WHEN IN YOUR WAR AGAINST A CITY YOU HAVE TO BESIEGE IT A LONG TIME IN ORDER TO CAPTURE IT, YOU MUST NOT DESTROY ITS TREES, WIELDING THE AX AGAINST THEM. YOU MAY EAT OF THEM, BUT YOU MUST NOT CUT THEM DOWN. ARE TREES OF THE FIELD HUMAN TO WITHDRAW BEFORE YOU INTO THE BESIEGED CITY?

(Devarim 20:19)

 

 

But you must not cut them down. Are trees of the field human... The commentators, of blessed memory, explained that the trees of the field are man's life and food, similar to the verse, for that [taking a millstone in pawn] would be taking someone's life in pawn (Devarim 24:6), there fore I command you not to destroy it, for it is a blessing. In my opinion, the word human goes together with you must not cut them down. The meaning of the passage is that a tree is not like a human being whom you place under siege, and a wise and intelligent nation does not destroy a worthy thing for no purpose. Therefore, you should not apply your strength towards destroying the trees of the field, rather be careful not to destroy or damage them. Rather, take benefit from them - you may eat of them. But if you destroy it, you end up harming and losing its benefits.

(Rabbeinu Behayeiy on Devarim 20:19)

 

It is known that the point of this commandment is to teach our souls to love the goodly and the beneficial, and cling to it. As a result, the goodly will cling to us, and we shall stay clear of any bad thing and any act of destruction. That is the manner of the pious and of men of good deeds: They love peace, rejoice in the wellbeing of other people and draw them close to the Torah. They would never waste even a grain of mustard, and they are distressed by any lose or destruction they see. If they can, they will use all their strength to save something from destruction. The wicked are different, they are brothers to harmful demons, they rejoice in the world's destruction and they themselves are destroyers...

 (Sefer Ha-Hinukh, mitzvah 530)

 

 

You Shall Appoint Magistrates and Officials in all of Your Gates

– In the Gate of the City and in the Gate of the Soul

Ya'ir Eldan

The issue of authority, its origin, maintenance, and institutions, runs as a thread through our parasha. We are commanded to appoint judges and officials, not to deviate from their instructions, to appoint a king, to support the Levites and priests (setting aside for them the shoulder, cheeks, and stomach, as well as the tithes), accepting the leadership of a true prophet while rejecting the false one, going to war by the order of the people's leaders and of the priest anointed for war. The leaders are required to announce their responsibility for the honest management of the judicial system and for the appearance of murder victims (in the passage about the eglah arufa, the heifer whose neck is broken). The Mishnah in tractate Sotah (7:1-2) states that, "These are spoken in the holy tongue: the recitations of the first fruits and halitzah, the blessings and curses, the priestly blessings, the High Priest's blessing, the section about the king, and the section on the eglah arufa, the proclamation made to the people by the priest anointed for war (mashuah milhamah)." In constrast, the proclamations of the sotah, and of tithes, the recitation of the Shema, the Amidah prayer, grace after meals, the oaths of witnesses and for collateral, may be made in any language.

Why must the halitzah recitation be made in Hebrew, while the Shema may be said in any language, and more relevant to our topic, why must the section about the king, and the section on the eglah arufa, and the mashuah milhamah be uttered in Hebrew?

The Mishnah derives these laws through application of gezera shava (the principle of analogous verses) to the words ve'anu ve'amru (and they shall make this declaration), which appear in connection with the blessings and curses made at Mount Gerizim and Mount Eval:

The Levites shall then proclaim (ve'anu ha'leviyim ve'amru) in a loud voice to all of the people of Israel: Cursed be anyone who makes a sculptured or molten image, abhorred by the Lord, a craftsman's handiwork, and sets it up in secret - And all the people shall respond, Amen. Cursed be he who insults his father or mother. - And all the people shall say, Amen. Cursed be he who moves his fellow countryman's landmark. - And all the people shall say Amen. Cursed be he who misdirects a blind person on his way. - And all the people shall say, Amen... (Devarim 27:14-18)

Just as the Levites made their declaration (anu ve'amru) in the holy tongue, so too in bringing the first fruits, where it is written you shall make this proclamation (ve'anita ve'amarta) (Devarim 26:5), and in connection with halitza it is written, and she shall proclaim (ve'anta ve'amra) (25:9), and by the eglah arufa, it says that the city's elders shall proclaim (ve'anu ve'amru) (21:7). (The section about the king and the priest anointed for war are derived by gezera shava from other passages).

