Rabbi Marc D. Rudolph

Our parasha this week speaks about the mitzvah of taking up arms against an Israelite city that has become so spiritually corrupt that all its citizens worship idols. (Deuteronomy 13:13-17) The Israelites are commanded to destroy such a city and put its inhabitants to death. If the Israelites follow this commandment, and the soldiers do not profit from the destruction through the taking of spoils of war, the Torah tells us that “God will give you mercy and be merciful to you.” (Deuteronomy 13:18)

It is in this context that the Chafetz Chayim notes that if a person is accustomed to doing good, if it is his habit to be kind and generous, then this becomes part of his or her nature. The same is true of cruelty and stinginess and all the qualities that a person may have – habits can shape our character, for better or worse.

But, he worries, what happens to the personality of the soldier whose role it is to destroy the wayward Israelite city? There is great danger in this, because carrying out such a mitzvah may accustom the person to cruelty. Therefore, the Torah promises, “God will give you mercy and be merciful to you”. This means that God will restore the merciful part of your nature that you had to suppress in wartime. God will once again make you complete, as you were in the beginning before you were compelled to carry out this difficult mitzvah.

The State of Israel has been at war more or less all of its existence. These have certainly been just wars, wars to guarantee her existence as a free, democratic Jewish state. We pray that some day there will be peace, that Israel will dwell securely among the nations of the world, and that God will restore to her people their full and natural qualities of love and mercy for all.

Shabbat Shalom