~ What do you think of these verses?
~ What do you feel about these verses?
~Without any commentary - when do you think it applies? What do you think this means? What are difficulties for Jewish law with this scenario?
~ Take Rashi's commentary on these verses as the primer on Jewish values. What is it doing to those verses, in terms of applicability? What about values?
~ How does this midrash understand the sequence of the laws presented in this section of the Torah?
אמרה ליה ילתא לרב נחמן מכדי כל דאסר לן רחמנא שרא לן כוותיה אסר לן דמא שרא לן כבדא נדה דם טוהר חלב בהמה חלב חיה חזיר מוחא דשיבוטא גירותא לישנא דכורא אשת איש גרושה בחיי בעלה אשת אח יבמה כותית יפת תאר בעינן למיכל בשרא בחלבא אמר להו רב נחמן לטבחי זויקו לה כחלי והאנן
§ Yalta said to her husband Rav Naḥman: Now as a rule, for any item that the Merciful One prohibited to us, He permitted to us a similar item. He prohibited to us the consumption of blood, yet He permitted to us the consumption of liver, which is filled with blood and retains the taste of blood. Likewise, God prohibited sexual intercourse with a menstruating woman, but permitted sexual intercourse with one’s wife while she discharges the blood of purity. During a particular period after giving birth, even if she experiences a flow of blood she is not rendered ritually impure and remains permitted to her husband by Torah law. Furthermore, the Torah prohibits the consumption of the forbidden fat of a domesticated animal, but permitted the fat of an undomesticated animal, which has the same flavor. It is prohibited to eat pork, but one may eat the brain of a shibuta fish, which has a similar taste. One may not eat giruta, a non-kosher fish, but one may eat the tongue of a fish, which tastes similar. Likewise, the Torah prohibits sexual intercourse with the wife of another man but permitted one to marry a divorced woman in her previous husband’s lifetime. The Torah prohibits sexual intercourse with one’s brother’s wife, and yet it permits one to marry his yevama, i.e., his brother’s widow when the brother dies childless. Finally, the Torah prohibits sexual intercourse with a gentile woman but permitted one to marry a beautiful woman who is a prisoner of war (see Deuteronomy 21:10–14). Yalta concluded: The Torah prohibits the consumption of meat cooked in milk; I wish to eat a dish that tastes like meat cooked in milk. Upon hearing this, Rav Naḥman said to his cooks: Roast udders on a spit for her.
~ What is the idea behind the "beautiful captive", according to this piece?
~ What difference does it make that Yalta, the wife of Rabbi Nachman, is the one teaching this - and then prodding her husband to find an equivalent for milk and meat?
~ What is the case that the Talmud decides to test regarding these laws? Why is the case of a kohen more extreme?
~ How does Maimonides understand the lessons in these laws?
ויען כי כדי לתקן אדם את כל מה שקילקל מורגל בפי קדמונינו תשובה תפלה וצדקה, ותמצא שלש אלה תלוים בפה. תפלה, (תהלים קמה, כא) תהלת ה' ידבר פי וגו'. וכן דברי תורה ושננתם, (דברים ו, ז) שיהא שנון בפיך. תשובה, כבר אמרו (דברים ל, יד) בפיך ובלבבך לעשותו קאי אתשובה, ועיקר מצות התשובה הוא הוידוי בפה בלב נשבר, וכן כתיב (הושע יד, ג) קחו עמכם דברים ושובו אל ה' וגו'. וצדקה, אמרו רז"ל (ב"ב ט, ב) הנותן צדקה מתברך בשש ברכות, והמפייסו בי"א כו', הרי שעיקרה פיוס בפה. על כן שלשתם אלה שוים בגימטריא אחד והוא קו"ל צו"ם ממו"ן שהם תפלה צדקה תשובה כולם בגימטריא קול. ויש רמז לשלשתן בפרשה ראשונה כי תצא למלחמה וכו', כי אף שפשוטה של הפרשה מדברת ממלחמה ממש, מכל מקום רומזת ג"כ על מלחמת האדם עם יצרו, כמו שכתבו המפרשים לעיל בפרשת שופטים בענין (דברים כ, יט) כי תצור אל עיר להלחם כו', כי באמת זהו המלחמה גדולה כמ"ש בספריהם כי פעם אחת פגע פרוש אחד במחנה אנשי צבא של אלכסנדרוס שבאים שמחים על שכבשו עיר גדולה, ואמר שבתם ממלחמה קטנה, הכינו עצמיכם למלחמה גדולה מלחמה עם היצה"ר. וזהו מה שרמזו רבותינו ז"ל (קדושין כא, ב) לא דברה תורה אלא כנגד היצה"ר, רצו לומר רמזה על מלחמה זו, ועל זה אמר כי תצא למלחמה במלחמת הרשות, כי הרשות נתונה לאדם והבחירה בידו. ואם האדם מתחיל להלחם, אזי