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A
MAN TAKES A WOMAN AND COHABITS WITH HER. THEN HE TAKES AVERSION TO HER AND
MAKES UP CHARGES AGAINST HER AND DEFAMES HER...
(Devarim 20:19)
Takes aversion - Rabbi
Yishmael says: Come and see what hatred can cause - it
brings him to lashon ha-ra
[evil speech]. From this you can say: [When] a person commits a minor sin,
he ends up committing a serious sin; he transgresses love your neighbor as
yourself (Vayikra 19:18) and he ends up transgressing you
shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge (ibid) and you shall not hate
your kinsfolk in your heart (19:17), and let him live by your
side as your kinsman (25:36) until it comes to bloodshed.
(Sifri Devarim, Ki Teitzei 87)
Makes up charges
Now Moses [was tending the flock...] (Shemot 3:1). As is written: He made known
His ways to Moses, His deeds [alilotav] to the
children of
(Shemot Rabbah 2:1)
Permitted and
Obligatory Wars
Pinchas Leiser
Rashi,
following the tannaitic midrash,
Sifrei, interprets ki
teitzei la'milhamah
[when/if you go out to war] (Devarim
21:10)
as referring to a permitted war, making the whole chapter a description of the
situation in which the national leadership has decided to wage an "optional
war." This kind of war is limited by clear halakhic
boundaries, as we read in the Mishnah (Sanhedrin 1:5): "An
optional war is waged only by authority of the Court of Seventy-One [judges]."
This may have been intended to constrain the military and political whims of
the "legitimate sovereign," but we still cannot be sure that things
always proceeded in accordance with the halakhah.
In any case, Rashi,
following Midrash Tanhuma,
addresses the juxtaposition of topics within the parasha,
and perceives a connection between the beautiful [captive] woman and the
hated woman, and between the hated woman and the wayward and
defiant son. He writes (
And would take her for yourself for a wife - Scripture is speaking (making
this concession) only in view of man's evil inclination. For
if the Holy One, blessed be He, would not permit her [to him as a wife], he
would [nevertheless] marry her although she would then be forbidden [to him].
However, if he does marry her, in the end he will hate her, for Scripture
writes [immediately] afterwards, if a man has two wives [one beloved, the
other hated] (15), and ultimately he will beget a
wayward and defiant son by her. It is for this reason that these sections
are put in juxtaposition. (Based on Silberman translation)
Rashi
summarizes the Tanhuma's comments, and deals only
with the juxtapositions of the sections on the beautiful [captive] woman,
the hated woman, and the wayward and defiant son. Rashi's ideas can be extended in two directions:
a)
One should not forget that the whole story begins with a "permitted"
war; the phenomenon of the beautiful [captive] woman and the tendency to
be lured by the drive for conquest seem to be more likely in the case of an "optional"
war. The Torah tells us that such a war creates a condition of weakened
spirituality, and the evil inclination may take control over a man. In those circumstances,
the Torah cannot absolutely prohibit a man from satisfying his inclinations;
rather it tries to minimize the damage, while informing us of the unfortunate
consequences to come. Lust for conquest leads neither to love
nor to mutual respect, making it likely for children resulting from that relationship
to be "impaired." Such children are conceived in sin, born in
sin, and grow in sin.
b)
The author of Midrash Tanhuma
himself reads the whole parasha in light of the
principle, "The performance of a commandment brings the performance of an
additional commandment in tow, and transgression brings further transgression
in tow." The midrash
states:
When you go out to war - Our
rabbis learned: "The performance of a commandment brings the performance
of an additional commandment in tow, and transgression brings further
transgression in tow."
And you see among the captives, etc.
and she shall shave her head and pare her nails (11, 12) - so
that she will not be attractive to you.
What is written afterwards? if a man has two wives - two [wives] in the
home [means] conflict in the home; either one will be beloved and the other
hated, or both shall be hated.
What is written next? If a man has a
wayward and defiant son - anyone who marries a beautiful [captive] woman
will beget of her a wayward and defiant son. So it is written
regarding David, who, when he waged war, desired Ma'akha,
the daughter of Talmi, king of Gashur.
