When a man takes a new wife, he is not to go out to the armed forces, he is not to cross over to them for any matter; free and clear let him remain in his house for one year, and let him give joy to his wife whom he has taken.

(Devarim 24:5)

 

 

The General Good Is Largely Dependent Upon the Happiness of the Individual

The following are those who do not go out to the armed forces at all, and who are never to be disturbed for any reason whatever:  He who has built a new house, and has  dedicated it, and he who has married his betrothed, and he who has taken his sister-in-law in levirate marriage, and he who has made common use of his vineyard – do not go out to the armed forces before the end of the first year, as is written: “Free and clear let him remain in his house for one year, and let him give joy to his wife whom he has taken”   – we have it on tradition that he will be free for a year for the house he has built, for the woman he has married, for the vineyard whose fruits he has begun to eat.                        

(Rambam, Mishneh Torah, Laws of Kings, 7:10)

 

The Torah stresses  the husband’s responsibility for the happiness of the marriage; it is critically important not only for the individual’s happiness but also for national well-being. Therefore, for a complete year following the marriage, the Torah exempts the husband from all public responsibilities and duties and even forbids him to undertake any of them. For a whole year, the husband lives only for his home, so that he can devote himself entirely to his home life and to laying the foundation for his wife’s happiness. . . Clearly at the root of these laws lies the point of view that a state, the concept of a state as a whole, has only reality in the actual numbers of all its individual members, but apart from them, or next to them, on cannot consider the existence of a state as a concept in itself. So that the national welfare can only be sought in the well-being and happiness of all the single individuals, hence every flourishing and happy home is a contribution to the realization of the goal set for the nation, hence has to be met by the nation with careful and encouraging and promoting consideration.

(Rabbi S. R. Hirsch, Commentary on Devarim 24:5, translation into English by Isaac Levy)

 

 

 

 

 

 

EXPOUND – AND RECEIVE REWARD

Devorah Weisman

 

          At first blush, the law of Ben Sorrer U’Moreh – The Stubborn and Rebellious Son – would seem to be one of the most cruel and least humanitarian laws in the entire Torah. Most adolescents pass through a stage of rebellion, and occasionally they exaggerate in their eating and drinking – did the Torah really intend that their parents bring them before the city elders to be stoned to death? And how can this law be reconciled with our belief in a merciful and gracious God; does The Holy One, Blessed Be He,  really want than an inter-generational conflict in the family to end in so tragic a fashion?

 

          It is, of course, possible to explain away this difficulty by viewing this harsh sanction as a  “deterrent force”. There is no real intention to implement the law in its entirety; the intent is that the prescribed penalty will have a restraining  effect in the child’s upbringing.  This goal may even be hinted at by the end of the passage: “. . .  so shall you burn out the evil from your midst, and all Israel will hear and be awed.” But even so, even as a deterrent device, the law causes aversion. Are parents of children even capable of considering such a punishment (especially since our experience indicates various deterrents are not always effective)?

         

          When we turn to the eighth chapter of the Tractate Sanhedrin – first to the Mishna and then to the Gemarrah – we find that our Sages also attempted to cope with the moral dilemmas presented by this Biblical text. In their explication, they passed on to us a sophisticated, arresting, ingenious, and even humorous example of how it is possible to maintain the text’s sanctity, while, at the same time, to surround it with so many qualifications that, for all practical purposes, it disappears! (I once heard from my teacher and mentor, Professor Michael Rosenak, about the Christian pholosopher Anthony Flew who described a god who “died the death of a thousand qualifications.”)

 

          Chazal began to limit the application of the law by applying it only to sons, and not to daughters. As a rule, we – or at least I – would like expand the status of women in Halacha, imposing the mitzvot also on women. In this case, however, “feminist awareness” need not be offended, because thereby potential cases are cut by about fifty per cent! Further on, the rabbis deal with the beginning of the passage: “When a man has a son . . .” According to their logic, if the son is a minor who has not yet reached the age of bar-mitzvah, he is, in any case, not liable for punishment. On the other hand, however, if he is already an adult, he is not to be related to as “a son” – he is an independent adult. From this the rabbis deduce that the law has practical application only during a very limited period, the few months around the bar-mitzvah age. In this manner, we have further eliminated most of the possibilities.

 

          Methods of exegesis become yet more innovative: Chazal, for example, establish minimum quantities of meat and wine which the son must devour in order to be labeled “glutton” and “drunkard”.  It is difficult to imagine a person consuming and imbibing such huge quantities, and still remaining  alive.  Continuing their close reading of the text, Chazal note “Our son . . .  does not hearken to our voice” – not “voices” (in the plural), but “voice” (in the singular).  This teaches that only in that extremely rare instance in which both have parents have exactly the same voice – physical properties, decibels, etc. – can the law be applied.  (May we suggest that the word “voice” be interpreted metaphorically, i.e., when parents do not speak with one voice, when they transmit to their children conflicting educational messages, then it is wrong to punish the children alone for improper behavior. The parents are, in large part, responsible).

