Еврейская мысль к Дварим 33:27

The meaning of our opening aggadah is as follows. If you refrain from contact with your wife during the seven days of the menstrual cycle, tum-ah, you will merit the blessing of the eighth day, i.e. circumcision, which symbolises ascendancy over the spirit of impurity, attainment of purity. Since "seven days" represent the "creation cycle," the number seven always reminds man both of his duties and of his limitations on this planet.

When the passage describing Israel as marching into battle, adds "and the Lord will deliver him (your enemy) into your hand," this is to leave no doubt that all heroism and bravery notwithstanding, it is not the might of the Jewish sword that ensures success in battle, but the help of the Lord. "When you take prisoner"; first you capture people. Then the Torah instructs who is to remain alive, who may not be allowed to live, who must remain a prisoner, disposition of the bodies etc. (21,10- 20,20,14-15) The remarkable brevity used here in contrast with all the details the Torah lavishes on how to legitimize a marriage between a Jewish soldier and a female prisoner he has taken a liking to, suggests that the Torah is more concerned with the internal conflict raging within man, and how the Torah endeavours to help man overcome his physical urges step by step. Although the Torah is basically opposed to a sexual union with persons of non Jewish origin, knowing the power of our urges, the Torah blunts our potential disobedience of its laws. The Torah does this by permitting a modified union with the captured prisoner. (Kiddushin 21, 68) The Talmud makes it plain that the entire episode is meant to show how to wean us from enslavement to our basic instincts. After an initial union,-permitted because of overpowering carnal desire,- (vechashakta) once the lust has been assuaged, this woman is allowed into the soldier's house just as after the initial union of husband and wife, the two live under the same roof, although the bride is temporarily forbidden to her husband. Prior to the wedding, the young couple had not been allowed to be alone together under one roof since the power of their sexual urge had not yet been sated. The regulation about the prisoner cutting hair and fingernails serves to reduce her attraction in the eyes of her consort. Her mode of dress is designed to deprive her of any sex appeal, since she must remove the garments in which she had made herself attractive when taken prisoner. During her enforced month of mourning for her parents, her attraction is liable to diminish even further in the eyes of her captor. At that point it may be assumed that should her captor still want to marry her, such desire would not be based on merely physical considerations, but on other qualities he has observed in her which he cherishes. At that point her status as a saleable commodity, i.e. a slave, ceases, and from then on any eventual separation between the two will not result in financial benefit to her captor. Since many a man can control his lust when financial loss is involved in satisfying it, the Torah here adds a further deterrent to an eventual permanent union between captor and captive. We have observed that the Torah has employed seven successive steps to help cool the soldier's yetzer hara. When the Torah promises that our enemies will be put to flight by us in seven different directions, this is an allusion to the seven ways in which our internal enemies will be subdued if we follow Torah precepts. (Deut. 28,7) To complete the hyperbole, the line "when you go out to war against your enemy" refers to the fact that your yetzer hara "has gotten out of hand"; in order to regain control of it you have to mount a campaign against it. When the Lord delivers the yetzer hara into your hands,-as an acknowledgement of your efforts to tame it,- it will appear exceptionally attractive to you. Gradually, you reduce it to the point when you wonder how such an unattractive creature could ever have been able to get out of hand, to come close to seducing you. The final reference to dismissing the captive (verse 14) if the captor no longer likes her, would refer, allegorically speaking, to denial of all physical pleasures and living a life of asceticism such as practiced by a few saintly people. We find a similar homiletical approach on our Parshah in Succah 52, where Rabbi Akiva describes the yetzer hara as having seven names, each representing a different aspect of the charms it exudes. An examination of the details of that aggadah will lead to the conclusion that the power of the yetzer hara seems to have diminished throughout history. There is biblical confirmation for the claim that the people who wound up in exile, were actually tzaddikim from a moral point of view. (see chapter twenty four in Jeremiah) If we look at the three paragraphs in our Parshah that deal with warfare, they can be seen to parallel the three approaches to successful warfare quoted at the beginning of our chapter, "devar sefatayim-eytzah-gevurah. By employing the first two stratagems, the third, i.e. strength of character under conditions of stress becomes capable of achievement. When our sages teach in Avot 4,1, "who is a hero? he who can control his baser instincts," we find victory over the yetzer hara identified with heroism on the battlefield. The Talmud Berachot 34, describes the moral stature of the baal teshuvah, the repentant sinner as superior to that of the saint. This refers only to the kind of repentant sinner who has demonstrated that when confronted with an equally attractive challenge by his yetzer, he has not succumbed a second time. (Yuma 86) A saint would not even be allowed to expose himself to such satanic lures. Yet, a baal teshuvah, in a sense, has to expose himself, in order to prove that his repentance has really taken hold. Only in this way can he prove his resistance to the "germ." To put it into a different context, let us assume that a person falls ill and runs a temperature rising from one hundred to one hundred and four degrees. While the sickness is at that