From that relationship came Avshalom, who tried to
kill him, who laid with his ten concubines in broad daylight before the eyes of
all Israel, by whose hand tens of thousands were killed in Israel, and he
caused conflict in Israel, killing Shim'i ben Gera, and Sheva
ben Bikhri, and Ahitofel, and Mefiboshet, and
killed Ish-Boshet, setting up Tziva
over Saul's entire house...Next is written, If a man is guilty of a capital
offense and is put to death (22). If he survives the one [death
as a wayward and defiant son], he will not be saved from the other
[punishment for a capital offense]. We learn [from all of this] that the
performance of a commandment brings the performance of an additional
commandment in tow, and transgression brings further transgression in tow. From
where [do we learn the first part of the statement]? It is written, If, along the road, you chance upon a bird's nest...in
order that you may fare well and have a long life (22:6, 7). What
is written next? When you build a new house (8) - you
will merit building a new house and setting up a rail [around its roof]. What
is written next? You shall not plant your vineyard with a second kind of
seed (9) - you
shall merit having a vineyard and sewing a field. What is written next? You
shall not plow with an ox and an ass together (10) - you
shall merit owning oxen and asses. What is written next? You shall not wear
cloth combining wool and linen (11) - you will merit owning fine
clothing of wool and fine clothing of linen. What is written next? You shall
make tassels (12) - You will merit performing the
commandment of tzitzit. What is written
next? When a man takes a woman (13) - you will merit having a wife
and children; and so we learn that that the performance of a commandment brings
the performance of an additional commandment in tow, and transgression brings
further transgression in tow - that is why these passages have been arranged to
follow each other.
(Tanhuma, Ki Teitzei, 1)
The author of this midrash reads a large section of the parasha as a continuous stream of interrelated topics, but
he does not follow this exegetical strategy through to the end of the parasha. He concludes with the man who merits fulfilling
the commandment of tzitzit, who also gains a
wife and children, but ignores the continuation, in which he cohabits with her,
and then hates her and makes up charges against her (
At each stage, a person must make a
choice, and the "bringing in tow" is simply one's path in life, which
increases the possibilities of one's ending up a sinner or a saint, but none of
this works automatically.
It would be interesting to investigate
all of these connections from the perspective of the "juxtaposition of
passages," but that would require that we go beyond the limits of this
article.
Again following the Tanhuma,
Rashi reads the passage concerning the commandment to
remember Amalek, which appears in the end of our parasha, as a continuation of the topic of dishonesty:
Remember what Amalek
did to you: If you use false weights and measures then you must
apprehend the provocation of the enemy, as it states, a false balance is an
abomination to the Lord (Mishlei 11:1), and
there is written immediately after this, if intentional sin comes, shame
comes (11:2). (Rashi on Devarim 25:1, Silberman translation)
Rashi's words
may be read as suggesting that Amalek appears as a "punishment"
for dishonesty. There is a degree of "poetic justice" here, since the
strong cheat with weights and measurements, making use of their superior
power-status to exploit the other - exactly the defining characteristic of Amalek; he surprised you when you were famished and weary,
and cut down the stragglers in your rear (Devarim
25:18).
But perhaps this is not necessarily a punishment, but rather the setting down
of rules and the creation of a culture. By the very nature of things, if we
adopt an Amalekite culture, which exploits the
weakness of the other, then these will be the "rules of the game" in
the society in which we live, and they will also be used against us.
If we wish to connect all of this with
the beginning of the parasha, we can say to a certain
degree that the people's decision to set out on an "optional" war may
cause the fighters to be overtaken by lust for conquest, and for exploitation
of the beautiful [captive] woman's weakness, which is also Amalekitism. The war against Amalekitism
is an obligatory war, which we are required to wage in every generation and
with greatest diligence upon our entry to the
Pinchas Leiser, the
editor of Shabbat Shalom, is a psychologist.
The True War is Internal
This
is hinted at in Zohar Hadash,
When you go forth in war against your enemy,
that is to say, that when you will have to set out to war against Satan, the
great enemy, I promise you, the Lord your God will deliver him into your
hands and you will take some of them captive. And you will see among the
captives a
beautiful woman, that means to say that you will
become aware that the Holy Shekhinah (Divine
Presence) is held captive because of your deeds, and if you are not with her
before judgment there is no good, God forbid. Therefore, desire her and take
her... bring her into your house, so that the Shekhinah's
influence upon you will continue. And by what means? She shall lament her
father and mother for a month's time, that is, the month of Elul which is
given for increased lamenting over sins.