הקב"ה עוזרו, וכמו שאמרו רבותינו ז"ל בברכות (סוכה נב, ב) אלמלא הקב"ה עוזרו לא היה יכול לו, זהו (דברים כא, י) ונתנו ה' אלקיך בידך. ואמר ונתנו לשון יחיד, ולא אמר ונתנם לשון רבים כמו שאמר אויביך לשון רבים, הנה במלחמה הפשוטה מתורץ כי אין אומה נופלת מלמטה אלא א"כ נופל שרה שלה מלמעלה תחילה, על כן אמר ונתנו על השר, וכן הוא אומר ענין המלחמה ההיא, כי יש הרבה אויבים לאדם דהיינו כתות וחיילות ממלאכי חבלה שנעשו מעוונותיו, כי מכל עון נעשה ונברא משחית כמו שכתבתי במקום אחר, ועל כולם ממונה סמאל הוא היצר הרע הוא השטן הוא המלאך המות (ב"ב טז, א) זהו ונתנו. ובכח התורה וקיום מצותיה, ושבית שביו זהו שבי, כי כן כתיב אצל התורה (תהלים סח, יט) עלית למרום שבית שבי:
It is well known that in order to rehabilitate oneself spiritually one must exercise repentance, prayer and tzedakah. All of these three factors of a person's rehabilitation depend on their mouth. Prayer - "my mouth shall praise Ad-nai etc" (Ps. 145:21). And so too Torah study - "and you shall teach them etc" (Deut. 6:7), that one should repeat them with your mouth. Repentance - they already said "in your mouth and in your heart to to it" (Deut. 30:14) refers to repentance, and the essence of repentance is verbal confession through a broken heart (Eruvin 54) and so too "bring words with you and return" (Hosea 14:3) Charity, too, as our sages (Baba Batra 9b) say that anyone who gives charity acquires six blessings; if someone also tries to make the recipient feel better by kind and encouraging words he will qualify for eleven blessings - behold the essence of tzedakah is verbal encouragement. Therefore, the words voice, fasting and money [קול צום ממון] all have the same numerical value - 136, and they are [symbolic of] tefilah, tzedakah and teshuvah. The very first part of our parsha Ki Tetze alludes to all the three ingredients of repentance. Even tough the plain meaning is war, the paragraph refers to the ongoing battle between a person and their evil urge. Many of the commentators wrote, regarding the previous portion in Parashat Shoftim on the verse about the siege laid to a city (Deut. 20:19) that this is about the greatest war a person has to fight in this life. The matter is illustrated in the Talmud by the story of the elderly sage who met soldiers of the army of Alexander the Great at the time of his victorious return from a major battle. These soldiers were in a very happy for having conquered such a big city. The sage told them 'you came back from a small battle, get ready for the battle of your lives, against the evil inclination.' This is what the sages meant when they said "the Torah spoke only against the evil inclination" (Kidushin 21b). Through this allegory, we can understand the whole reason why these rules are only regarding a permitted war - permission has been given to us and the choice is ours. Once a person makes the first move in this war, then one can be certain that the Holy one of Blessing will help, as our sages say "were it not for the help of the Holy One, people would not be able to subdue the evil inclination" (Sukkah 52b) - and this is "God delivers him to your hand" (Deut. 21:10). It is significant that the Torah here employs the singular. Behold, regarding war we have a tradition that a nation does not succumb to another nation unless its angel (ie, protective spirit) in Above has first suffered defeat. Therefore the text says "and gave him" - him is the protective spirit. And this is also regarding the other war [the personal] because a person has many enemies, which are the negative forces created by one's evil deeds - from every sin a destroying angel is created, and they are all presided by the evil inclination, which is Samael, Satan, the Angel of Death, etc. (Baba Batra 16a). And this is the meaning of "Ad-nai your God will deliver him into your hand and you will take him captive" (Deut. 21:10). Taking this enemy prisoner is possible only with the help of Torah study and mitzvot, as it is written about Torah: "You went up to the heights, having taken captives" (Ps. 68:19).
