| 1When you go out to war against your enemies, and you see horse and chariot, a people more numerous than you, you shall not be afraid of them, for the Lord, your God is with you Who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. |
| 2And it will be, when you approach the battle, that the kohen shall come near, and speak to the people. |
| 3And he shall say to them, "Hear, O Israel, today you are approaching the battle against your enemies. Let your hearts not be faint; you shall not be afraid, and you shall not be alarmed, and you shall not be terrified because of them. |
| 4For the Lord, your God, is the One Who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you. |
| 5And the officers shall speak to the people, saying, What man is there who has built a new house and has not [yet] inaugurated it? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the war, and another man inaugurate it. |
| 6And what man is there who has planted a vineyard, and has not [yet] redeemed it? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the war, and another man redeem it. |
| 7And what man is there who has betrothed a woman and has not [yet] taken her? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the war, and another man take her." |
| 8And the officers shall continue to speak to the people and say, "What man is there who is fearful and fainthearted? Let him go and return to his house, that he should not cause the heart of his brothers to melt, as his heart." |
§ The Torah says about the priest anointed for war: “And he shall say to them: Hear Israel” (Deuteronomy 20:3). The Gemara asks: What is different in this setting that necessitates the usage of the phrase: “Hear Israel”? Rabbi Yoḥanan said in the name of Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai: The Holy One, Blessed be He, said to the Jewish people: Even if you have not fulfilled any mitzva except reciting Shema of the morning and the evening, you will not be delivered into the hands of your enemies. As an allusion to this promise, the priest’s address borrows the phrase “Hear Israel,” a phrase most familiar from the beginning of the recitation of Shema.
(א) שֶׁלֹּא לַעֲרֹץ וּלְפַחֵד בַּמִּלְחָמָה – שֶׁנִּמְנַעְנוּ שֶׁלֹּא לַעֲרֹץ וּלְפַחֵד מִן הָאוֹיְבִים בְּעֵת הַמִּלְחָמָה, וְשֶׁלֹּא נִבְרַח מִפְּנֵיהֶם, אֲבָל הַחוֹבָה עָלֵינוּ, לְהִתְגַּבֵּר כְּנֶגְדָּם וּלְהִתְחַזֵּק וְלַעֲמֹד בִּפְנֵיהֶם, וְעַל זֶה נֶאֱמַר (דברים ז כא) לֹא תַעֲרֹץ מִפְּנֵיהֶם, וְנִכְפְּלָה הַמְּנִיעָה בְּמָקוֹם אַחֵר, בְּאָמְרוֹ (שם ג, כב) "לֹא תִּירָאוּם".
(ב) מִשָּׁרְשֵׁי הַמִּצְוָה. שֶׁיֵּשׁ לְכָל אֶחָד מִיִּשְׂרָאֵל, לָשׂוּם בַּשֵּׁם יִתְבָּרַךְ מִבְטַחוֹ, וְלֹא יִירָא עַל גּוּפוֹ בְּמָקוֹם שֶׁיּוּכַל לָתֵת כָּבוֹד לַשֵּׁם בָּרוּךְ הוּא וּלְעַמּוֹ.
(ג) דִּינֵי הַמִּצְוָה. כְּגוֹן, מָה שֶׁהִזְהִירוּ זִכְרוֹנָם לִבְרָכָה (רמב"ם מלכים ז, טו) שֶׁלֹּא יַחְשֹׁב אָדָם בְּעֵת הַמִּלְחָמָה, לֹא בְּאִשְׁתּוֹ, וְלֹא בְּבָנָיו, וְלֹא בְּמָמוֹנוֹ, אֶלָּא יְפַנֶּה לִבּוֹ מִכָּל דָּבָר לַמִּלְחָמָה. וְעוֹד יַחְשֹׁב, שֶׁכָּל דְּמֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל תְּלוּיִין עָלָיו, וַהֲרֵי הוּא כְּאִלּוּ שָׁפַךְ דְּמֵי כֻּלָּם אִם יִפְחַד וְיָשׁוּב אָחוֹר יְמִינוֹ, וּכְעִנְיָן שֶׁכָּתוּב (שם כ ח) וְלֹא יִמַּס אֶת לְבַב אֶחָיו כִּלְבָבוֹ, וּמְפֹרָשׁ בְּדִבְרֵי קַבָּלָה (ירמיהו מח י), אָרוּר עֹשֶׂה מְלֶאכֶת ה' רְמִיָּה, וְאָרוּר מֹנֵעַ חַרְבּוֹ מִדָּם. וְאָמְרוּ זִכְרוֹנָם לִבְרָכָה (רמב"ם שם) שֶׁכָּל הַנִּלְחָם בְּכָל לְבָבוֹ וְכַוָּנָתוֹ לְקַדֵּשׁ הַשֵּׁם מֻבְטָח הוּא שֶׁלֹּא יִמְצָא נֶזֶק וְיִזְכֶּה לוֹ וּלְבָנָיו לִהְיוֹת לָהֶם בַּיִת נָכוֹן בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל וְיִזְכֶּה לְחַיֵּי הָעוֹלָם הַבָּא, וּכְעִנְיָן שֶׁכָּתוּב (שמואל א כה, כח) כִּי עָשֹׂה יַעֲשֶׂה ה' לַאדֹנִי בַּיִת נֶאֱמָן כִּי מִלְחֲמוֹת ה' אֲדֹנִי נִלְחָם וְגוֹ'. וְיֶתֶר פְּרָטֵי הַמִּצְוָה, בְּפֶרֶק שְׁמִינִי מִסּוֹטָה [הלכות מלכים פ"ו].