 

          And finally, in the Talmud Bavli, Sanhedrin, 71a, we read that the instance of a ben sorrer u’moreh  “never was and never will be.” In algebraic terms, this is an "null set”. This being the case, queries the Gemarrah, “Why is [this law] written altogether?”  The answer, which does not relate at all to the subject of deterrence, is: “D’rosh v’kabel sachar” – “Expound, and receive reward”.  This short statement may be understood on different levels. For example, every clause in the Holy Writ is subject to exposition, and reward is promised for all study of Torah.  I prefer a different explanation: The case of ben sorrer u’moreh is a paradigm for creative interpretation. This model can, and should be, applied to additional cases. The Talmud itself states that also the case of an ‘ir hanidachat’ – a town sentenced to total destruction for having been subverted to idolatry (Devarim 13:13-16) – “never was and never will be.”

 

          The command “Expound – and receive reward” invites us to utilize our intelligence and our moral sensitivity – both gifts given by God to man that he may cope with intellectual and ethical challenges.  Textual interpretation becomes an activity of God-man cooperation towards “tikkun olam” – perfection of the world. Professor Eliezer Berkovitz, z”l, characterized Halacha as  “the wisdom of the feasible and the priority of the ethical”. The Halacha contains mechanisms which present Torah students – male and female alike – with opportunities for  such encounters, provided that they are also creative.  If today there were more rabbis applying creative methods of interpretation to other difficult issues in Halacha, such as aginut and mamzerut – wife abandonment and bastardy, perhaps much human suffering could be avoided, and the status of the Torah of Israel would rise in the opinion of many sectors of the population.

 

It is interesting to note that the fifth Mishna in the Chapter “Ben Sorrer U’moreh” ends with the following words:  “Quiet . . .  for the righteous, pleasure for them and pleasure for the world.”  The generally accepted interpretation is that the quiet and the free time will enable the tzaddikim to learn Torah and to instruct others. I pray that we will truly enter periods of calm and tranquillity, that we may all be privileged to learn more Torah, and that we will be wise enough to utilize the mechanisms of Halacha for the ethical and social benefit of all.

 

Dr. Devorah Weisman, a founding member of Congregation Yedidya, is director of Kerem Institute of Yerushalaim, which prepares teachers for Jewish-Humanistic education

 

 

“WHEN YOU GO OUT TO WAR”

Kadish Goldberg

 

Well-known are Rashi’s words which enlighten us regarding the relation between the “yefat toar” – “the [captive] woman of fair form”, the “senuah” – “the despised wife”, and the “ben sorrer u’moreh” – “the stubborn and rebellious son”:

 

“And would take her for yourself as a wife” – The Torah took into consideration the evil inclination, for if The Holy One, Blessed Be He,  were not to permit to marry her [the gentile captive woman], he would marry her anyhow, disregarding the prohibition. But, if he does marry her, the end will be that he will despise her, for after this it is written, “When a man has two wives, etc.”, and finally he will father, through her, a stubborn and rebellious son. Therefore are these three parshiyot juxtaposed.  (Rashi, Devarim 21:11)

 

Rashi saw fit to begin the chain of cause and effect with the second passage of the parasha, “And you see among the captives a woman fair of form, and you desire her, and would take her for yourself as a wife.”  Would it be off the mark to suggest that the beginning of the chain is actually to be found in the opening passage of the parasha, “When you go out to war”?  Rashi observes: “Scripture is talking about optional war.” This being the case, we might lengthen the chain, as follows.

         

          Said The Holy One, Blessed Be, He  to Israel: It is permissible to wage “milchemt reshut” optional wars [wars waged to expand Israel’s borders and to augment Israel’s  glory and greatness in the eyes of the nations] ,  but know this – in addition to the heavy price to be exacted on the battlefield, you may have to pay a very dear price at home – ruin of the family.  Temptation and its satisfaction may undermine the relationship between man and wife, may bring alien values into the home, may sow envy and hate, and may corrupt the children’s character.

 

In other words – you may triumph over the external enemy,  you may succeed in expanding the boundaries and enhancing honor. But the result may be the unraveling of the bonds which unite the family and the nation. Our strength lies in good character and high moral standards. If these are enfeebled, how will we be able to withstand even a ‘milchemet chovah” – a defensive war for survival? We should consider again and again, before beginning a war. [Editor’s note: The Mishnah in Sanhedrin 1:5, determines that it is permissible to begin an optional war only upon the decision of a Bet Din of seventy-one members].