What is the meaning of this formal explanation? The division set up by the Mishnah seems to be based upon a distinction between personal and public events. Hebrew is the public language, and so it is used in situations having public consequences, or in ceremonies which are themselves public, while personal or local ceremonies can take place in other languages. This division sheds light upon how the Mishnah views, for instance, prayer and the sotah's proclamation, as against the way it views halitzah or the eglah arufa. The former are private or family affairs lacking public consequences, while the latter affect the public sphere and act within it. An interesting phenomenon takes place here - the gezera shava from the proclamation of blessing and curses on Mount Grezim and Mount Eval is not entirely shava ("equal"). The section about the king, the speech made by the mashuah milhamah, and the elder's declaration of eglah arufa, are all public texts, which come to strengthen social institutions (the king, warfare, local city government), while the public ceremony of reading the list of curses is primarily directed towards instilling self-discipline. He, who transgresses a prohibition which is usually violated in secret, and which is therefore unenforceable, is cursed.

This intersection offers a concrete realization of the two-track flow of influence found in every culture - the observable, public track of laws, enforcement, and deterrence (in language this includes grammatical rules) as against the personal track which directs behavior through conventions, customs, and cultural conventions. This track is hidden from the eye (it is found in language, for instance, in the way speech preserves patriarchy). In this sense, you shall appoint magistrates and officials in all of your gates is a double commandment - publicly, it requires that magistrates and officials sit at the gates of the city; privately, it requires that magistrates and officials sit at the gates of the soul. Man must discipline himself.

Three of the events mentioned in our parasha represent situations in which the unstable foundations of institutional authority are exposed. An unsolved murder upsets confidence in the judicial and social system. It demonstrates the possibility of someone taking the law into his own hands without concern for severe institutionalized punishment. Mobilization for war is perhaps the paradigmatic encounter between the personal and the public spheres, and it offers the best indication of the extent to which the regime can motivate people to act. The appointment of a king constitutes a threat to divine authority, while divine authority presents a constant threat to the authority of human kingship. In these three cases the Hebrew language does not merely represent the public aspect of the ceremony. Rather, as we have learned via the gezera shava from the curses and blessings - the Hebrew language also marks the cultural function of self-regulation, of the penetration of authority into our own psyches to the extent that it seems self-evident. The Sefer Ha-Hinukh's comments on the first commandment of our parasha, the command to appoint magistrates and officials, clarify this point:

The point of this commandment is obvious; by establishing our religion through the public's fear of warriors and magistrates, and by habituating them to the good and the right through fear, the people will be educated to their nature - to do justice and righteousness out of love and recognition of the true way.

The month of Elul, "whose days are most choice and reserved for repentance" (Kitzur Shulhan Arukh, 128), reminds us again of the complex ties between the way political and religious authority establishes itself and repentance at the personal and public levels. From this vantage point, repentance, without quotation marks, consists of finding the delicate balance between authentic personal identity and national identity, between belonging and personal freedom, between cooperation and independence.

Self-regulation appears also, perhaps principally, in democratic culture, which is indicative of the gentle methods by which culture shapes the mindsets of individuals. Extreme self-regulation includes negative elements - the formation of a false consciousness and a paralyzing societal homogeneity. However, it also has positive elements: it expresses a common cultural infrastructure built upon customs, habits and opinions. The State of Israel is currently in a special political situation, replete with liminal events, which expose how unstable are the foundations of political authority within it. Our parasha teaches that a strong public and personal foundation is necessary in order for us to get through these events with the institutions of political power left intact.

Ya'ir Eldan is a PhD candidate in the program for conflict management and resolution at Bar Ilan University.

 

 

And do not erect a stone pillar [matzeivah]; for such the Lord your God detests (Devarim 16:22): One Must Not Worship Stones

The pillar which the Torah forbids is a structure at which all gather, even if the purpose is to worship God, for such was the custom of the idolaters; as it said, and do not erect a stone pillar Whoever sets up such a pillar is punished with stripes. So too, in regard to the "figured stones" mentioned in the Torah - any one who prostrates himself on it, even to worship the Lord, is punished with stripes, as it is said, and do not place figured stones in your land to worship upon (Vayikra 26:1) - it having been the custom of idolaters to place a stone before an idol that he worshippers might prostrate themselves upon it. We may not do the like unto the Lord...

                                                                                 (RaMBaM, Hilkhot Avodat Kokhavim 6:6, Hyamson translation)

 

The afraid and disheartened - Spiritual, Psychological or Moral Categories?

