Parshat Shofetim; Deuteronomy 16:18 – 21:9 By: Rabbi Denise L.Eger

This week’s Torah portion Shofetim, has many instructions for wartime. Of course in the book of Deuteronomy the Israelites are preparing to enter the Promised Land and anticipating battles with the local tribes and cities. So the information contained in this week’s portion is important to the Israelites. It contains important rules for how they must conduct themselves as they seek to fulfill God’s promise that the Land of Canaan will become Eretz Yisrael.

One of the most interesting parts of their rules of engagement has to do with the Israelites own exceptions for its soldiers. In every battle, there are soldiers who are not prepared to fight. Perhaps they are conscientious objectors or there are issues in their lives that will distract them from their jobs. Most recently an American soldier in Iraq left to rescue her children from her ex-husband’s home where there was continued domestic violence. She had sought permission 3 times from her commanding officer to extend her leave which indeed was granted. But it can only be extended three times. She did not return because she had no one with which to leave her children. She was declared AWOL-away without leave. Thankfully, when she did show up to the nearest base, with her children in tow, commanding officers compassionately understood the situation and rather than prosecute her (which was their right according to the Military Code of Justice) they granted her an honorable discharge. They recognized that she had a responsibility to keep her children safe that moved beyond her responsibility and vow to serve in the military.

So too our torah portion outlines several cases where the Israelite leadership must allow soldiers to return home and not fulfill their military service. Four cases, are cited. These include anyone who has built a house but not dedicated it; anyone who has planted a vineyard but not harvested it; any one who has gotten engaged to be married but not married yet; and anyone who is afraid. (Deuteronomy 20:5-8)

Our tradition understood that anxiety and fear infects and affects troop morale. If their mind was at always focused on unfinished business at home, then it was difficult to do their job and God’s work. The priest had to determine if a soldier was ready to fulfill his sacred duties.

If someone was really afraid it also meant that their faith was weak. For the Israelites believed that God was at their side in time of war-whether it was an obligatory war (milchemet mitzvah) or a pre-emptive war which was considered optional (milchemet reshut). Thus if a soldier’s faith waned and fear got the best of him, he would hardly be at top of his game. And his fears when shared with others could possibly reduce the effectiveness of the entire company or brigade. Thus sending the soldier home even before the start of any engagement was important. In later Jewish writings, the pre-emptive war, which was optional, was the only kind of war where these exemptions were applied.

Today our own American soldiers continue to endlessly fight in a milchemt reshut—not an obligatory war but what clearly was a pre-emptive, optional war. We must figure out a way to bring our troops home – and allow our brave and courageous troops the opportunity to be reunited with their families and taken out of harms way. Perhaps some of these traditional exemptions from our Torah could be applied to bring home more of our soldiers quickly and speedily without fear of repercussions.

Posted by Aaron at August 13, 2007 10:07 AM