~ How does the Shelach reread the verses above?
~ What are the enemies of a person, in this reading?
~ Do we created destroying angels? Why or why not?
מהבעש"ט. ביאור כי תצא למלחמה על אויבך ושבית שביו (דברים כא, י). כי ע"י טענת היצה"ר עצמו בזה כובש היצה"ר. פי' שאם הוא היצה"ר זריז במלאכתו לפתות את האדם בעבירה כדי לעשות שליחותו ית' כמ"ש בזוהר משל הזונה מזה יקח אדם מוסר לעצמו שיהי' זריז במלאכתו שלא לשמוע ליצה"ר שהוא רצון קונו ית' וז"ש ושבית שביו דייקא:
From the Ba'al Shem Tov - the explanation of "when you go to war against your enemy and you take his captives" (Deut. 21:10) - it is that through the argument of the inclination to evil you can conquer it. Meaning, that if the evil inclination is quick in its work of enticing a person to transgress, in order to do its bidding from the Holy One, as it is explained in the allegory of the prostitute in the Zohar, a person should take this lesson (mussar) to heart, and similarly be quick not to listen to the evil inclination - which is the desire of one's Maker, Blessed! And this is "you take him captive", precisely.
(ח) וְהָא דְּאִתְּמַר בְּכָל לְבָבְךָ, בִּתְרֵין לִיבָּן אִיהוּ, דְּאִינְהוּ תְּרֵין יִצְרִין, חַד יִצְרָא טָבָא, וְחַד יִצְרָא בִּישָׁא, וּתְרֵין אִלֵּין כָּל חַד וְחַד אִקְרֵי לֵב, דָּא
(א) אִקְרֵי לֵב טוֹב, וְדָא אִקְרֵי לֵב רָע. וּבְגִין כַּךְ אִיהוּ לְבָבְךָ, דְּאִינּוּן תְּרֵין, יֵצֶר הַטּוֹב וְיֵצֶר הָרָע.
(ב) וּבְכָל נַפְשְׁךָ, וּבְנַפְשְׁךָ מִבָּעֵי לֵיהּ, מַאי וּבְכָל נַפְשְׁךָ, הַאי בְּכָל אֲמַאי. אֶלָּא לְאַכְלְלָא נפ''ש ורו''ח ונשמ''ה, דָּא אִיהוּ וּבְכָל נַפְשְׁךָ, בְּכָל מַה דְּאָחִיד הַאי נֶפֶשׁ. וּבְכָל מְאֹדֶךָ, אוּף הָכִי כַּמָה זִינִין אִינּוּן דְּמָמוֹנָא, כֻּלְּהוּ מְשַׁנְיָין אִלֵּין מֵאִלֵּין, וְעַל דָּא כְּתִיב בְּכָל. רְחִימוּ דְּקוּדְשָׁא בְּרִיךְ הוּא, לְמִמְסָר לֵיהּ כָּל דָּא, לְמִרְחַם לֵיהּ בְּכָל חַד וְחַד.
(ג) וְאִי תֵּימָא, בְּיֵצֶר הָרָע הֵיךְ יָכִיל בַּר נָשׁ לְמִרְחַם לֵיהּ, דְּהָא יֵצֶר הָרָע מְקַטְרְגָא אִיהוּ, דְּלָא יִקְרַב בַּר נָשׁ לְפוּלְחָנָא דְּקוּדְשָׁא בְּרִיךְ הוּא, וְהֵיךְ יְרָחִים לֵיהּ בֵּיהּ. אֶלָּא, דָּא אִיהוּ פּוּלְחָנָא דְּקוּדְשָׁא בְּרִיךְ הוּא יַתִּיר, כַּד הַאי יֵצֶר הָרָע אִתְכַּפְיָא לֵיהּ, בְּגִין רְחִימוּ דְּקָא מִרְחַם לֵיהּ לְקוּדְשָׁא בְּרִיךְ הוּא. דְּכַד הַאי יֵצֶר הָרָע אִתְכַּפְיָא, וְתָבַר לֵיהּ הַהוּא בַּר נָשׁ, דָּא אִיהוּ רְחִימוּ דְּקוּדְשָׁא בְּרִיךְ הוּא, בְּגִין דִּיְדִיעַ לְקָרְבָא לְהַהוּא יֵצֶר הָרָע, לְפוּלְחָנָא דְּקוּדְשָׁא בְּרִיךְ הוּא.
