How beautiful and fitting it is, as we approach the Days of Awe, a year of elections, and for the many heroes returning from and going back to the war, to embark on a journey of "Choose life" - a magnificent journey through an important part of the commandments of the Torah portion. A journey through the three circles of the life of the Jewish soul reflected in the portion.
These circles are described in the teachings of Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook, whose yahrzeit was observed at the beginning of this week. First is the inner, personal circle, in which the Jewish soul dwells and in which it finds everything - the fullness of spiritual satisfaction.
From the inner circle, the soul moves to the national circle, ascending another level until it emerges beyond the boundaries of its private soul and sings the song of the nation, cleaving to its love, delighting in its beauty, grieving in its troubles, and expanding in the light of its salvation. At times, it expands from the national circle to the international, universal, and cosmic circle, beyond the boundaries of the nation, both when it goes forth in peace and when it goes forth to war, to sing the song of humanity, whose spirit continues to spread proudly throughout mankind, created in the image of God, striving for universal happiness and awaiting ultimate redemption. [Based on Orot HaKodesh, Part III, and elsewhere.]
We therefore have before us a journey toward recognizing the will of the Creator in three circles: at the level of the human being, the living world, and the realm of clothing and working the land. These commandments shape every Jewish soul, male and female, without blurring the boundaries and order of creation, and through the path of proper conduct that preceded the Torah.
First: "When you go out to war against your enemies, and the Lord your God delivers them into your hand, and you take them captive." Rabbeinu Bachaya says that the heart and the eyes are, on the one hand, a great root of closeness to God, and on the other hand, a means of distancing oneself from Him, because they serve as agents of sin. Some say, such as the Kli Yakar, that "your enemy" is none other than that inner adversary, Satan, namely the evil inclination, which accuses a person most strongly at a time of danger, such as war.
The Ohr HaChaim says that since the Torah came to permit the beautiful captive, who would otherwise be forbidden outside wartime, as well as the flesh of a pig and other prohibitions that were permitted during war [see Chullin 17a], the Torah feared that when Israel went to war, their feet might run toward evil so that they could enjoy forbidden things. Therefore, the verse stipulates: "When you go out" - when you go to war, your departure must be with a clear objective: to take vengeance against your enemies, who are the enemies of God, as it says in Psalms [139]: "Do I not hate those who hate You, O Lord, and do I not contend with those who rise against You?... They have become my enemies." This must be the purpose of going to war - total victory, a term that is bandied about heavily even today. If you do so, "the Lord your God will deliver them into your hand, and you will take their captives."
A high standard is demanded of the soldiers of the House of David. "When you go out to war" means, on the one hand, that you must not fear or be frightened; you must fight with full force, as we read in last week's Torah portion, and you are even permitted to eat the flesh of a pig. But on the other hand, you must conduct yourself with a high level of cleanliness and modesty, with a stake attached to you, at your side. This stems from the understanding and internalization that in the camp of the army of Israel, the Divine Presence dwells and walks: "For the Lord your God walks in the midst of your camp, to deliver you and give your enemies before you."
Therefore, "A man's attire shall not be upon a woman, nor shall a man wear a woman's garment, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord your God." Every soul must fulfill the role God designated for it in creation, and every alteration and mixing of these roles is considered an abomination before its Creator. Thus, the Sifri records Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov asking: How do we know that a woman should not wear weapons and go to war? The Torah says, "A man's attire shall not be upon a woman." And how do we know that a man should not adorn himself with women's jewelry? The Torah says, "Nor shall a man wear a woman's garment, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord your God." Such a change is described with no fewer than five terms: banned, abominable, hated, detestable, and wrongful [Rashi].
And as those returning from war know, there are many challenges. There can be marital problems, like two women, one beloved and one hated: "If a man has two wives, one beloved and the other hated." The Sforno says that after the victory in war, the Torah speaks about matters concerning the people of the land: wives, children, livestock, jewelry, hunting, construction, agriculture and clothing. As noted, there are no shortage of marital crises among those returning after lengthy periods of reserve duty. Even in complicated circumstances, the Torah commands and guides the husband not to favor the son of the beloved wife over the son of the hated wife, but to adhere to the law. Later in the portion, it speaks of a woman whose husband hates her, contrary to the prohibition against hatred, and now seeks to send her away.
