism does not allow murder. For us, war is designed to fight those who have already lost human dignity, so that their destruction is a removal of evil. This mitzva must be done in a way that uses no less holiness and purity than any other mitzva.
"He who is afraid and is of a soft heart," who is sent back from the camp (Devarim 20:8), is referring to one who is afraid due to sins of which he is guilty (Sota 8:5). It is possible that there is no such concept among the nations of the world. Perhaps it is to the contrary for them, one who breaks through boundaries may be stronger and braver than others. However, this is not the case for Israel. We are nourished by our connection to Hashem, and one who sins severs this connection, which causes him to be afraid. The apparent bravery that he might display comes from fear, and it can be the trigger to his subsequent fleeing from the battle. It is only the bravery of those who already have nothing to lose.
Parashat Hashavua: Leadership of Yosef – For How Long?
Rabbi Yossef Carmel | Tevet 5786
Present or Inheritance... or Both?
Various Rabbis | Tevet 5768
Parashat Hashavua: Enlistment in the Time of Yehoshua and David
Rabbi Yossef Carmel | Tammuz 5785
A Soul who Sinned against … Hashem?
Rabbi Yossef Carmel | Nissan 1 5781
Rabbi Shaul Yisraeli zt"l
Rosh Yeshiva of "Mercaz Harav", Rosh Kollel of "Eretz Hemda" and a member of Beit Din Hagadol in Yerushalaim.
Song of the Deciders of World History
Shvat 11 5776
Listening for Listening’s Sake
Av 22 5777
The Place of Tumah in the Human Experience
based on Siach Shaul, pg. 328-330
Iyar 5773
