THE RIGHTEOUS SOLDIER

“When a camp goes out against your enemies, you shall guard against anything evil. If there will be among you a man who will not be clean because of a nocturnal occurrence [i.e. an emission of semen], he shall go outside the camp; he shall not enter the midst of the camp. When it will be toward evening, he shall immerse himself in the water, and when the sun sets, he may enter the midst of the camp. You shall have a place outside the camp, and to it you shall go out. You shall have a shovel in addition to your weapons, and it will be that when you sit outside, you shall dig with it; you shall go back and cover your excrement. For Hashem, your God, walks in the midst of your camp to rescue you and to deliver your enemies before you; so your camp shall be holy, so that He will not see a shameful thing among you and turn away from behind you.” (Devarim 23:10-15)

Among the laws of warfare discussed in this week’s parasha and parashat Shoftim is this short passage about the holiness of the camp. It contains three mitzvoth: (i) the prohibition for an impure soldier to enter the camp; (ii) the designation of a place outside the camp for use as a lavatory and (iii) the inclusion of a shovel in the soldier’s gear so that he will be able to cover his excrement. Ramban has a most illuminating comment on this passage: “The most sound explanation regarding this commandment [to “beware of evil” in an army camp] is that Scripture gives a special warning concerning that time (i.e. time of battle), when sin is common. For it is known about the norms of military camps that they eat all kinds of abominations for food, and they rob and seize things and are not ashamed even to commit adultery and all kinds of disgusting acts.  Even someone who is one of the most upright among men by his nature will don the traits of cruelty and rage when he goes out to war against his enemies. Therefore Scripture warned concerning [the battle camp], “You shall guard against anything evil.”

Ramban notes that soldiers in battle often forget the norms of morality and human decency. They will loot, pillage and rape even though they would never dream of acting in such a way at home. Alas, there are thousands of examples of this throughout history. Consider the war in Bosnia in 1992-1995. It is estimated that between 30 000 and 50 000 women were raped during the conflict. More recently, Hamas terrorists violated dozens of Israeli women in the October 7 attack. On Tisha B’Av, we screened Sheryl Sandberg’s excellent documentary “Screams Before Silence” which focuses on the sexual violence that took place during that vicious pogrom. It is a difficult but important film to watch and one can find it at this link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAr9oGSXgak. Former Minister of Intelligence Services Ronnie Kasrils, who praised the Hamas attack in a video that went viral, also stated that ‘no women [were] raped’, adding that ‘whatever you think of Hamas or Islamic Jihad, they are very religious people. They wouldn’t touch a non-Muslim woman’, let alone rape her. ‘This’, he says, is all the kind of exaggeration that Israelis are using, that the Zionists in this country [South Africa] are using’. Putting aside Kasril’s terror-denial which is highly problematic, his bizarre belief that religious men do not rape is belied by Ramban’s comment that “even someone who is one of the most upright among men by his nature will don the traits of cruelty and rage when he goes out to war against his enemies.”

In contrast to all of the above is the behaviour of the Israel Defense Forces. Notwithstanding the libellous claims against the IDF, I am confident to state, without equivocation, that it is the most moral army in the world and possibly in all of history. The IDF go to great lengths to warn civilians to vacate war zones; to limit the number of civilian casualties and to behave, in general, with morality and humanity. I have in my library two Halacha books that are dedicated to the “laws of warfare.” The first, written by Rabbi Zachariah Ben-Shlomo of Yeshivat Sha’alvim in 1987, is a one volume compendium of the halakhot that every Jewish soldier should be aware of, be it during times of peace or war. The second, and more recent publication (2010), is by the outstanding scholar and activist Rabbi Yosef Tzvi Rimon who is a master of explaining Jewish law in a clear and understandable manner. Rabbi Rimon’s work is divided into two sections: daily laws and laws of Shabbat and festivals. Consider some of the topics: waking in the morning (how do you wash your hands in the ritual manner when you are in the field and water is scarce?); tzitzit and tefillin; laws of prayer (how do you make a minyan in a war zone in a way that does not endanger the lives of the soldiers?); Torah reading (may one take a Sefer Torah to the front?); kashrut (can you use the utensils in the commandeered home of an enemy?); modest interaction between the sexes at an army base; interpersonal relationships with other soldiers, officers and superiors (can you speak lashon hara about another soldier for a good purpose?); laws of Shabbat (handling a weapon on Shabbat, building an eruv at the front; heating rations on Shabbat); laws of Yom Tov (blowing a shofar on Rosh Hashanah in enemy territory, minimum requirements for a Seder) and many other topics including the permissibility of confiscating property from a terrorist.

If I am not mistaken, the first rabbi to compose a book dedicated to laws relating to soldiers was the Chofetz Chaim, Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan (passed away in 1933). His book is entitled Machaneh Yisrael (the Camp of Israel) and is a guide for Jewish soldiers in the Russian Army. The Russian Army was a toxic environment for Jews. Religious soldiers had no rights. There was no kosher food, time for prayer, or exemptions from service on Shabbat and festivals. It was a place of forced assimilation. The Chofetz Chaim goes out of his way to assist Jewish soldiers so that they can still observe Jewish law even in a minimal and basic way. He also offers words of inspiration and encouragement.

I think one would be hard-pressed to find books of this nature in any other culture. In effect, these volumes are a response to the problem raised by Ramban: how do we maintain morality in the immoral environment of war? Since 7 October there have been hundreds of questions posed to leading rabbis from soldiers in the front. For example, a soldier whose unit was staying in a commandeered house on the West Bank asked if he was permitted to plug his cell phone into the house’s electric supply! This was a relatively simple matter but there have been extremely complex questions that touch on life-and-death scenarios such as whether a solider can jump on a grenade, thereby sacrificing his own life to save the lives of others. We ought to be very proud that we have soldiers who endeavour to maintain the highest levels of religiosity, morality and integrity in the midst of an existential war.

We continue to pray that Hashem protects our soldiers and that he will grant them victory and bring them home safely to their families!

Lee, Chani Merryl and Naomi join me in wishing you Shabbat Shalom!   

Rabbi Liebenberg Link to Rabbi’s YouTube message for Shabbat: https://youtu.be/3a9rb5GFruw?si=IAfOYzAPFS0J2kr4