 

““When you go out to war” – explains Rashi: “Scripture is dealing here with the milchemet reshut, - the optional war.” Rashi might well have added here that which he wrote with regard to the “woman fair of form”: “The Torah took into consideration the evil inclination.”

                              Kadish Goldberg, member of Kibbutz Tirat Zvi, is a translator.

 

 

 

 

 

Divine Providence and Human Responsibility

“When you build a new house, you are to make a parapet for your roof, that you not put blood-guilt on your house, if someone-falling  falls from it.” (Devarim 22:8)

 

“If someone-falling  falls from it.” From the fact that the unfortunate one who falls is called here, already before he has fallen “the falling one”, the Gemarrah in Shabbat 32a teaches the important lesson:

 

“The unfortunate one had been destined to have such a fatal accident long ago, for the Torah calls him “the falling one” before he falls. But deserved good fortune is brought about to good people through good people, and the served misfortune to guilty ones through guilty ones.’

 

In all weal and woe that happens to men through men two factors are active together, the fate which God has destined for the one affected whether it is good fortunate or the reverse, reward or punishment, and the free-willed good or bad deed of the people who bring it about. In accordance with our deserts God hands us over, or leaves us over, to the good or bad acts of our fellow-men on earth.

(Rabbi S.R. Hirsch, Commentary on Devarim 22:8. Translated into English by Isaac Levy)

 

This subject [of Providence and free choice] is discussed deeply and incisively in a famous responsum of the Rambam to Rabbi Ovadia the Convert, who had turned to him with a question regarding the meaning of a rabbinical statement, “Everything is in the hands of Heaven, except for fear of Heaven” – Is this an edict decreed upon all of man’s actions and his destiny, with the exception of recognition of God?

 

          The Rambam answers that all of man’s actions are included in “fear of Heaven”,  for all that man does leads either to mitzvah or to transgression.  From this it follows that if we accept the concept that fear of Heaven is not in the hands of Heaven, we have, in effect, removed all of man’s actions from the area of the edict decreed upon him. Man, however, is responsible for his actions and his omissions, and suffers their consequences, for if not so, we negate from him also the freedom of decision regarding fear of Heaven.

 

          Rambam explains and clarifies the matter in a marvelous fashion, and says, if you accept at face value Chazal’s statement, “Forty days before creation of the baby, a heavenly voice announces, saying ‘the daughter of so-and-so for so-and-so”, then it follows that man is not even free to chose his mate, because it has already been decreed “and so-and-so will be his spouse” – how then can you  believe that fear of heaven is in his hands? It is because there is nothing which pre-determines not only man’s destiny – even all his behavior and spiritual and mental characteristics are not pre-determined. And if you say that he is not responsible for the fact that so-and-so is his wife, how can you make him responsible for the consequences of the fact that she is his wife? Thus says the Rambam:

“And that which Chazal said – “Everything is in the hands of heaven” – this refers to the natural order of the world, its phenomena and its nature, such as the species of trees and animals and living beings and constellations and spheres, and angels – all is in the hands of heaven.”

 

This is to say that all laws of nature          are in the hands of heaven. Therefore, the conclusion is that because “everything is in the hands of heaven” – that is to say, because the laws of nature are constant, it is necessary to erect a rampart, and thereby prevent gravity from causing one to fall from the roof and be killed.

                                                          (Y. Leibowitz, Seven Years of Discussions

 on the Weekly Parasha, pp. 866-867)

 

 

 

We Share the Sorrow and Mourning of Our Member

 

Miriam Fine and Her Family

 

Over the Passing of Her Father, of Blessed Memory,

Albert Alwin Ball

 

May Your Devoted Activity on Behalf of A Just and Peace-Seeking Society

Merit Comfort forYou from Heaven

 

Editorial Board of  “Shabbat Shalom”

Oz-VeShalom – Netivot Shalom” – the Board, the Executive, and all members

 

 

 

Our Heartfelt Congratulations to

Kadish Goldberg, our loyal translator, to all his family and  to the Zalkin family

 

On the birth of a grand-daughter & daughter

May they merit to raise her to the study and observance of Torah,

to chuppah, and to performance of good deeds,

in times of peace and tranquillity

 

Editorial Board of  “Shabbat Shalom”

“Oz-VeShalom– Netivot Shalom” – the Board, the Executive, and all members

 

 

 

Editorial Board: Pinchas Leiser (Editor), Miriam Fine (Coordinator), Itzhak Frankenthal and Dr. Menachem Klein

Translation: Kadish Goldberg

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