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שבת שלום - פרשת כי תצא
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Video Shiur
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Click play to watch the video shiur by
Rabbi Scott Kahn about ברכת החמה |
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News and Notes
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We welcome back our
incoming shana bet students
this Shabbat! The yeshiva
is hosting an in-Shabbat
just for the returning
students; they begin
shiurim on Sunday.
Our
shana alef students arrive
on Tuesday. We will
be having our annual
orientation program when
they arrive, with shiurim
beginning on Wednesday.
Our annual trip to Ir
David, scheduled for
this coming Friday, will
include Shacharit at
the Kotel, and a tour
of Ir David, including
Chizkiyahu's Tunnels.
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Taking Candy from a Baby
By Rabbi Scott Kahn
The opening verses of Parashat Ki Teitzei present three seemingly distinct mitzvot. The first is the case of a woman captured in a war, whom a soldier may marry under specific conditions. The second is the law which states that when a man has a wife whom he loves and a wife whom he hates, he must not withhold the birthright from his oldest son, even if the firstborn is the son of the hated wife. The third law is the case of the ben sorer u'moreh, the rebellious son, whose behavior is so indicative of a murderous future that he is put to death as a minor.
Rashi explains that the juxtaposition of these three mitzvot teaches an important lesson:
"The Torah [in allowing a man to marry a captured woman under certain conditions] only spoke because of the yetzer hara; for if the Holy One, Blessed is He, had not allowed it, the man would marry her anyway in violation [of the Torah]. However, if he does marry her, he will ultimately hate her... and will end up having a child from her who is a ben sorer u'moreh; for this reason these sections were juxtaposed." (Rashi on Devarim 21:11)
Rashi recognizes that the permissibility of marrying the captive woman is only a concession to the evil inclination, and should be discouraged in the extreme. Moreover, if a soldier does marry this woman, he is setting himself up for a miserable family life, which itself leads to the ultimate disgrace of the ben sorer u'moreh. These verses may be the most famous example of the Torah presenting a mitzvah which one should avoid; performing this mitzvah is not meritorious, for it is only a means to avoid capitulating to the evil inclination to an even greater degree.
Interestingly, the law of the captive woman only applies in a milchemet hareshut, an optional war. (Rashi on Devarim 21:10) In last week's parashah, the Torah taught another law applicable only to a milchemet hareshut: that before a battle, the army's officers announce that anyone who is "fearful and softhearted" (Devarim 20:8) should go home rather than dishearten his fellow soldiers. (Rambam, Hilchot Melachim u'Milchamot 7:4) Rashi cites the opinion of Rabbi Yosi HaGelili (Masechet Sotah 44a) that the person is afraid because of sins he has committed; his fear is not caused by a reticence to fight, but because he doubts his own merits.
This indicates that those who fight in a milchemet hareshut are all righteous individuals. Why, then, is the Torah concerned about the soldier's evil inclination? This appears to be the most unlikely place for the Torah to give a special dispensation to the yetzer hara, rather than the most famous example of such an idea!
The answer may well be discovered through a more careful reading of the opinion of Rabbi Yosi HaGelili. He does not state that those who have sinned must leave the battlefield, but rather that those who are afraid because of their sins must leave. In other words, it is not the righteous who stay on the battlefield, but the self-confident.
The soldiers who fight a milchemet hareshut may well be righteous, but their self-assurance presents a perfect opportunity for the yetzer hara to tempt them. Human beings must utilize today's achievement as tomorrow's starting point; spiritual growth is never finished. Spiritual overconfidence is the spiritual desert; and the spiritual desert is the base for spiritual decline. A person who considers himself blameless - finished and complete - courts spiritual stagnation, and offers the evil inclination a unique opportunity. For the yetzer hara, tempting the stagnant individual is as easy as taking candy from a baby.
Rashi emphasizes that the danger of religious inactivity applies even to the greatest individuals. In Parashat Vayeshev, immediately before the story of Yosef and his brothers, the Torah tells us that "Yaakov dwelled" - meaning, Rashi posits, that Yaakov wanted to dwell in tranquility. His apparent desire to cease constant spiritual growth was the catalyst for the tragic episode which follows: "Said the Holy One, Blessed is He: Is [the reward] prepared for them in the World to Come not enough for the righteous, that they want to sit in tranquility in this world?!" (Rashi on Bereshit 37:1) Even Yaakov Avinu fell prey to the temptation of spiritual stagnation; the punishment for his spiritual inaction was that Yosef disappeared for twenty two years.
Every end must also become a beginning; every achievement must act as the springboard for ever greater accomplishments. As we move deeper into the month of Elul, we must remember the reason that we pray to be inscribed in the Book of Life on Rosh Hashanah: so that we have more opportunities to make ourselves into the people we believe that we should be. Spiritual stagnation is for the dead.
May we all merit to use our achievements to grow even more, thereby utilizing every minute of our lives to become the great people we know we can be.
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