(ד) וְנוֹהֶגֶת מִצְוָה זוֹ בִּזְכָרִים, כִּי לָהֶם לְהִלָּחֵם בִּזְמַן שֶׁיִּשְׂרָאֵל עַל אַדְמָתָן. וְהָעוֹבֵר עַל זֶה וְהִתְחִיל לְחַשֵּׁב וּלְהַרְהֵר וּלְהַבְהִיל עַצְמוֹ בַּמִּלְחָמָה עָבַר עַל לָאו זֶה (עי' רמב"ן בסהמ"צ לאוין נח בהשגתו על דברי הרמב"ם) וְעָנְשׁוֹ גָּדוֹל מְאֹד, כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתַבְנוּ.
(1) To not be terrified or to be afraid in war: That we have been prevented to not be terrified and be afraid of the enemies at the time of war and not to run away from them. Rather the obligation upon us is to strengthen ourselves against them and to stand in front of them. And about this is it stated (Deuteronomy 7:21), “You shall not be terrified in front of them.” And the prevention was repeated in another place, in its stating (Deuteronomy 3:22), “You shall not dread them.”
(2) It is from the roots of the commandment that everyone in Israel should place his trust in God, may He be blessed, and not be afraid for his body in a situation that he can give glory to God, blessed be He, and to His people.
(3) The laws of the commandment — for example, that which they, may their memory be blessed, said (Mishneh Torah, Laws of Kings and Wars 7:15) that a man not think at the time of war about his wife, nor his children nor his money, but rather he clear his [mind] from everything, to [focus on] the war. And he should further think that all the blood of Israel is dependent upon him, and [so] if he is afraid and “he pulls back his right [hand],” it is as if he spilled the blood of all of them — and like the matter that is written (Deuteronomy 20:8), “and that the heart of his brothers not melt like his heart.” And it is explicit in the words of the tradition, “Cursed be he who makes the Lord’s work a fraud; cursed be he who withholds his sword from blood” (Jeremiah 48:10). And [also] that which they, may their memory be blessed, said (Mishneh Torah, Laws of Kings and Wars 7:15) that anyone who fights with all of his heart and intention to sanctify God is assured that he will not find injury; and it will be a merit for him and his children, that his house will be established in Israel, and he will merit life in the world to come. And [it is] like the matter that is written (I Samuel 25:28), “for the Lord will surely make a faithful house for my master, since my master fights the wars of the Lord, etc.” And the rest of the details of the commandment are in the eighth chapter of Sotah. (See Mishneh Torah, Laws of Kings and Wars 6.)
(4) And this commandment is practiced by males — as it is upon them to fight — at the time that Israel are upon their Land. And one who transgresses this and begins to think and to ruminate and to bewilder himself in war has violated this negative commandment (see Ramban’s gloss on the Sefer HaMitzvot, Negative Commandments 38) and his punishment is very great, as we have written.
