Do you recall that great scene in Casablanca when Humphrey Bogart is asked, "What kind of man are you?" and he calmly replies, "Like any other man ? only more so."
That more or less sums up the idea of being Jewish: We are like any other human being - only more so. We engage in all the usual practices of humanity: we eat, sleep, work, study, interact with neighbors, put gas in our car, etc. But, at the same time, we remember that we are created in G-d's image and must always conduct ourselves in a spiritually-refined manner.
This is true even - maybe especially - in situations that most try our character. One such situation is in time of war. During war, all manner of excesses are common. Soldiers rape, steal, brutalize and humiliate others just because they have the power to do so, and because they let their baser nature take over their behavior.
However, Jewish soldiers must be different. They must sue for peace. They must refrain from destroying fruit-trees or harming the environment unnecessarily. They must not molest captive women. In short, the Jewish soldier must maintain high standards of purity because, as our Sedra succinctly says, "Hashem walks in the camp and it is He who will rescue you and grant you victory if you are holy." In other words, not only does G-d not sanction immoral behavior in war; He specifically dispenses victory or defeat based upon how we act in the heat of battle.
How proud we should be of our brave young men in uniform, who act so dignified and mentschlich even when facing despicable enemies: Like the soldiers who broke down the door of a house in Jenin while searching for terrorists, then collected 1,500 NIS among themselves to pay for the damage; or the IDF soldier who fed captured terrorists whose hands were tied behind their backs; or my son, who found $8,000 in a secret cache of weapons, and confiscated the illegal arms and left the money.
Compare this to the Iraqis, who set the Kuwaiti oil wells on fire as they fled, or to the Syrians, who shot Israeli POW's in cold blood, or the Jordanians, who burned down the shuls they captured in the Old City in 1948.
We have to be better. We have to guard against any chink in our spiritual armor, scrupulously guarding our souls so that they remain intact both during - and after - the battle.
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Rabbi Weiss is Director of the Jewish Outreach Center in Ra?anana.
That more or less sums up the idea of being Jewish: We are like any other human being - only more so. We engage in all the usual practices of humanity: we eat, sleep, work, study, interact with neighbors, put gas in our car, etc. But, at the same time, we remember that we are created in G-d's image and must always conduct ourselves in a spiritually-refined manner.
This is true even - maybe especially - in situations that most try our character. One such situation is in time of war. During war, all manner of excesses are common. Soldiers rape, steal, brutalize and humiliate others just because they have the power to do so, and because they let their baser nature take over their behavior.
However, Jewish soldiers must be different. They must sue for peace. They must refrain from destroying fruit-trees or harming the environment unnecessarily. They must not molest captive women. In short, the Jewish soldier must maintain high standards of purity because, as our Sedra succinctly says, "Hashem walks in the camp and it is He who will rescue you and grant you victory if you are holy." In other words, not only does G-d not sanction immoral behavior in war; He specifically dispenses victory or defeat based upon how we act in the heat of battle.
How proud we should be of our brave young men in uniform, who act so dignified and mentschlich even when facing despicable enemies: Like the soldiers who broke down the door of a house in Jenin while searching for terrorists, then collected 1,500 NIS among themselves to pay for the damage; or the IDF soldier who fed captured terrorists whose hands were tied behind their backs; or my son, who found $8,000 in a secret cache of weapons, and confiscated the illegal arms and left the money.
Compare this to the Iraqis, who set the Kuwaiti oil wells on fire as they fled, or to the Syrians, who shot Israeli POW's in cold blood, or the Jordanians, who burned down the shuls they captured in the Old City in 1948.
We have to be better. We have to guard against any chink in our spiritual armor, scrupulously guarding our souls so that they remain intact both during - and after - the battle.
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Rabbi Weiss is Director of the Jewish Outreach Center in Ra?anana.