Shoftim 5631 Third Ma'amar

Before going into battle, a priest addresses the army.  He begins, "שמע ישראל אתם קרבים היום למלחמה על איביכם .../Listen Israel.  You are coming forward today for war against your enemies …" (Devarim 20:3)  Why must the priest preface his speech with the words, "שמע ישראל/Listen Israel"?  This seems extraneous.  The previous pasuk states that the priest comes to address the army.  They are standing before him.  There is no need for him to get their attention.

According to Rashi these words are in fact extra.  They are not needed to get the attention of the army.  However, the Torah wants the priest to allude to the mitzvah of kri'as shma.  The priest is telling the soldiers that they will persevere over their enemies even if the only merit they have is that of saying kri'as shma.

This needs clarification.  There are many important mitzvos.  Kri'as shma is certainly one of them.  Still, why does the Torah single out this mitzvah over all others?  What is unique and about the mitzvah of kri'as shma?

The Sfas Emes explains.  The mitzvah of kri'as shma is essentially a declaration that God is One.  Since we believe that He is the Creator, saying that He is one means that He is not just a creator.  Saying that He is one means that He is the only Creator.  All components of the world come from Him.

Taking this concept to its logical conclusion we realize that there is absolutely nothing in the world that can oppose this truth.  Even if we see things that are obviously forces of evil, not recognizing God in them is only a reflection of our own lack of faith.  The truth is that God is the source of everything and this must necessarily include the darkest places. 

God first taught us this idea at the Exodus.  God's bringing us out of Egypt was proof positive that He was the force behind the dark exile.  At the time of His choosing, He revealed Himself, ending the exile and bringing the redemption.  This is clearly the meaning of the following pasuk according to the Targum, "... כחצות הלילה אני יוצא בתוך מצרים/… At midnight I am going out into the midst of Egypt."  The Targum of "אני יוצא/I am going out," is "אנא מתגלי/I am revealing myself."  Since He was able to end the exile, He must have been the force behind it.

This, then, is the significance of kri'as shma for the army about to enter into battle with our enemies.  Kri'as shma is our declaration that God is the source of everything including our enemies and including the very situation that requires us to fight our enemies.

This is also the meaning of the pasuk, "... אם תקום עלי מלחמה בזאת אני בוטח/… though war would rise against me, in this I trust." (Tehillim 27:3)  The word זאת/this, means that everything in the world exists only because God gives it existence.[1]  The Chiddushei HaRim explains that the spiritual point through which God manages the world is called zos.[2] 

Clearly, David HaMelech teaches that the army, when entering battle, should have faith that God is the source of everything.  This matches exactly the priest's allusion to the mitzvah of kri'as shma and clarifies its significance.

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[1] The Midrash (VaYikra R. 21:4) says that the word zos/this in this pasuk is an allusion to God – in God I trust. 

[2] The early kabbalists (Sha’arei Ora 1:14a-b) teach that zos alludes specifically to that point of spirituality through which God gives existence to the physical.  See the Sfas Emes 5631 on Zos Chanuka for more on this.

Shoftim 5631 Fourth Ma'amar

In this week’s parsha, the priest gives the various conditions exempting people from the requirement of going to war.  A person who has just built a house, planted a vineyard or betrothed a woman is not required to join the army.  Furthermore, anyone who is afraid is exempt as well. 

This last exemption needs an explanation.  The priest introduced the exemptions with a declaration that God has promised to fight the nation’s battles and to save us from our enemies[1].  The commentaries[2] understand this to mean that each individual will be protected.  What, then is this fear that exempts a person from the army?

There is a debate between Rebbi Akiva and Rebbi Yosi HaGelili as to whether this is to be understood literally or not[3].  According to Rebbi Akiva, a person who is fearful of war should return home because he does not have the proper amount of faith in order for God’s promise to save him.[4]  Rebbi Yosi HaGelili holds that since sin causes all hardship, the only reason a person would fear is because he has sinned.  Sin distances a person from God, so to speak, and from God’s protection.

The Chiddushei HaRim explains that if a person is not afraid, even if he has sinned, it is an indication that his sin has been forgiven.  His repentance has brought him closer to God once more and there is no longer cause for fear.

The Sfas Emes notes that fear of sin is a good thing.  But, of course, fear of sinning is not the same as the fear that results from having committed a sin.  Fear of sinning comes as a result of complete repentance.  After complete repentance, the penitent is no longer connected to the transgression and cannot even imagine how he transgressed in the first place.  He is no longer the same person who committed the sin.  This person has become close to God.  His transgression no longer causes him to fear and he no longer worries of being outside of God’s protection.

Regarding fear of sinning and repentance, the Torah relates that Sarah Imeinu laughed skeptically when she heard the prophecy that she would have a child in her old age.  She had sinned but when confronted with this she denied it because, the Torah tells us, she was afraid, “וַתְּכַחֵשׁ שָׂרָה לֵאמֹר לֹא צָחַקְתִּי כִּי יָרֵאָה .../Sarah denied it saying, ‘I did not laugh,’ because she was afraid.” 

This is difficult to understand.  She knew that she was talking before God.  It was obviously futile to deny what she had done.  How could fear cause her to deny?  The answer, the Sfas Emes teaches is that she denied it because she had already repented.  She was in a different state, a state of fear of sinning.  In this state it was impossible for her to even fathom the sin.  Because of complete repentance she had become a different person.

Chazal teach us that even a person who has spoken between putting on the Tefillin shel Yad and the Tefillin shel Rosh is exempt from going to war.  This is a relatively minor infraction yet he is exempt if it causes him fear.  Why should such a minor transgression exempt a person from joining the war?  According the Chiddushei HaRim the answer is clear.  His concern is an indication that he has not repented, his sin has not been forgiven and he is not close to God.  This person will not be protected by God’s promise to fight for him against the enemy.

Sin distances us from God’s protection and repentance brings us near.  May we merit repentance and God’s protection from our enemies always.  Amen.

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[1] Devarim 20:4

[2] Viz. Ramban on Devarim 20:8, Or HaChayim on 20:4, lehelachem etc.

[3] Sotah 44a

[4] Viz.  Ramban on Devarim 20:8

Shoftim 5631 Fifth Ma'amar

There are periods during the year that are considered propitious – עֵת רָצוֹן. The kabbalists say that the month of Elul is such a period. The Zohar says that the third Shabbos meal is also such a time. Conventionally this means that God is more open to hearing our pleas during these times. Since God is beyond time and is not affected by it, what does this mean? To God, there is no difference between one period and the next. He is always full of the will and desire that we come close to Him. He constantly desires to shower us with blessing.

The Sfas Emes explains that a propitious time relates to the way the period affects us. In a עֵת רָצוֹן/propitious time it is easier for us to come close to God. Here is why. We are more than the physical bodies that we see. There is a spark of holiness – of spirituality – that God has buried within our physical selves. As we live our lives in the physical world, we usually do not sense this. However during the propitious time it is easier to sense it.

To the extent that we sense this spirituality and desire to come close to God, we are able to experience God’s outpouring of mercy and lovingkindness towards us as we find in Mishlei, “כַּמַּיִם הַפָּנִים לַפָּנִים כֵּן לֵב-הָאָדָם לָאָדָם/As water reflects a face back to a face, so one’s heart is reflected back to him by another.”