THIS WEEK'S PARSHA

Here's something new: commentary on the weekly Torah portion. Rabbi Joshua Strulowitz has been generous enough to share his erudition with the readers of this blog. A short bio follows below and precedes his commentary. I'm sorry this week's commentary is a little late, but I'm blogging from vacation with limited internet access.

Rabbi Joshua Strulowitz (YC '01, RIETS '05) was raised in North Miami Beach, FL and graduated from Hillel Community Day School. He attended Yeshivat Reishit Yerushalayim in Jerusalem , and continued on to Yeshiva University where he graduated cum laude with a BA in Economics and an award for excellence in Talmudic studies.

While at YU he was program director and co-founder of Panim, a college outreach program. He then spent two years at YU's Gruss Institute in Jerusalem. He continued on to TORCH, a community kollel in Houston, TX where he taught numerous classes throughout the community. In September 2005 he began his post as Rabbi of Congregation Adath Israel in San Francisco. Rabbi Strulowitz and his wife Bethany have two daughters. He can be reached at Rabbi@AdathIsraelsf.org

Dvar Torah for Parshat Shoftim

This week's Parsha discusses the Jewish legal system, and towards the end of this week's Parsha the Torah specifically deals with the process when Israel goes to war. In Chapter 20:5-7 the Torah states:

Then the officers shall speak to the people, saying, "Who is the man who has built a new house and has not inaugurated it? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the war and another man will inaugurate it. And who is the man who has planted a vineyard and not redeemed it? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the war and another man will redeem it. And who is the man who has betrothed a woman and not married her? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the war and another man will marry her."

Any soldier who in the past year has gotten married, planted a vineyard or built a house, he is sent home by the officers. There are a variety of reasons given as to why they are sent home. One reason given is that they will have difficulty giving their all while fighting because they will constantly be thinking about what they have to lose. They might not take the risks that a soldier in battle needs to take in order to defeat the enemy and protect their comrades.

Another reason seems to be a sense of divine justice. This individual put all of their time and effort into building the house or planting vineyard, or has just begun their relationship with their beloved, and it simply wouldn't be fair for another man to reap the benefits or enjoy a life together with his wife before he has at least a year to reap the benefits.

However, why did the officers wait until all of the potential soldiers congregated together before sending home those that were exempted? They simply could have announced the exemptions when they were drafting the soldiers! Why wait until the last minute to make these announcements?

I was thinking that maybe their was an important message being sent to the soldiers who would be going out to war. Just as they were about to go out and fight to protect the people and the land of Israel, the Jewish soldiers were reminded what they were fighting for. As they saw the young newlywed men returning to their wives, it reminded them that they were fighting so that Jewish families can grow and prosper in their homeland. When they saw men returning to their vineyards and new homes, it reminded them that they were fighting so that the Jewish people can continue to grow and prosper in the land of Israel. When they went to war, they knew what they were fighting for.

I think at times, it can be difficult for us to remember what we are fighting for. Why should we continue to send Jewish young men and women in harm's way? Why should we continue to devote so much time, effort and money for the land of Israel?

The answer is the same as is was in the times of Joshua, David or Solomon. So Jewish families can prosper in the land of Israel. So Jewish children can run and play in the streets of Jerusalem. So that the land that God has promised us can grow and prosper under our watch.

May we continue to remember what we are fighting for, and may we only see peace in Israel.