(ד) הָכָא אִיהוּ רָזָא לְמָארֵי מִדִין. כָּל מַה דַּעֲבַד קוּדְשָׁא בְּרִיךְ הוּא עֵילָּא וְתַתָּא, כֹּלָּא אִיהוּ בְּגִין לְאַחֲזָאָה יְקָרָא דִּילֵיהּ, וְכֹלָּא אִיהוּ לְפוּלְחָנֵיהּ. וְכִי מַאן חָמֵי עַבְדָּא, דְּלֶהוֵי מְקַטְרְגָא דְּמָארֵיהּ, וּבְכָל מַה דִּרְעוּתֵיהּ דְּמָארֵיהּ, אִתְעָבִיד אִיהוּ מְקַטְרְגָא, רְעוּתֵיהּ דְּקוּדְשָׁא בְּרִיךְ הוּא, דִּיהוֹן בְּנִי נָשָׁא תָּדִיר בְּפוּלְחָנֵיהּ, וְיֵהָכוּן בְּאֹרַח קְשׁוֹט, בְּגִין לְמִזְכֵּי לוֹן בְּכַמָּה טָבִין, הוֹאִיל וּרְעוּתֵיהּ דְּקוּדְשָׁא בְּרִיךְ הוּא בְּהַאי, הֵיךְ אַתְיָא עַבְדָּא בִּישָׁא, וְאִשְׁתְּכַח מְקַטְרְגָא מִגּוֹ רְעוּתֵיהּ דְּמָארֵיהּ, וְאַסְטֵי לִבְנֵי נָשָׁא לְאֹרַח בִּישׁ, וְאַדְחֵי לוֹן מֵאֹרַח טָב, וְעָבִיד לוֹן דְּלָא יַעַבְדוּן רְעוּתָא דְּמָארִיהוֹן, וְאַסְטֵי לִבְנֵי נָשָׁא לְאֹרַח בִּישׁ.
(ה) אֶלָּא, וַדַּאי רְעוּתֵיהּ דְּמָארֵיהּ עָבִיד. לְמַלְכָּא דְּהֲוָה לֵיהּ בַּר יְחִידָאִי, וַהֲוָה רָחִים לֵיהּ יַתִּיר, וּפָקִיד עֲלֵיהּ בִּרְחִימוּ, דְּלָא יִקְרַב גַּרְמֵיהּ לְאִתְּתָא בִּישָׁא, בְּגִין דְּכָל מַאן דְּיִקְרַב לְגַבָּהּ, לָאו כְּדַאי אִיהוּ לְאַעֲלָא גּוֹ פְּלַטְרִין דְּמַלְכָּא. אוֹדֵי לֵיהּ הַהוּא בְּרָא, לְמֶעְבַּד רְעוּתֵיהּ דַּאֲבוֹי בִּרְחִימוּ.
(ו) בְּבֵיתָא דְּמַלְכָּא, לְבַר, הֲוַת חֲדָא זוֹנָה, יָאֶה בְּחֵיזוּ, וּשְׁפִירָא בְּרֵיוָא. לְיוֹמִין אָמַר מַלְכָּא, בְּעֵינָא לְמֵחמֵי רְעוּתֵיהּ דִּבְרִי לְגַבָּאי. קָרָא לָהּ לְהַהִיא זוֹנָה, וְאָמַר לָהּ זִילִי וּתְפַתִּי לִבְרִי, לְמֵחמֵי רְעוּתֵיהּ דִּבְרִי לְגַבָּאי. הַהִיא זוֹנָה מַאִי עַבְדַת, אַזְלַת אֲבַתְרֵיהּ דִּבְרֵיהּ דְּמַלְכָּא שָׁרָאת לְחַבְּקָא לֵיהּ וּלְנַשְּׁקָא לֵיהּ, וּלְפַתֵּי לֵיהּ בְּכַמָּה פִּתּוּיִין. אִי הַהוּא בְּרָא יֵאוֹת, וְאָצִית לְפִקּוּדָא דַּאֲבוֹי, גָּעַר בָּהּ, וְלָא אָצִית לָהּ, וְדָחֵי לָהּ מִנֵּיהּ. כְּדֵין אָבוֹי חַדֵּי בִּבְרֵיהּ, וְאָעִיל לֵיהּ לְגוֹ פַּרְגּוֹדָא דְּהֵיכָלֵיהּ, וְיָהִיב לֵיהּ מַתְּנָן וּנְבִזְבְּזָא וִיקָּר סַגְיָא. מַאן גָּרִים כָּל הַאי יְקָר לְהַאי בְּרָא, הֲוֵי אֵימָא הַהִיא זוֹנָה.
