Komentarz do Powtórzonego Prawa 20:1

כי תצא למלחמה WHEN THOU GOEST OUT TO WAR — Scripture places the going out to war in juxtaposition to this section here (to עין בעין וכו׳) in order to tell you that no person lacking a limb goes out to war (cf. Sifrei Devarim 190:17). Another explanation of why these two sections are put in juxtaposition to each other: it is to tell you that if you execute just judgment you may be confident that if you go to war you will be victorious. Similarly does David say, (Psalms 119:121) “I have done judgement and justice; Thou wilt not leave me to my oppressors” (Midrash Tanchuma, Shoftim 15).

WHEN THOU GOEST FORTH TO BATTLE AGAINST THINE ENEMIES, AND SEEST HORSES, AND CHARIOTS etc. This is a new commandment which he now declared to them as they came into battles. The purport of the verse, For the Eternal your G-d is He that goeth with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you²⁹³Verse 4. is to admonish them against becoming faint-hearted and that they should not fear their enemies. He states that they are not to rely in this matter on their own strength, thinking in their hearts. We are mighty men, and valiant men for the war,²⁹⁴Jeremiah 48:14. but instead they are to turn their hearts only to G-d and rely on His help, thinking that He delighteth not in the strength of the horse, and He taketh no pleasure in the legs of a man,²⁹⁵Psalms 147:10. for The Eternal taketh pleasure in them that fear Him, in those that wait for His mercy.²⁹⁶Ibid., Verse 11. He states to fight for you against your enemies²⁹³Verse 4. meaning that He will make them fall before you by the sword. He states to save you²⁹³Verse 4. meaning that they will be spared in battle and that not a man among them will be missing,²⁹⁷See Numbers 31:49. for it would be possible that they vanquish their enemies and that many of them, too, would die, as is the way of battles. Therefore Joshua cried out²⁹⁸Joshua 7:7. when about thirty and six men²⁹⁹Ibid., Verse 5. fell in [the battle of] Ai, for in His commandatory war not one hair of their heads should have fallen to the ground,³⁰⁰I Samuel 14:45. for the battle is the Eternal’s.³⁰¹Ibid., 17:47. Now the priest who serves G-d is to admonish [the warriors] to fear Him, and give them assurance [of His help]. The officers, however, speak in the customary way of the world, lest he die in the battle,³⁰²Verse 5. for in the normal course of events even some people of the group of the victors die. He commanded that these three categories [of people] return³⁰³Verses 5-7. because one’s heart is on his [new] house, vineyard, and wife and he will [be the first to] flee.

כי תצא למלחמה, outside the boundaries of the land of Israel. When a war is fought inside the boundaries of the Land of Israel, i.e. a defensive war, no one is allowed to be exempt from army service; even a bridegroom fresh from the wedding canopy is called up. (Sotah 44)

כי תצא למלחמה, When you go out into battle, etc." Perhaps the verse alludes to the battle man fights against his evil urge. It intends to remove fear and timidity from your heart. The Torah writes la-milchamah instead of le-milchamah, vocalising it thus to indicate that it refers to the well-known battle, the most crucial one, the fiercest one. In this battle man suffers from two elements both of which are apt to undermine him and to weaken his power to resist the attacker. 1) Man has never been trained to fight this particular adversary as he has been trained to fight external enemies. 2) the very composition of man is such that the enemy is constantly part of him urging him to steal, to lie, to murder, to eat whatever he desires, etc. These factors make it difficult for a human being to listen to the voice of the Torah which is "only" an external voice. These difficulties are multiplied once man has sinned repeatedly and his deeds have created forces which aid the evil urge in his fight against him, as I have explained on numerous occasions.

כי תצא למלחמה, ”When you engage in an expansionary war, etc.” Nachmanides writes that Moses reveals something totally new to the people in this paragraph, because the Israelites were approaching the day when they would have to engage in warfare..

כי תצא למלחמה על אויבך, “when you go out to war against your enemies;“ this verse speaks of what is known as מלחמת מצוה, an obligatory war, usually a defensive war against invaders. The paragraph follows one which demands from us not to display pity, detailing “eye for eye, tooth for tooth, or leg for leg.” The message of the Torah writing this sequence is that people who are minus a leg or eye, etc., do not go to war (compare Rashi). [In this instance the definition of מלחמת רשות would apply only to expansionary wars such as the ones conducted by David. Campaigns designed to forestall invasions threatened by enemies, even if waged outside the boundaries of Eretz Yisrael would come under the heading of מלחמת מצוה. The difference is who has to be mobilised. (Compare Malbim on our verse). Ed.] Another message implied by the sequence of what is written here is: “if you will practice righteousness and justice, then, if you have to go to war you will certainly be victorious.”

