War is for enemies

Hi,

Devarim 23:10 begins, "When you go to war against your enemy". On this, a midrash (Sifri Devarim 190) comments, "You wage war against your enemies."

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch explains:
"The Torah establishes that you will battle only those who show themselves to be your enemy, from whose enmity you have suffered, and from whom you anticipate acts of enmity. Therefore, even should you attack them, you shall only defend yourself. This message rejects all wars of conquest."

(Commentary of Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch to Devarim 23:10)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Take No Prisoners

Hi,

Deuteronomy 20:19 says: When you besiege a city for many days, fighting it to capture it, do not destroy its tree, to raise a hatchet upon it…

On this, Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch commented:
"A midrash says: 'To capture it – not to destroy it.' Your goal should be only to subdue the city, not to enslave its residents as prisoners of war."

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Guard your ethical life in a time of war

Hi,

Deuteronomy 23:10-15 says:

"When you go to war against your enemy, guard yourself against every bad thing. When a man among you is impure… he shall leave the camp, he shall not enter the midst of the camp. Before evening he shall bathe in water, and at sunset he shall enter the midst of the camp. And you shall have a place outside the camp; go there, outside.

"And you shall have a peg among your weapons; when you sit outside, you will dig with it, sit, and cover your waste. For HaShem your G-d travels in the midst of your camp, to save you and to put your enemy before you, and your camp shall be holy. Nothing which should be covered will be seen, lest He leave you."

On this, Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch comments:
"When you leave the normal boundaries of family and civil life, and you are in a military camp arranged against your enemies, then even though you are in a military camp, where the ethical reins are easily loosened and the actual goal of war is an unrestrained coarseness – then, too, 'guard yourself against every bad thing.' Do not cease examining yourself, with self-control, and be on guard against 'every bad thing.'"

Have a great day,
Mordechai

The connotation of the word "cherem"

Hi,

Note: The word cherem is popularly used to refer to a decree of ex-communication, but among its original uses is a term for dedicating one's property to the Beit haMikdash [Temple]. In the following passage, we see that such an act of dedication might be viewed as a negative.

"All consecration includes two aspects: A negative aspect, in which one renounces mundane benefit, and a positive aspect, in which one delivers the consecrated item to a sacred purpose. 

"In normal consecration, the positive aspect of delivering the item to a sacred purpose is the main action, and the negative aspect of renouncing mundane benefit is only a byproduct. In an act of cherem, though, the negative aspect of renouncing mundane benefit is the primary goal, and the positive sanctification is only a byproduct of that renunciation."

(Commentary of Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch to Vayikra 27:28)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

The motive of Shimon and Levi in Shechem

Hi,

What motivated Shimon and Levi to destroy the city of Shechem, as opposed to just taking back their imprisoned sister Dinah?

"The lord would never have allowed himself to act as he did were it not a queston of a foreign, forsaken Jew-girl. That was the thought that brought home to the minds of Simeon and Levi that there are times when the Family of Jacob too must grasp the sword... They had no desire to act prudently. They wanted to make themselves feared so that nobody would attempt anything similar. The daughters of Jacob were not to be considered as being at anybody's disposal. But nevertheless they went too far, to take revenge on innocent people for that which powerful ones had done."

(Commentary of Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch to Bereishit 34:25)

Have a good day,
Mordechai

The Meaning of Mikvah

Hi,

"When a man immerses the whole of himself in water of that nature, and completely and in direct contact enters this element, he completely… leaves the stage of Mankind and for the moment returns to the sphere of the world of elements, to begin a new life of Taharah. It is symbolic of a new birth."

(Comment of R' Samson Raphael Hirsch to Vayyikra 11:47)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Worshipping Gd through our actions

Hi,

On the Torah's prohibition against worshipping Gd at a single-stone "matzeivah" monument, as opposed to a multi-stone "mizbeiach" altar:

"The matzeivah, a stone taken from Gd’s creation, represents a memorial to that which Gd has done for us in Nature and History, whereas mizbeiach, a structure built up out of several stones by human hands is meant to represent the devotion of human activity to Gd…

"With the presentation of the Torah, the matzeivah concept is not only included in and absorbed by the mizbeiach, but matzeivah becomes actually sinful. Merely worshipping Gd in His Greatness and Allmight is not only a form of homage which is not pleasing to Gd, but, as our text expresses it, henceforth Gd “hates” any worship of His Greatness and Allmight which does not seek to express the moral submission of the whole of the human being to His Law, His Torah."

(R' Samson Raphael Hirsch, Commentary to Devarim 16:22, Grunfeld translation)

Have a great day,
Mordechai