At times there are also failures in education because the entire burden has fallen upon the woman for a prolonged period. Instead of a son loving his parents, there is the rebellious and wayward son who does not listen to his father and mother, who is rebellious and defiant, a glutton and a drunkard, and sometimes even curses them. The Talmud in Sanhedrin, in the chapter concerning the rebellious son, which I studied with Avraham Feldman, of blessed memory, who fell in the Yom Kippur War, says: "There never was and never will be a rebellious son... Rabbi Natan says: I saw one and sat upon his grave." There is a dispute over whether such a son ever existed. Some even say that Rabbi Natan sat upon his grave. But according to all opinions, educational failures during such complex periods are common and require tremendous divine assistance.
And if we follow the Sforno's interpretation of the challenges that accompany those returning from war, the next challenge is making a living - livestock, jewelry or agricultural work. In the trade of jewelry and other goods, one must ensure that "You shall not have in your pouch two kinds of weights, large and small" - not even in your pocket, so that you will not be tempted to cheat in weighing goods.
As for livestock, sheep and cattle, here too the Torah guides us to observe its commandments and not plow with an ox and a donkey together: "You shall not plow with an ox and a donkey together." Even in times of hardship, one must earn a livelihood according to the path of the Torah, without combining the two species, the wild animal and the domesticated animal. The Baal HaTurim offers a wonderful explanation for why one may not plow with an ox and donkey together: the ox regurgitates its food while the donkey does not, and when the donkey sees the ox doing so, it may think that the ox is eating and become distressed. This is what is meant by "Do not plow evil against your fellow," causing the donkey to experience distress because of its fellow. The prohibition against causing suffering to animals is from the Torah, and therefore the person plowing must also be sensitive to the suffering of the animal. Rabbeinu Bachaya says: "The sage Rabbi Abraham Ibn Ezra wrote that the reason for this commandment is that God has compassion for all His works, for the strength of the donkey is not like the strength of the ox." Indeed, His mercy extends to all His creations - to human beings and to animals. Before we turn to plants, let us pause over another commandment concerning the animal world.
"When you happen upon a bird's nest on the road, in any tree or on the ground, with fledglings or eggs, and the mother is sitting upon the fledglings or upon the eggs, you shall not take the mother together with the young." Ramban says that this commandment is based on the same principle as "You shall not slaughter it and its young on the same day" . The reason for both is that we should not become cruel-hearted and lose our capacity for compassion. Another explanation is that the Torah does not permit us to destroy a species and eradicate it, even though it permits slaughtering that species. Killing the mother and young on the same day, or taking them while they have the freedom to fly, is as though one were eradicating that species.
According to Maimonides in the Guide for the Perplexed , the reason for the commandment of sending away the mother bird and the prohibition against slaughtering an animal and its young on the same day is to warn us not to slaughter the young in front of its mother, because animals experience great distress in such circumstances. There is no difference between the concern of a human being for his children and the concern of animals for their offspring. A mother's love and compassion for the children of her womb do not depend upon reason or speech, but are produced by the faculty of thought found in animals just as it is found in human beings. Ultimately, however, the purpose is to distance us from cruelty and, more appropriately, to prevent us from becoming cruel.
And now, after the commandments concerning human beings and animals, we move to the plant world - the prohibition against mixtures in agriculture: "You shall not sow your vineyard with mixed seed, lest the fullness of the seed that you have sown and the produce of the vineyard become forbidden." "Lest it become forbidden" - Rashi says, lest it become defiled. Every matter that is repulsive to a person, whether positively, as in something consecrated, or negatively, as in something forbidden, can be described through the language of holiness. The Maharal explains that the prohibition against mixtures does not act upon nature or contradict it, but instead operates upon the spiritual world of the Jewish person. The prohibition against mixtures is guidance for the Jew and not a directive for all humanity. Above the natural order there is a divine and spiritual order, and when a person performs an act involving a prohibited mixture, he is neither living within nor connected to that divine order. Be'er HaGolah writes: "The prohibition against mixtures is because one should not join together species that are separate, and this is the way of the Torah. We have already said: the way of the Torah alone, and the completion of the world alone..."
From working the land, we arrive at the clothing of a person in the Torah portion. The first clothing, as we remember, was sewn by the Creator Himself: "And the Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them." He made for them fine and honorable garments of skin with which they covered their entire bodies in dignity. In Rabbi Meir's Torah, it was written "garments of light," meaning that the Holy One, blessed be He, clothed them in various levels and lights from the upper light that existed in the Garden of Eden, similar to what Moses attained on the mountain. [Rabbeinu Bachaya.] Whether these were garments of skin or garments of light, man is commanded: "You shall not wear a garment made of wool and linen together."