stage of intensifying, one hundred and two would be considered serious and alarming, whereas once the fever is on the way down, one hundred and two would be considered proof that the healing process had commenced. Similarly, the difference between the tzaddik gamur, the saint, and the baal teshuvah. The former never ran a fever. The latter, though still running a fever, is definitely on the mend. Some minor misdemeanours, which if performed by the "saint" would earn him the reputation of being wicked, would earn the baal teshuvah the reputation of being "good," since they represent such a vast improvement over his former mode of behaviour. When the bamah, private altar was castigated as a serious sin during the reign of the kings (Solomon), later kings who had eradicated all public idol worship except private altars (on which offerings were made only to G'd) are lauded for their general performance. (compare Assa, Yehoshaphat; Kings II chapter 22-23) From the proof adduced by the Talmud Berachot 34, "peace, peace to the far and to the near," (Isaiah 57,19) it appears that preference is given to the baal teshuvah. If the true meaning of "who is a hero, he who subdues his urges," is that the inner struggle and victory over the yetzer hara is the true meaning of heroism, the "saint" could quite easily qualify for the title "hero." He need not to have sinned and have regained his moral stature in order to qualify for that title. His very "saintliness" may be the result of having overcome his yetzer hara without having first succumbed to it, as did the baal teshuvah The Torah endeavours to teach this concept when it challenges us to assist our enemy when the latter is engaged in rescuing his donkey from collapse due an overload. (Exodus 23,5) This extends even to challenges involving us in expenditures to restore lost property to people who have demonstrated active dislike for us. The Kabbalah presents an interesting further little detail of this legislation. Supposing a person is faced with the opportunity of either helping a friend unload an animal, or assisting an enemy in loading, the latter has to be made his first priority. This brings home the point that the legislation represents a moral challenge, even more clearly. (Baba Metzia 32) It teaches that even when on a physical level the suffering of the friend's beast that awaits unloading is to be considered, the attempt to win over the enemy by offering him assistance is considered more urgent. This takes precedence even over what we commonly call "our self respect." We should rather belong to the category of people who feel slighted than to the category that does the slighting. (compare chapters 63 and 65)

Afterwards I say: How can this matter, that is, the blessed Creator, be sustained in our thoughts when none of our senses has fallen upon Him? And I say: Just as the goodness of good and the corruption of falsehood can be sustained in it (the mind) even though our senses have not fallen upon it. And just as we can conceive intellectually of the existence of that which has been collected and that which is found yet absent, and other such abstract things, even though the senses have not seen them. As Scripture says (Jeremiah 10:10): "But the Lord is truly God."And I say: How can His existence everywhere arise in our minds, such that there is no place except Him? Because no place was devoid of Him beforehand. For if places had separated His parts, He would not have created them. And if corporeal things had disturbed the places from Him, even partially, He would not have created them. And since the matter is thus - that His existence after creating all corporeal things is like His existence before creating them, without change, separation, concealment, or interruption - as it says (Jeremiah 23:24): "Can a man hide in secret places where I cannot see him? declares the Lord. Do I not fill the heavens and earth? declares the Lord."And I bring this matter closer to comprehension and say: Were it not that we are accustomed to some veils not blocking sound, and similarly we see that glass does not obstruct light, and we know that the sun's light is not harmed by the filth in the world - we would be astonished by this. But all these are wondrous things that testify to the truth of His matter. And I say further: How can it arise in the mind that He knows all that was and all that will be, and that knowledge of them is equal to Him? I explain that created beings do not know what will come about, because their knowledge comes only through the senses; and what has not come to their hearing, sight, and other senses, they cannot grasp. But the Creator, whose way of knowing is not through any cause, but is intrinsic knowledge because His essence is knowledge - the ephemeral and the future are together equal to Him, and He knows them without cause. As it says (Isaiah 46:10): "Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done; saying: 'My counsel shall stand, and all My pleasure I will do.'" And when a person reaches this subtle matter intellectually, through tradition and seeing signs and proofs, his soul will believe it, and it will blend into his spirit, and he will find it present in his inner chambers, and wherever it stands in his hall, he will find Him there - as the prophet said (Isaiah 26:9): "My soul yearns for You in the night, also my spirit within me seeks You earnestly." And his love for Him will be perfect, without doubt, as it says (Deuteronomy 6:5): "And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might." And that servant will remember Him by day in his going about, and by night on his bed, as it says (Psalms 63:7): "When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on You in the night watches." His spirit, so to speak, will murmur at the time of remembering Him, from longing and pining, as it says (Isaiah 26:9): "My soul yearns for You in the night, also my spirit within me seeks You earnestly." And His remembrance will nourish him more than fatness, and His name will water him more than any water, as it says (Psalms 63:6): "My soul is satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth offers praises with joyful lips." Until he returns all his affairs to Him, and takes shelter in Him and always trusts in Him, as it says (Psalms 62:9): "Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us." And if He does good for him, he will give thanks, and if He afflicts him, he will endure - as it says (Psalms 22:30): "All the prosperous of the earth shall eat and worship." And if He were to separate him from his body, he would still hope for Him and not suspect Him - as it says (Job 13:15): "Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him." And in all that he observes of His ways, he will increase in awe and fear - as it says (Job 23:15): "Therefore I am terrified at His presence; when I consider, I am in dread of Him." And all that he contemplates of His attributes, he will magnify their praise and increase his joy - as it says (Psalms 105:3): "Let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice!" Until he loves those who love Him, and honors those who honor Him, as it says (Psalms 139:17): "How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!" And he will hate those who hate Him, and loathe His enemies - as it says (Psalms 139:21): "Do I not hate them, O Lord, who hate You?" Until he will argue on His behalf and respond concerning Him and His ways with intellect and knowledge, not with heaviness - as it says (Job 36:3): "I will fetch my knowledge from afar, and ascribe righteousness to my Maker. For truly my words are not false; one who is perfect in knowledge is with you." And he will praise and laud Him with intellect and honesty, not with exaggeration and lies - as it says concerning those who praise (2 Chronicles 30:22): "And Hezekiah spoke encouragingly to all the Levites who showed good skill in the service of the Lord." And he will not forget Him by making the five more than the ten, without adding to them, nor by fitting a world into the hollow of a ring, without having formed this one and expanded that one, nor by returning yesterday that has passed - for all this is futile. And some of the heretics may ask about all this, and we will answer that He is able to do anything, and that which is not dependent on Him is nothing - for it is futile, and futility is nothing; it is as if they asked whether He could do nothing. But they asked properly concerning this. Rather, he (the perfect servant) praises Him for intrinsic matters - that He is the Primal One who does not change or exchange, as it says (Deuteronomy 33:27): "The eternal God is a dwelling place." And that He Himself is truly One, as it says (Nehemiah 9:6): "You alone are the Lord." And that He lives and exists forever, as it says (Deuteronomy 32:40): "For I lift up my hand to heaven and swear, As I live forever..." And that He is able to do anything, as it says (Nehemiah 9:32): "Now therefore, our God, the great, mighty and awesome God..." And that He knows everything with perfect knowledge, as it says (Job 37:16): "Do you know the balancings of the clouds, the wondrous works of Him who is perfect in knowledge?" And that He creates everything from the beginning, as it says (Jeremiah 10:16): "He who is the Portion of Jacob is not like these, for He is the Maker of all things." And that He does not do anything futile or chaotic, as it says (Isaiah 45:18): "He did not create it a waste, He formed it to be inhabited." And that He is not unjust or spoiled, as it says (Deuteronomy 32:4): "The Rock! His work is perfect, for all His ways are justice." And that He does only good for His servants, as it says (Psalms 145:9): "The Lord is good to all, and His compassion is over all that He has made." May all Your works praise You, O Lord... May they speak of the glory of Your kingdom... And that He does not change or become different, as it says (Malachi 3:6): "For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed." And that His kingdom will not cease or end, as it says (Psalms 145:13): "Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom..." And that His command stands, no one can turn it back, as it says (Psalms 103:19): "The Lord has established His throne in the heavens, and His kingdom rules over all." And that it is obligatory to praise Him for His good and great attributes, as it says (Psalms 138:5): "And they shall sing of the ways of the Lord, for great is the glory of the Lord." And that all that the narrators recount about Him, and for which the praisers praise Him - He is supremely lofty, great and exalted beyond it all, as it says (Nehemiah 9:5): "Blessed be Your glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise." And this which is found in places in the books of praise and laudation is not attributed to Him, but rather to His narrations, as it says (Ezekiel 3:12): "Blessed be the glory of the Lord from His place." And that they said (Psalms 68:5): "Sing to His name" - and you will sometimes find it said (Psalms 72:18): "Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, who alone does wondrous things" to recount His story. And it says (Psalms 97:12): "Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous, and give thanks to His holy name." But in the words of our Rabbis there are many such things - it is to recount His story that they say: "Blessed be the name of the glory of His kingdom." And I say concerning all this that it too is a product of speech; that is, when it is intended to magnify and exalt, they place words before mentioning that great one. And the more such preceding words there are, the greater the exaltation. As it says (Esther 1:4): "He displayed the riches of his royal glory and the splendor and pomp of his majesty." And it is His wealth, kingship, and greatness; it is also His value, glory, and greatness. And the narrators likened some to others. Observe, may God guide you! What we have written, and contemplate it closely, and raise it up in your thoughts, and do not be hasty to decide on the words. Rather, decide based on the preceding fundamentals. And place the words as transition and approach, as we have explained.