(Arvei Nahal)
Then guard yourself against
anything bad (Devarim
When
you go forth in camp (Devarim
23:10)
Even when you have left your homes and the restricting influence of ordinary
family and social life and find yourself in a military camp set out for war against
an enemy (the Sifri stresses the words against
your enemy, the Torah assumes that you will only wage war against enemies
who have proven themselves to be such, from whose enmity you have suffered and
whose further actions you must expect, against whose attack you have to protect
your land and your families; (this excludes any aggressive war of conquest) - so
that even when you are in a military camp where the ordinary restrictions of
morality and decency become so easily loosened, and the purpose of the war
itself could tend to foster unrestrained coarseness and brutality, then
guard yourself against anything bad, you are not to loose your
self-controlling inner inspection and keep yourself on guard against
anything bad.
(Rabbi
S.R. Hirsch on Devarim 23:10, Levy translation)
Human Dignity, even of Sinners,
is Divine Dignity
For
he that is hanged is a degradation of God - i.e., a degradation of the
Divine King, for man is made in His image and the Israelites are His children. A
parable! [It may be compared to the case of] two twin brothers who [very
closely] resembled each other: one became king and the other was arrested for
robbery and was hanged. Whoever saw him [on the gallows] thought that the king
was hanged. Whenever the term klalah ["curse,"
here "degradation"] occurs in Scripture it has the meaning of holding
in light esteem and despising, as e.g., who despised [killel]
me with utter despite (I Kings 2:8).
(Rashi, Devarim 21:23, Silberman translation)
Compassion and Gratitude as
Ethical Demands
The
Torah has taught us that one must go exceedingly far indeed in the exercise of
this moral quality. Namely, a man ought to take care of his relatives and grant
very strong preference to the bond of the womb. Even if his relative should do
him an injustice and a wrong and should be extremely corrupt, he must nevertheless
regard his kinsman with a protective eye. He, may He be exalted, says: You
shall not abhor an Edomite, for he is your brother
(Devarim 23:8). Similarly everyone of whom you have
had need some day, everyone who was useful to you and whom you found in a time
of stress, even if afterwards he treated you ill, ought necessarily to have
merit attaching to him because of the past. He, may He be exalted, says: You
shall not abhor an Egyptian, because you were a stranger in his land (23:8). And
it is generally known how greatly the Egyptians vexed us (Bamidbar
(RaMBaM Guide for the Perplexed, III:42, Pines translation)
The Good of Society is Dependent
to a Great Degree Upon the Happiness of the Individual
The
following are exempt from joining the army and are not requisitioned for any
service whatsoever: he who built a house and dedicated it; he who married his
betrothed wife or the wife of his deceased brother; he who planted a vineyard
and used the fruit thereof - these do not go forth (to battle) till the
completion of one year, as it is said: He shall be free for his house one
year, and shall cheer his wife whom he has taken (Devarim 24:5). It has been learned by tradition that
he shall be free one year whether he acquired a house, or married a wife, or
planted a vineyard the fruit whereof he has begun to use.
(RaMBaM, Hilkhot Melakhim 7:10, Hershman
translation)
...And the Torah looks upon this duty
of a husband for the happiness of the marriage as being such a high one, and lays
such importance to it, not only for its individual happiness but also for
national well-being that, for a
whole year after marrying a wife, it frees him from all public services and
duties, yea, actually forbids him undertake any of them so that he can give
himself up entirely to his home life and to laying the foundation of his wife's
happiness...
Clearly
at the root of these laws lies the point of view that a state, the concept of a
state as a whole, only has reality in the actual numbers of all its individual
members, but apart from them, or next to them, one cannot consider the
existence of a state as a concept in itself. So that the national welfare can
only be sought in the well-being and happiness of all the single individuals,
hence every flourishing and happy home is a contribution to the realization of
the goal set for the entire nation, hence has to be met by the nation with
careful, encouraging, and promoting consideration.
(Rabbi
S.R. Hirsch on Devarim 24:5, Levy translation)
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