The Sages, in Midrash Tanchuma, connected the prohibition against mixed fibers to the sin of Cain and Abel. "And Cain brought of the fruit of the ground" - what did he bring? Some say the inferior portion of his food, while the Rabbis say it was flax seed. "And Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat." Therefore wool and flax were prohibited, as it says: "You shall not wear wool and linen together." The Holy One, blessed be He, said: "It is not fitting that the offering of the sinner should be mixed with the offering of the righteous; therefore it is forbidden." [Bereishit Rabbah, section 9.]
Rabbeinu Bachaya wrote similarly regarding the prohibition against mixed fibers. What was forbidden to us in clothing - wool and linen - was prohibited because the firstborn, Cain and Abel, brought offerings of wool and flax: one brought wool and the other brought flax, and therefore we were prohibited from combining wool and flax. The combination of the two in one field did not turn out well, because it involved a mixture of forces that led to the opposite of peace. The end proved the beginning, for one ultimately murdered the other, and both disappeared from the world.
There is also a general commandment of caution in the portion: "When you build a new house, you shall make a parapet for your roof, so that you will not bring blood upon your house if someone should fall from it." Rabbeinu Bachaya says that according to the plain meaning, the Torah warns a person to guard himself against danger, as it says, "Take heed to yourself and guard your soul carefully." Therefore, when a person builds his home, he must make a parapet for his roof and must not leave a hazard or obstacle on his property that could cause people to stumble and be injured. Similarly, the Torah prohibits keeping a dangerous dog or placing an unsafe ladder inside one's home.
From the circle of commandments concerning family, marriage, education and livelihood, we move to the circle of the Jewish soul's obligation toward one's fellow, toward mutual responsibility within society, the national circle. This is the commandment to return one's fellow's lost property and to help one's fellow's donkey that has fallen on the road, whereas in Parshat Mishpatim the owner of the donkey was called "your enemy." It is no coincidence. At first he was your enemy, but you must overcome your inclination and transform the relationship so that you treat him as your brother. Rabbeinu Bachaya says: In Mishpatim it says, "When you see the donkey of your enemy," while here it says, "your brother's donkey," teaching that if he was your enemy, he should again become your brother when it comes to helping him - that you should rise with him, forget the hatred and remember the love.
There are additional commandments in this circle in the portion: the prohibition against detesting the Edomite, "for he is your brother," and toward the Egyptian you must behave with respect rather than contempt, "for you were a stranger in his land." Again, toward your brother: "You shall not charge your brother interest." There is a prohibition against eating from your neighbor's standing grain. There is one who kidnaps his brother, one who lends to his fellow, and one who oppresses the poor and needy among his brothers. The portion also describes a situation in which brothers sit together and one of them dies. And there are people who quarrel together, "each man and his brother." In all these cases, the Torah guides us: "You shall make known to them the way in which they shall walk and the deeds that they shall do."
At the end of the portion, as at its beginning, the enemy appears in the third circle - the outer circle with which we began: "When you go out to war against your enemies." The enemy referred to at the end of the portion is, of course, Amalek, who happened upon you on the way and attacked all those who lagged behind. An enemy whom we must remember and never forget for what he did to the Jewish people. It seems that above all, we must remember and never forget that the enemies in that third circle must be defeated and erased, while remembering that God creates both light and darkness, as embodied by these messengers who failed to remember to observe the commandments. They did not remember what God did to Miriam and continued to speak and write slander, among other things. Messengers in antisemitic clothing who return the Jewish people to their roots. Messengers who return the Jewish people to their essence, to the path of the Torah through the three circles, to "the way in which they shall walk and the deeds that they shall do."
For the Jewish soul's journey through these three circles to succeed, the Jewish home must first be built upon firm foundations from the establishment of the family. Therefore: "When a man takes a new wife, he shall not go out with the army, nor shall any matter be imposed upon him; he shall be free for his household for one year, and he shall rejoice with his wife whom he has taken."
Thus, there are many opposites in a single Torah portion - in human beings, animals and plants. Brotherhood and hatred, beloved and hated, detestation. The beautiful captive and cleanliness in the camp. Enemies and war until "peace breaks forth," "when the Lord your God gives you rest from all your enemies." But precisely then, a new and bitter enemy arises, "the silent Holocaust" - assimilation, which destroys many among the Jewish people every day. Against it, besides remembering, we must strengthen and embrace the word that appears more than any other in the portion: "your brother," even if he sometimes appears to you as "your enemy." In the words of Rabbeinu Bachaya: "That you should rise with him, forget the hatred and remember the love."
The author is the CEO of Tzifha International Real Estate.