Shabbat Parashat Shoftim - 5781

Shabbat Parashat Shoftim - 5781

Rabbi Hal Miller

For Hashem your God is the One who goes with you to fight for you with your enemies

to save you. [Devarim 20:4]

Then the officers shall speak to the people saying, who is the man who has built a new

house. [Devarim 20:5]

Who is fearful and fainthearted? Let him go and return to his house and let him not melt

the heart of his brothers like his heart. [Devarim 20:8]

Everyone is afraid in battle, that's a given. No matter how brave one expects to be,

once things start, everyone is "fearful and fainthearted" and would rather be some

place else. So what is the Torah teaching us with these verses?

Rashi cites a Midrash with a generic answer. "Who is fearful and fainthearted?

R'Yose HaGlili says, one who is fearful because of the sins he has. This is why the

Torah provides him with a pretext of returning for a house, vineyard, or wife, to

cover up for those who return because of the sins they have." Thus our verses are

to show honor to everybody, even those who have sinned exceedingly, a lesson

we should all try to emulate.

Ramban thinks the lesson has to do with trust in God. The Kohen who accompanies

the troops tells the soldiers that God will protect them based on their fear of Him,

The officers then speak up in our verse to discuss those who do not warrant that

protection, which Ramban says is the basis for R'Yose HaGlili's statement.

Sifrei takes another approach. If all the able-bodied men go off to war, it leaves

the land, the women and the children unprotected. In a Torah-required war, that

should not be a problem, but in a permissive war, the nation must take extra

steps to protect the home front, and our verses provide a way to do so. Nachshoni

differs slightly in that these exemptions only apply to permissive war, there are

no exemptions in a mitzvah war.

Abarbanel's view is that this is a morale booster. The soldiers who remain feel

better that their officers do not believe the entire army is necessary to win the battle.

The Vilna Gaon asks an interesting question. If these fearful oness are destined to

die, would they not die even if they return home? He explains that there are two

kinds of destiny, national and individual. If the nation is destined to lose, many will

die who would not otherwise have done so, thus one who has sinned may be more

endangered here, where he might not have been liable for death on his own.

In the end, the Torah commands us to have faith in God and to stand steadfast on

the field of battle.