The officials shall go on addressing the troops and say, "Is there anyone afraid and disheartened? Let him go back to his home... (Devarim 20:8)

Rabbi Akiva says: Afraid and disheartened is meant literally - he cannot endure the armies joined in battle or bear to see a drawn sword. R. Yossi Ha-Galili says: The afraid and disheartened is he that is afraid for the transgressions that he has committed; wherefore the Law has kept his punishment in suspense, so that he may return because of them.

 (Mishnah Sotah 8:5, based on Danby translation)

 

Jacob was greatly frightened and anxious, so he divided the people with him, and the flocks and herds and camels, into two camps

 (Bereishit 32:8)

 

Was frightened - that he might be killed.

And anxious - that he might kill the others.

(Rashi loc cit)

 

Choosing the King: Commandment or Compromise? Or is the Proper form of Government Context-Dependent?

And you say, "I will set a king over me..." (Devarim 17:14): Rabbi Nehorai says: This verse speaks ill of Israel, as it is said, for it is not you that they have rejected; it is Me they have rejected as their king (I Samuel 8:7). Rabbi Yehudah said: But is it not a commandment of the Torah that they request a king for themselves, as it says set a king over yourself, one chosen by the Lord your God (Devarim 17:15)? And why were they punished in Samuel's days? Because they brought him early by their own efforts like all the peoples that surround us Rabbi Nehorai says: They asked for a king only in order that he have them worship idols, for it is said, that we may be like all the other nations: Let our king rule over us and go out at our head and fight our battles (I Samuel 8:20).

 (Sifri Shoftim 156)

 

We left world politics by duress, yet willingness is hidden inside it [i.e., the Jews abandoned politics with a degree of hidden willingness] - until that happy time comes when it will be possible to govern a state without evil and barbarity; that is the day we look forward to. It is understood that in order to realize this we must awaken with all our powers, to use all means the times may bring: all is directed by the hand of God, creator of all worlds. The delay is necessary, as our souls are disgusted by the terrible sins involved in ruling a state in evil times. And behold, the time has arrived, [it is] very close, the world shall be well-established and we shall be able to prepare ourselves, for we shall then be ready to manage our state on foundations of goodness, wisdom, honesty and the clear divine illumination.

 (Rabbi A. I. Kook, ztz"l, Orot, pg. 14)

 

...and it seems because the governing of the state varies, whether governed as a monarchy, or in accordance with the opinion of the people and those chosen by them. There is a country that cannot tolerate monarchy, and there is a country which, when lacking a king, is like a ship without a captain. This matter cannot be decided by a commandment, since a matter belonging to the governing of general society involves life and death issues which take precedence over a positive commandment...Therefore, it is not possible to absolutely command the appointment of a king as long as the people do not agree to tolerate the yoke of monarchy...

(The NeTziV, Ha-Amek Davar on Devarim 17:14)

 

...it may be stated that all the textual sources of Judaism agree that one is never to see the governance of the state as a fundamental value of the human reality of Torah observance. Rather, it constitutes the satisfaction of a necessary need, which requires governance, monarchy or authority. These involve a great risk, and one must always consider whether its disadvantages might outweigh its advantages.

(Prof. Y. Leibowitz, Sheva Shanim shel Sihot al Parashat Ha-Shavua, pg. 847)

 

"When the Murderers became Numerous - the Eglah Aufah was Revoked"

How are we to understand these words of the Sages, relating to the discontinuation of the eglah arufah and "bitter waters" [of the Sotah] due to the proliferation of murderers and adulterers? The answer is that these commandments involve impressive rites of atonement that were carried out in exceptionally rare instances, and which were intended to close breaches in the existing fence...

When the foundations of the life of Torah and purity are destroyed, as in our own days, when murder, bloodshed, rape and adultery are reported almost daily in the media, and in the context of a society in which murderers act openly, there is almost something ridiculous and revolting when organizations and associations devote themselves to battling these phenomena, and we see how what was in the past a legal institution and an act bearing restorative influence disappears and is revoked when the generation is unworthy of it.

What is this like? A rabbinate which proclaimed a dire prohibition against the butcher using an imperfect knife to slaughter pigs. This is true as well of the struggle against damaging graves, of which we hear constantly.

(Prof. Y. Leibowitz, Sheva Shanim shel Sihot al Parashat Ha-Shavua, pg. 858)

 

 

 

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