(טו) (דברים כ, ח) "מִי הָאִישׁ הַיָּרֵא וְרַךְ הַלֵּבָב" כְּמַשְׁמָעוֹ. שֶׁאֵין בְּלִבּוֹ כֹּחַ לַעֲמֹד בְּקִשְׁרֵי הַמִּלְחָמָה. וּמֵאַחַר שֶׁיִּכָּנֵס בְּקִשְׁרֵי הַמִּלְחָמָה יִשָּׁעֵן עַל מִקְוֵה יִשְׂרָאֵל וּמוֹשִׁיעוֹ בְּעֵת צָרָה וְיֵדַע שֶׁעַל יִחוּד הַשֵּׁם הוּא עוֹשֶׂה מִלְחָמָה וְיָשִׂים נַפְשׁוֹ בְּכַפּוֹ וְלֹא יִירָא וְלֹא יִפְחָד וְלֹא יַחְשֹׁב לֹא בְּאִשְׁתּוֹ וְלֹא בְּבָנָיו אֶלָּא יִמְחֶה זִכְרוֹנָם מִלִּבּוֹ וְיִפָּנֶה מִכָּל דָּבָר לַמִּלְחָמָה. וְכָל הַמַּתְחִיל לַחְשֹׁב וּלְהַרְהֵר בַּמִּלְחָמָה וּמַבְהִיל עַצְמוֹ עוֹבֵר בְּלֹא תַּעֲשֶׂה. שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (דברים כ, ג) "אַל יֵרַךְ לְבַבְכֶם אַל תִּירְאוּ וְאַל תַּחְפְּזוּ וְאַל תַּעַרְצוּ מִפְּנֵיהֶם". וְלֹא עוֹד אֶלָּא שֶׁכָּל דְּמֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל תְּלוּיִין בְּצַוָּארוֹ. וְאִם לֹא נִצֵּחַ וְלֹא עָשָׂה מִלְחָמָה בְּכָל לִבּוֹ וּבְכָל נַפְשׁוֹ. הֲרֵי זֶה כְּמִי שֶׁשָּׁפַךְ דְּמֵי הַכּל. שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (דברים כ, ח) "וְלֹא יִמַּס אֶת לְבַב אֶחָיו כִּלְבָבוֹ". וַהֲרֵי מְפֹרָשׁ בַּקַּבָּלָה (ירמיה מח, י) "אָרוּר עשֶֹׁה מְלֶאכֶת ה' רְמִיָּה" וְאָרוּר מֹנֵעַ חַרְבּוֹ מִדָּם. וְכָל הַנִּלְחָם בְּכָל לִבּוֹ בְּלֹא פַּחַד וְתִהְיֶה כַּוָּנָתוֹ לְקַדֵּשׁ אֶת הַשֵּׁם בִּלְבַד. מֻבְטָח לוֹ שֶׁלֹּא יִמְצָא נֵזֶק וְלֹא תַּגִּיעֵהוּ רָעָה. וְיִבְנֶה לוֹ בַּיִת נָכוֹן בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל וְיִזְכֶּה לוֹ וּלְבָנָיו עַד עוֹלָם וְיִזְכֶּה לְחַיֵּי הָעוֹלָם הַבָּא. שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (שמואל א כה, כח) "כִּי עָשֹׂה יַעֲשֶׂה ה' לַאדֹנִי בַּיִת נֶאֱמָן כִּי מִלְחֲמוֹת ה' אֲדֹנִי נִלְחָם וְרָעָה לֹא תִמָּצֵא בְךָ" וְגוֹ' (שמואל א כה, כט) "וְהָיְתָה נֶפֶשׁ אֲדֹנִי צְרוּרָה בִּצְרוֹר הַחַיִּים אֵת ה' אֱלֹקֶיךָ":
(15) To whom does the phrase 'Is there a man who is afraid or faint-hearted?' refer? The phrase should be interpreted simply, as applying to a person whose heart is not brave enough to stand in the throes of battle.
Once a soldier enters the throes of battle, he should rely on the Hope of Israel and their Savior in times of need. He should realize that he is fighting for the sake of the oneness of God's Name. Therefore, he should place his soul in his hand and not show fright or fear.
He should not worry about his wife or children. On the contrary, he should wipe their memory from his heart, removing all thoughts from his mind except the war.
Anyone who begins to feel anxious and worry in the midst of battle to the point where he frightens himself violates a negative commandment, as it is written (Deuteronomy 20:3 : 'Do not be faint-hearted. Do not be afraid. Do not panic and do not break ranks before them.'
Furthermore, he is responsible for the blood of the entire Jewish nation. If he is not valiant, if he does not wage war with all his heart and soul, it is considered as if he shed the blood of the entire people, as ibid. 20:8 states: 'Let him go home, lest he demoralize the hearts of his brethren like his own.' Similarly, the prophetic tradition explicitly states: 'Cursed be he who does God's work deceitfully. Cursed be he who withholds his sword from blood.' Jeremiah 48:10
In contrast, anyone who fights with his entire heart, without fear, with the intention of sanctifying God's name alone, can be assured that he will find no harm, nor will bad overtake him. He will be granted a proper family in Israel and gather merit for himself and his children forever. He will also merit eternal life in the world to come as I Samuel 25:28-29 states: 'God will certainly make my lord a faithful house, for my lord fights the wars of God and evil will not be found with you... and my lord's soul will be bound in a bond of life with God.'