Scripture positioned going to war, ... to teach, etc. Rashi is answering the question: Scripture should have juxtapositioned over here the judiciary laws of parshas Ki Seitzei (below 21:22), “If a man is guilty of a capital offense, etc.,” and the other capital offenses mentioned there. He answers, “To teach, etc.”

Kap. 20. V. 1. Mit dem letzten Abschnitt über die Zeugeninstitution, dieser Basis aller Gesetzeshandhabung, sind die Gesetze über die innere Staatsverwaltung geschlossen. Ihnen folgen nunmehr Bestimmungen über die Staatsaktion gegen außen. Zuerst Verse 1 — 9 über die Militärpflicht und das Aufgebot im Kriegsfall, wie sich das Volk in Waffen für die Kriegsaktion zu konstituieren habe, sodann Verse 10 — 20 über das Verfahren im Kriege selber.

כי ה' אלוקיך עמך, “for the Lord your G-d is with you.” The Torah refers to the Holy Ark, and the trumpets, both of which are instruments representing the presence of the Lord among the Jewish people which will give them courage when fighting a war.

על איבך AGAINST THINE ENEMIES — Let them be in thine eyes as enemies: have no pity upon them, for they will have no pity upon thee (Midrash Tanchuma, Shoftim 15).

לא תירא מהם כי ה' אלו-היך עמך, “do not be afraid of them for the Lord your G’d is with you.” It is important that the fear of G’d should be stronger than the fear of the enemy nation. The Torah elaborates on this fear of opposing nations in verse 3 when we read: ‘do not be afraid and do not panic.’ Anyone fearing creatures of flesh and blood is considered as having forgotten the Almighty. This is what the prophet Isaiah 51,12-13 had in mind when he said: “what ails you that you fear man who must die, mortals who fare like grass? You have forgotten the Lord your Maker, etc.” Solomon is also on record on this subject when he says in Proverbs 29,25: “a man’s fears become a trap for him, but he who trusts in the Lord will be safeguarded.”

Another interpretation. To teach that if you judge righteously, etc. According to the first interpretation you might ask that “eye for eye” mentioned here is referring to money and not the lacking of a body part. Therefore Rashi explains, “Another interpretation, etc.” And according to the other interpretation on its own you might ask that it should have juxtapositioned this to the beginning of the parsha where it is written (above 16:18), “And they shall judge the people righteous justice, etc.”

This is why G'd tells you here that "when you go out to do battle and you see horses and riders more numerous than yourself etc." The word סוס, "horse," is a simile for the readiness of the evil urge to do battle and the word רכב is a simile for the fact that man is composed of a variety of materials, drawn to the profane as well as to the sacred, instead of a single element as is his attacker the evil urge. The words עם רב, "numerous people," are a hyperbole for the multitude of evil forces created by man's sins all of which are arraigned against him in this battle. The Torah reassures us לא תירא מהם, "you must not be afraid of them for the Lord your G'd is with you." The Torah agrees that if you were on your own, unassisted by G'd, you would be justified in being afraid of this battle; however, seeing that the Lord your G'd is on your side you need not fear; you may rest assured that G'd will save you provided you want to rehabilitate yourself morally and ethically.

כי תצא למלחמה על אויבך. Sota 44 b wird zwischen מלחמת מצוה und מלחמת רשות unterschieden und zwar wird unter מלחמת מצוה nur der durch ausdrückliches Gottesgebot befohlene Krieg zur Besitznahme des verheißenen Landes oder zur Abwehr eines geschehenen Angriffs (רמב׳׳ם מלכים ה׳ א׳ siehe ירושלמי z. St. und מראה פנים daselbst) verstanden. Alle anderen Kriege, und selbst diejenigen, die nicht zur Verteidigung gegen einen bereits geschehenen feindlichen Angriff geschehen, sondern למעוטי נכרים דלא ליתי עלייהו, einem feindlichen Angriffe durch Schwächung des Feindes vorbeugen wollen, werden als מלחמת רשות begriffen, zu welchem das Aufgebot nach Sanhedrin 2 a und 20 b nur durch Beschluss und Zustimmung des obersten Gerichtshofes von einundsiebzig geschehen konnte, ומוציא (המלך) למלחמת דשות ע׳׳פ ב׳׳ד של ע׳׳א אין מוציאין למלחמת רשות אלא על פי ב׳׳ד של ע׳׳א.

