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Beit Midrash
- Torah Portion and Tanach
- D'varim
- Ki Tetze
Translated by Hillel Fendel
The scene is an IDF base somewhere in the Negev, featuring the last day of an intensive training course for new artillery cadets, including a hesder yeshiva soldier named Uziyah. The day began with each soldier practicing on his own, one at a time, on "dry" – that is, without real ammunition. For long and tiring hours under the hot sun, the soldiers run, direct their weapons again at the cardboard targets, yell, "Fire! Fire!", fall, jump up again, run, shoot - over and over and over.
Then comes the climax: The exercise is held on "wet." One after the other, the soldiers approach the commander, who guides each one through the exercise as they run and storm ahead and fire real bullets. Uziyah watches as the soldier before him roars battle cries and storms forward with full force towards the cardboard stands. He smiles to himself at his friend's battle-cries and over-enthusiasm. And then it's his turn. Uziyah lies down at the opening position, inserts a loaded magazine, and carefully aims his rifle at the targets. The commander touches his shoulder and asks, "OK, ready? You'll get them?"
Uziyah, the delicate yeshiva boy, answers characteristically, "I hope so, with G-d's help." The commander turns red with rage: "You HOPE!? There's a Hizbullah cell in front of you! You're gonna mow them down?! You'll fight the way you have to?!"
Suddenly, a different and new emotion surges inside Uziyah's heart. It is suddenly crystal clear to him that the way one behaves in yeshiva is not the same as when fighting a war. War requires forces of courage, daring and breaking out to strike at and smash the enemies of G-d and Israel. Uziyah finds himself roaring like his comrades before him, "I'll smash them, I'll get them, I'll mow them down!", jumping up like a tiger to storm the targets before him.
This week's portion is Ki Tetzei, "When you go out to war against your enemies…" Going to battle means "going out," leaving our regular routine and habits. The Torah educates us to gentle behavior, to making concessions, and certainly not to kill – under normal circumstances. But in wartime, killing Israel's enemies is a mitzvah, and requires one to become nearly a different person, one with great strength and aggressiveness. These are traits that can cause a person to lose the proper balance.
We know that when a child draws "out of the lines," it is often because he is drawing with abandon, without control – and this causes him to burst past the boundaries. This is what is required, on a much large scale, in wartime – but the danger then arises that he will "burst the boundaries" in other areas as well. He may be more prone to sinning with women, for instance, for he is in a state of releasing his powerful life forces.
And this is why this Torah portion begins with, "When you go out to war… and see a beautiful woman in captivity." The Torah does not require the soldier in this situation to stifle his urges, but rather to direct them in a positive direction. He is permitted to take this woman - but only with several restrictions, including not touching her until a full month has passed and he marries her properly. The Torah, in this case, addresses itself to the soldier's negative urges, and requires that they be channeled correctly.
The Torah teaches us to develop strengths and forces for wartime - and then not to let them run wild with no restrictions.
We learn other important lessons as well from this unique chapter. For one thing, the ethics of war are not the same as those of peacetime. This is particularly important nowadays, when there are those who unfortunately seek to apply regular moral standards to the unique situation of wartime. Such an approach of "being merciful to the cruel" leads, in the end, to "being cruel to the merciful," as our Sages teach, and to the loss of innocent lives on the Jewish side.
Secondly, a Jew must serve G-d at all times, in the specific manner appropriate for each situation. Just as we blow the shofar on Rosh HaShanah and sit in a Sukkah on Sukkot, and certainly not the opposite, so too regarding our character traits: We must always seek out the proper mode of behavior for each setting.
May we merit during this month of Elul to succeed in directing our life forces in the most appropriate manner, so as to serve G-d the best way possible.
In order to get articles like this delivered straight to your inbox every week, subscribe to the Israel National Torah newsletter here.
The scene is an IDF base somewhere in the Negev, featuring the last day of an intensive training course for new artillery cadets, including a hesder yeshiva soldier named Uziyah. The day began with each soldier practicing on his own, one at a time, on "dry" – that is, without real ammunition. For long and tiring hours under the hot sun, the soldiers run, direct their weapons again at the cardboard targets, yell, "Fire! Fire!", fall, jump up again, run, shoot - over and over and over.
Then comes the climax: The exercise is held on "wet." One after the other, the soldiers approach the commander, who guides each one through the exercise as they run and storm ahead and fire real bullets. Uziyah watches as the soldier before him roars battle cries and storms forward with full force towards the cardboard stands. He smiles to himself at his friend's battle-cries and over-enthusiasm. And then it's his turn. Uziyah lies down at the opening position, inserts a loaded magazine, and carefully aims his rifle at the targets. The commander touches his shoulder and asks, "OK, ready? You'll get them?"
Uziyah, the delicate yeshiva boy, answers characteristically, "I hope so, with G-d's help." The commander turns red with rage: "You HOPE!? There's a Hizbullah cell in front of you! You're gonna mow them down?! You'll fight the way you have to?!"
Suddenly, a different and new emotion surges inside Uziyah's heart. It is suddenly crystal clear to him that the way one behaves in yeshiva is not the same as when fighting a war. War requires forces of courage, daring and breaking out to strike at and smash the enemies of G-d and Israel. Uziyah finds himself roaring like his comrades before him, "I'll smash them, I'll get them, I'll mow them down!", jumping up like a tiger to storm the targets before him.
This week's portion is Ki Tetzei, "When you go out to war against your enemies…" Going to battle means "going out," leaving our regular routine and habits. The Torah educates us to gentle behavior, to making concessions, and certainly not to kill – under normal circumstances. But in wartime, killing Israel's enemies is a mitzvah, and requires one to become nearly a different person, one with great strength and aggressiveness. These are traits that can cause a person to lose the proper balance.
We know that when a child draws "out of the lines," it is often because he is drawing with abandon, without control – and this causes him to burst past the boundaries. This is what is required, on a much large scale, in wartime – but the danger then arises that he will "burst the boundaries" in other areas as well. He may be more prone to sinning with women, for instance, for he is in a state of releasing his powerful life forces.
And this is why this Torah portion begins with, "When you go out to war… and see a beautiful woman in captivity." The Torah does not require the soldier in this situation to stifle his urges, but rather to direct them in a positive direction. He is permitted to take this woman - but only with several restrictions, including not touching her until a full month has passed and he marries her properly. The Torah, in this case, addresses itself to the soldier's negative urges, and requires that they be channeled correctly.
The Torah teaches us to develop strengths and forces for wartime - and then not to let them run wild with no restrictions.
We learn other important lessons as well from this unique chapter. For one thing, the ethics of war are not the same as those of peacetime. This is particularly important nowadays, when there are those who unfortunately seek to apply regular moral standards to the unique situation of wartime. Such an approach of "being merciful to the cruel" leads, in the end, to "being cruel to the merciful," as our Sages teach, and to the loss of innocent lives on the Jewish side.
Secondly, a Jew must serve G-d at all times, in the specific manner appropriate for each situation. Just as we blow the shofar on Rosh HaShanah and sit in a Sukkah on Sukkot, and certainly not the opposite, so too regarding our character traits: We must always seek out the proper mode of behavior for each setting.
May we merit during this month of Elul to succeed in directing our life forces in the most appropriate manner, so as to serve G-d the best way possible.
In order to get articles like this delivered straight to your inbox every week, subscribe to the Israel National Torah newsletter here.
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