(ז) וְהַהִיא זוֹנָה אִית לָהּ שְׁבָחָא בְּהַאי אוֹ לָאו. וַדַּאי שְׁבָחָא אִית לָהּ מִכָּל סִטְרִין. חַד, דְּעַבְדַּת פִּקּוּדָא דְּמַלְכָּא. וְחַד, דְּגַרְמָת לֵיהּ לְהַהוּא בְּרָא, לְכָל הַהוּא טִיבוּ, לְכָל הַאי רְחִימוּ דְּמַלְכָּא לְגַבֵּיהּ. וְעַל דָּא כְּתִיב, (בראשית א׳:ל״א) וְהִנֵּה טוֹב מְאֹד. וְהִנֵּה טוֹב, דָּא מַלְאָךְ חַיִּים. (ס''ח ע''ב) מְאֹד, דָּא מַלְאָךְ הַמָּוֶת, דְּאִיהוּ וַדַּאי טוֹב מְאֹד, לְמַאן דְּאָצִית פִּקּוּדִין דְּמָארֵיהּ. וְתָא חֲזִי, אִי לָא יְהֵא הַאי מְקַטְרְגָא, לָא יַרְתוּן צַדִּיקַיָּא הָנִי גִּנְזְיָא עִלָּאִין, דִּזְמִינִין לְיָרְתָא לְעָלְמָא דְּאָתֵי.
(8) And that which is said "bechol levavecha" (lit. with all your hearts) is that there are two impulses, one is the good impulse and one is the bad impulse, and those two - each is called lev (lit. heart), and this is
(1) (1) called a good heart, and this is called a bad heart. And that is how there (the text says) "hearts", which are two, the good impulse and the evil impulse.
(2) (2)uvechol nafshecha - it should have been written "and with your soul" - why is it written "with all your soul"? This is to include nefesh, ruach and neshamah, and this is "with all your soul" with all the parts of the soul. "And with all your might" - consider that there are many sides to possessions/money; all double one from the other, and this is "with all". The Holy One of Blessing was compassionate [to a person] and gave all this to them, so the person would be compassionate to every single other person.
(3) (3) And if you ask - how can a human being love Him with the evil impulse, behold, the evil impulse incites people to anger, to prevent the person to come close to the service of the Holy One of Blessing, and how can one love Him with it? (here's the answer) Rather, this is the greatest form of service to the Holy One of Blessing: when a person turns away/upends the evil impulse, in this way that person shows definitely their love for the Holy One of Blessing. When the evil impulse is upended and the person breaks it, in this way that person shows definitely their love for the Holy One, since the person is able to bring that evil impulse to the service of the Holy One of Blessing.
(4) (4) And here is a secret of those who understand 'judgment'. Everything that the Holy One of Blessing made, on high and below, all is to show the Holy One's glory and for the Holy One's service. Is it possible to find a servant that rebels against the master, that on everything the servant does the servant is going against the master's will? [No,] the will of the Holy One of Blessing is that people would always be doing the service of the Holy One, and that they should walk in the paths of truth and merit many goodnesses, and this is the will of the Holy One of Blessing! And how would there be an evil servant going against the will of the Master, pushing people to evil paths?
(5) (5) Rather, it is obvious that [the evil inclination] is doing the will of the Master! [This is similar to] a king who had an only son, whom he loved deeply, and to whom he warned lovingly that he should never get close to an evil woman, since anyone who came close to her could not come to the king's inner hall anymore. And the son promised his father that he would do his will with love.
