Shabbat Shalom: Parshat Shoftim (Deuteronomy 16:8-21:9)

By Shlomo Riskin  

Efrat, Israel - And it will be, when you come near to warfare, the priest shall step forward and speak to the nation. He shall say to them, Hear, Israel, you are coming near this day to warfare against you enemies. Do not be afraid, for it is the Lord your G-d who walks alongside of you to wage battle for you... (Deuteronomy 20: 2,3)

The Sages of the Talmud expand on this morale-uplifting message of the priest-Kohen to the soldiers before battle: The Priest-Kohen anointed for War would speak in the sacred tongue (Hebrew). Dont let your heart become faint. The Lord of hosts, the G-d of Israel, it is He who wages war with us, it is He who walks with us to save us in all of our battles. This is because our war is His war, and our victory is His victory (B.T. Sotah 42a).

There are two problems with this Biblical passage, one textual and the other conceptual. The Bible opens, And it will be, in Hebrew vhaya; an equally acceptable Hebrew usage with the same meaning would have been vayhi (both forms are based on the Hebrew verb to be), with our grammatical Sages pointing out that the second form generally connotes a difficult or even tragic situation. The probable reason for this perhaps is vay is the usual expression for woe, whereas the first usage has a more neutral connotation. Given the fact that we are dealing with war, would it not have been more appropriate for the Bible to have begun this passage with vayhi rather than vhaya?

Secondly, why does the Bible mandate a special Priest-Kohen anointed for War and not a special king anointed for war or a special Prophet anointed for War? After all, there are three Biblical proto-typical leaders, - the King, the Prophet and the Priest-Kohen - and it seems to me that the least likely functionary to be chosen for the task of morale building in time of war is the priest-Kohen. After all, the Priest-Kohen symbolizes three specific traits or functions necessary for successful nation building: continuity between parents and children, the son inheriting the mantle of priesthood from his father and carrying on his sacred tasks; the preservation of the external structure, of the organizational/institutional forms, as expressed by the specific external garments without which the priest-Kohen could not function; the pursuit of peace, a value inherited from the very first High Priest of Israel, Aaron, who loved peace, pursued peace, loved all creatures and brought them close to Torah.

War is the very antithesis, indeed the nemesis, of these three priestly vocations. War disrupts the continuity of the generations, causing fathers to bury their sons rather than seeing their progeny continue their work; war destroys and uproots the orderly form of life and prayer, the buildings and the institutions, which characterize a society in times of halcyon normalcy; and war is the opposite of peace, breeding loss of life, limb and dignity. So why have the Kohen-Priest as the one anointed to give courage to those in the front lines of battle? Would not a king or a prophet be a far more fitting choice than a lover of peace?!

I believe that herein lies the profound genius of the Bible. The Mishnah teaches, An individual may not go out (on the Sabbath) bearing a sword or a spear (because these are implements of war and are considered to be a burden). Rabbi Eliezer (disagrees), declaring that these armaments are ornaments (to be worn, and not burdens to be carried). The Sages maintain, they are disgraceful objects for those who wear them, as the Scripture teaches, they shall beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks.. Obviously the overwhelming view of the majority is that implements of war are not only considered burdens not to carried on the Sabbath (unless it be for life-saving reasons), but are also seen in a disparaging and demeaning light- a far cry from the opening lines of Virgils Aeneid, Of armaments and soldiers do I sing (arma virumque cano).

But if so, how can we understand the commandment to go to war, clearly detailed in the continuing passage of our Torah reading (Deuteronomy 21:10-18) and referred to in the Mishnah as milhemet mitzvah (a war commanded by the Torah)! This is how the Torah and our Sages characterize the early Biblical wars against the seven indigenous nations of Canaan, the war against Amalek and a war in self-defense.

Apparently the Torah believes that there are some wars which, despite the blatantly negative assessment of war in light of our ultimate goal of world peace, are nevertheless necessary and mandatory. First we must always attempt to make peace and try to convince our enemy to accept the Noahide laws of morality (Maimonides, Laws of King, 6). But if this does not work with the evil and aggressive seven nations and Amalek, if we are attacked by a nation that sets out to destroy us and our morality, then it becomes incumbent upon us to strike back and secure our freedom as well as the future of a moral civilization.

There are times in life when we must wage war in order to maintain our continuity into the future. There are times in life when we must wage war in order to maintain the forms and institutions of our decalogue inspired culture. There are times in life when we must wage war in order to preserve a world dedicated to peace. As Seneca taught, If you wish for peace, you must prepare for war, particularly in a world with evil empires. And in such types of warfare, the best individuals to encourage and inspire our soldiers are our ambassadors of peace, our priest-Kohanim!

Shabbat Shalom.