סוס ורכב [WHEN THOU GOEST TO WAR ... AND SEEST] HORSES AND CHARIOTS (lit., horse and chariot) — in Mine eyes they are all as only one horse (i.e. they do not count). Similarly it states, (Judges 6:16) “[Surely “I” will be with thee,] and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man”. And similarly it states, (Exodus 15:19) “For the horse (not the horses) of Pharaoh came [into the sea]” (Midrash Tanchuma, Shoftim 16; cf. Sifrei Devarim 190:21).

Consider them enemies. Otherwise, why does Scripture write “against your enemy”? Obviously, if they go out to war they are not going out against friends!

The Torah continues with המעלך מארץ מצרים, "the G'd who has brought you out of Egypt." The miracle of what happened at the Exodus demonstrated to you that G'd has the power to free you from the spiritually negative forces, קליפות, which had held you captive prior to the Exodus and had prevented the sanctity within you from being freed. The memory of the Exodus must always serve as a sign for you that you can overcome the forces of evil in the war in which you are engaged. We find confirmation of this thought in Psalms 37,32: "The wicked watches for the righteous, seeking to put him to death." The Psalmist assures us in the verse following "G'd will not abandon him to his power; He will not let him be condemned in judgment." Our sages in Kidushin 30 explain that these verses refer to the assault on man by the evil urge and to the assistance G'd extends to man in that fight.

Die hier folgenden Bestimmungen (Verse 5 — 8) gelten nach Sota 44 b nur für מלחמת רשות. Es dürfte dies vielleicht bereits in den einleitenden Worten כי תצא למלחמה על איבך liegen. Es ist ein Angriffskrieg, kein Verteidigungskrieg zur Abwehr eines bereits geschehenen Einfalls. Der Feind wird außer Landes aufgesucht, im Gegensatz zu וכי תבאו מלחמה בארצכם על הצר הצרר אתכם (Bamidbar 10. 9; siehe daselbst). und dass nicht der Krieg zur Besitznahme des Landes gemeint sei, ergibt sich schon aus den Bestimmungen (Verse 5 —7), die Haus- und Ackerbesitz voraussetzen.

עם רב ממך [WHEN THOU GOEST OUT TO WAR … AND SEEST] PEOPLE MORE THAN THOU (or, as it may be translated: PEOPLE, NUMEROUS FROM THY POINT OF VIEW) — in thine eyes they may appear to be numerous but in Mine eyes they are not numerous (Midrash Tanchuma, Shoftim 16).

Do not pity them, etc. One may ask: This is already explicitly written below (v. 13) “And you shall smite all its males by the sword”! Furthermore, why is it written afterwards (v. 14) “However, the women and the children, etc.” yet here Scripture implies that they should not pity them at all! The answer is: Below Scripture is dealing with a war that does not involve direct combat, rather [it is dealing] with the conquest of a city. The proof is that it is written [there] (v. 13) “Adonoy, your God, will deliver it into your hand, and therefore it written “However, the women and the children etc.” But here we are dealing with a war that involves direct combat, so you are not to pity them at all.

וראית סום ורכב עם רב ממך וגו׳ du sollst nicht glauben, dass der Sieg durch die möglichst große Anzahl der Streiter bedingt sei und daher ein möglichst umfassendes Kontingent zum Kriege entbieten, Verse 5 — 7, entlassen ganz bestimmte Kategorien wehrfähiger Männer aus dem Heere.

It says, “When Pharaoh’s horse approached.” Why does Rashi not cite the verse (Shmos 14:23) “כל סוס פרעה (lit. every horse of Pharaoh’s)” which precedes it? The answer is that he does not cite this previous verse because it is written,כל סוס , “every horse,” and כל comes to cite something additional, so that it is as if it had written “each and every horse of Pharaoh.” Therefore he cites the verse “when Pharaoh’s horse approached” which cannot be explained in this manner. It seems to me that this [verse cited by Rashi] is a textual error; Sifrei cites the verse (ibid. 15:1), סוס ורוכבו רמה בים" (horse and its rider He threw into the sea).” (Nachalas Yaakov)

In your eyes they are numerous, etc. Rashi is answering [the question]: It is written “horse and chariot” which implies that in the eyes of the Holy One Blessed Is He they are all like one horse, yet afterwards Scripture writes “עם רב (people more numerous than you)”! And he answers, “In your eyes, etc.”