(6) (6) In the palace of the king, outside, there lived a certain prostitute, comely and beautiful. After a few days the king said: I want to see the will of my son regarding me. He called that prostitute and said to her: go and seduce my son, so I can see his will regarding me. What did the prostitute do? She went after the son, and began to hug and kiss him, and to seduce him with all manners of seductions. If that son is decent, and obeys the will of his father, he tells her off, and does not listen to her, and pushes her away from him. And then the father is happy with his son, and makes him enter into the center of the inner hall, and gives him gifts and great honor. Who brought all this about? You have to say, the prostitute.
(7) (7) And that prostitute, does she receive praise for this or not? Of course she receives praise from all sides. One, that she did the command of the king. One, that she brought about all that good to the son, all that love from the king towards him. And that's why it is written "and behold it was very good." "And this is good" - this is the Angel of Life. "Very good" - this is the Angel of Death, which is obviously very good, for a person to follow the commandments of the Master. Come and see: if there was not the Accuser, the tzadikim would not conquer the Higher Hidden [Treasure], [they wouldn't be] prepared to conquer the World to Come.
~ What is the function of the evil inclination? Is it good or bad? Who is the most faithful servant?
This is the explanation: Should you go out to battle again st your enemies—This being the Evil Inclination,
and you take some of them captive—In other words, by using that very thing with which it seeks to overpower you—namely, pride—to overpower it. That is, say to it, “How can I rule when I feel haughty, and the Holy Blessed One does not reside with me?” This is sufficient for the insightful.
~ What is the first move, according to Reb Nachman? Who is being given to whom and by whom, in this reading?
When you go out to war against your enemy etc and you take captives - that is the good that is found in the nation, since in every nation there is a force for good. And while that force is "among them" it is "in captivity", but when it comes "in Israel" then it is good in its completed form. And this good, while "among them" is "desire" since while it is found "among them" it is impermanent. Yet, when those who understand see that this desire will be missing, they need to make it enter "in Israel", since while the desire is "among them" it is "in captivity" - and since the force of desire comes from the Holy One of Blessing it is only appropriate to get it "in Israel."
וחשקת בה ולקחת לך לאשה והבאתה וכו' וגלחה וכו' והסירה את שמלת שביה מעליה. כי באמת כל מה שיעלה חן בעיני ישראל בטח נמצא בו דבר טוב, אך צריך לברר בבירורין אם עלה חן איזה גוון בעינו ולא חן אמיתי. לכן צוה שתסיר מאתה כל הגוונין ואח"כ אם עוד תעלה חן בעיניו אז בטח נמצא בה דבר טוב.
And you desire her and take her as a wife, and you bring her etc and she shaves etc and takes off the clothes of captivity - this is that everything that finds grace in the eyes of Israel certainly has in it something good, yet, it is necessary to make many selections so as to know if this is true grace or some external trapping that met one's eye. That is why it commanded that she should distance herself from all externalities, and after that, if grace is still found in his eyes, then obviously something good is found in her.
וראית בשביה. ונאמר בגמ' ע"ז [קידושין כ"א:] לא דברה תורה אלא כנגד יצה"ר. והענין מה שכאן התירה תורה כנגד יצה"ר מה שלא מצינו זאת בשום מקום, אך כי נמצא לפעמים אשר יצר האדם מתגבר עליו עד שלא יוכל לזוז בשום אופן ואז ברור הדבר כי מה' הוא כמו שמצינו ביהודא, ולזאת גילתה התורה זאת שלא יפול דעת האדם העושה.
And you see in captivity - and it is written in the Gemarah "Torah only spoke like this due to the inclination to evil" (Kiddushin 21b) - and this is found nowhere [else]. Yet, sometimes the inclination to evil can dominate a person so much that they will not be able to move [spiritually] in any way, and so it is clear that from God it comes, as we find regarding Yehudah [and Tamar] and that is why the Torah revealed this specific law, so that the awareness of the doer will not fall completely.
~ How does the Mei Hashiloach reinterprets the laws?
~ What is complicated for him? How does he respond to the idea of a beautiful, non-Jewish captive, that comes to be "in Israel"?
~ Why do we need to find the good without externalities? What does that mean?