Shabbat Parshat Ki Tetze- 5762
“Tohar HaNeshek,” Purity of Arms

Parshat Ki Tetze opens (Devarim 21:10-14) with a concession to human nature, that sets the Army of Israel apart morally from its counterparts in the fighting forces of all other nations. The Jewish soldier who, in the course of battle, sees a woman among the enemy population who arouses great desire in his heart, is permitted by the Torah to live with her either at once or, according to a second opinion, only after a specific period in which she undergoes various procedures (such as cutting off her hair) to make her seem less attractive, and is allowed to mourn for her parents. According to both opinions, at the end of the mourning period, he is required to take her as his wife.

In Devarim 23:15, the Torah states explicitly the over-arching principle required by the Torah of the Army of Israel, “For the L-rd your G-d goes in the midst of your camp, to deliver you and to defeat your enemies before you; therefore must your camp be holy; that He see no unclean thing in you, and turn away from you.”

Based on the Talmud, the RAMBAM in “Hilchot Melachim,” The Laws of Kings, Chapters Four through Eight, describes the military rights and responsibilities of Kings of Israel. There are two categories of war for which the King can call upon the military force of his nation; namely, a “Milchemet Mitzvah,” an Obligatory War, and a “Milchemet Reshut,” a Non-Obligatory War. The first category includes Wars against the Seven Nations of Canaan, against Amalek and wars of self-defense. The second category includes wars undertaken in order to extend the boundaries of Israel, and to enhance its political position in the world. The former does not require authorization by the Sanhedrin; the latter does.

The RAMBAM writes at the beginning of Chapter Six, “No war is launched against any opponent without offering terms of peace.” In Halachah Five, he describes communiqués sent by Yehoshua to foreign leaders upon the entry of the Jewish People into the Land of Canaan: 1. Whoever wishes to flee, may exercise that option; 2. Whoever wishes to make peace under our terms, may do so; 3. Whoever wishes to enter into battle with us, may do so.

Several individuals are given 1-year deferments from participation in Non-Obligatory Wars. One who has just begun to build a house, another who has planted a vineyard and a third who is a newly-wed “chatan.” Each is excused for one year, perhaps based again upon human nature, that it would be unfair to prevent someone who has embarked upon a new chapter in his life from consummating the project, and also from the realistic expectation that it would be too much to ask someone in those situations to “put them aside,” and focus whole-heartedly upon the battle.

Another category of exemption from front-line duty is described by the Torah in Devarim 20:8 as someone who is “fearful and faint-hearted.” Who this is talking about is the subject of debate. One opinion is that the reference is to someone who is afraid that he doesn’t deserve the protection of HaShem because of sins that he has committed. A second opinion is that the reference is literally to one who is afraid of hand-to-hand combat.

The RAMBAM says (Chapter 7, Halachah 15), that those soldiers who remain should “rely on the Hope of Israel and its Savior in times of trouble, and he should know that it is for the sake of the Unity of G-d’s Name that he fights, and he should take his life in his hand, and not be afraid nor fearful, and he should not think of his wife, or his children, but rather wipe thoughts of them from his mind and concentrate entirely on the battle... and one who fights with his whole heart without fear, and with his only thought to sanctify the Name of HaShem, may be assured that he will not come to harm...”

It is quite clear that the war in which Eretz Yisrael finds itself currently, is a “Milchemet Mitzvah,” a war that follows the historic guidelines of an Obligatory War of self-defense.

Furthermore, the IDF has always subscribed to the principle of “Tohar HaNeshek,” Purity of Arms, which means, among other things, that it does not purposely pursue the objective of inflicting civilian casualties, that is, in fact, the primary goal of our bloodthirsty opponents. As King David prayed in Mizmor 83, one of the chapters of Tehilim being recited currently in behalf of Israel:

“...They said, ‘Come let us eliminate them from the family of nations, and let the name of Israel never be mentioned again!’ For they have formed a conspiracy; against You they have made a covenant. Dwellers in the tents of Edom and Yishmael, Moav and the Hagar-ites; Geval and Amon and Amalek, Philistia together with the inhabitants of Tzor... Who said, ‘Let us seize for our possession the pastures of G-d.’ ”

“O my G-d, make them like the whirling chaff; like the stubble before the wind. As the fire burns a forest, and as the flame sets the mountain on fire; So pursue them with your tempest, and terrify them with your storm...”

“...That they will know that You alone, Whose Name is the L-rd, are the most high over all the earth.”

Rabbi Pinchas Frankel

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