(לא) כי תאמר בלבבך רבים הגוים האלה ממני איכה אוכל להורישם לא תירא מהם (דברים ז׳:י״ז-י״ח):
(לב) כי תצא למלחמה וגו' וראית סוס ורכב עם רב ממך לא תירא מהם (דברים כ׳:א׳) הוזהרנו בזה שאם יראה האדם כי צרה קרובה תהיה ישועת ה' בלבבו. ויבטח עליה. כענין שנאמר - (תהילים פ״ה:י׳) אך קרוב ליראיו ישעו וכן כתוב (ישעיהו נ״א:י״ב) מי את ותיראי מאנוש ימות:
(31) “Should you say to yourselves, ‘These nations are more numerous than we; how can we dispossess them?’ You need have no fear of them” (Deuteronomy 7:17-18).
(32) “When you go out to war, etc., and see horses and chariots - forces larger than yours - have no fear of them” (Deuteronomy 20:1). We were warned with this that if a person sees trouble nearby, the salvation of the Lord should be in his heart and he should trust in it - like the matter that is stated (Psalms 85:10), “His salvation is near those who fear Him”; and likewise is it written (Isaiah 51:12), “What ails you that you fear man who must die.”
(1) Of David. The Eternal is my light and my help; whom should I fear? The Eternal is the stronghold of my life, whom should I dread? (2) When evil ones assail me to devour my flesh— it is they, my foes and my enemies, who stumble and fall. (3) Should an army besiege me, my heart would have no fear; should war beset me, still would I be confident. (4) One thing I ask of the Eternal, only that do I seek: to live in the house of the Eternal all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Eternal, to frequent God's temple.
Yes, it’s true that we have to ask G‑d for joy, as the Psalm goes, “Rejoice the soul of your servant!” Similarly, in our prayers, “Remove grief and moaning from amongst us.”
Nevertheless, there is also the panic that a person brings upon himself, and every person has the choice and the control to prevent himself from doing so.
There’s a clear proof of this. The Torah prohibits a person from panic and fear at a time of war. [When an army went out to battle to defend the nation, the kohen would stand before them and say, “Hear, O Israel! You are about to go to battle with your enemy. Don’t let your hearts be frail. Do not fear, nor panic,] nor be in dread of them.”
Both Maimonides and the Sefer Mitzvot Gedolot count this as one of the 613 commandments of the Torah.
This appears quite astonishing. What should a person then do if nevertheless his heart leaps and he panics when he sees the blood of battle? The Torah, after all, can only command you to do something that’s within your volition to choose to do or not do, as Maimonides writes in his Eight Chapters.
But this is how it works: Every person’s soul is clothed within three external layers: Thought, speech and action. This is where the person’s conduct takes place, and it is in these three layers that a person can exercise his free will. Every person can consciously choose what to think about, speak about or do.
Which means that even if you. are terrified in your heart, you can remove your thought, speech and action from that fear. The main thing is not to think about it or speak about it at all, but rather about the opposite, like I said earlier. This is what it says in Likutei Amarim (Tanya), chapter 14.
So this is what it means when we are commanded, “Do not let your hearts weaken etc.”—don’t think about things that will cause fear. And that’s precisely what Maimonides writes as halachah, “Anyone who brings himself to panic and terror by thinking such thoughts… transgresses a prohibition.”
As soon as a person stops pondering these things, instantly the feeling of dread disappears. At the very least, the fear immediately fades, with no physical manifestation, as though it were sleeping. Then, within a few days, it will be completely gone, to the point that it won’t fall into the mind even as an involuntary thought.
That’s what the Torah is telling you when it says, “Don’t allow your hearts to weaken.”
How does it work? Why does fear disappear when thought is no longer engaged?
This is because all emotional responses are sustained by the awareness of the mind, which is the mental faculty called da’at. The Zohar calls da’at—awareness—“the key to six doors,” meaning that it can activate all six emotions. But this awareness only engages the emotions through active mental articulation, which serves as the intermediary between mind and emotion. Once you stop articulating these troubling thoughts in your mind, the mind is disengaged from the emotion. The emotion is no longer awake and is as though it never was.
An even greater concept is stated in the Talmud, that even natural human lust cannot be aroused without one consensually engaging his thought, and one is then culpable for his sinful desire, as Maimonides rules. This is also the implication of the Talmud in Berachot, 60a, that it is up to a person to fear or not to fear.
But the main way to remove your mind from any troubling subject is by keeping it engaged in other matters. These could be even worldly matters that are necessities and bring happiness. And certainly in thoughts of Torah, for they rejoice the heart—each day, something particular for that day, with a fixed schedule for studying Torah—especially if you can do this with a partner.
(It could be in the revealed parts of Torah, for example in Orach Chayim, the laws of the morning blessings and reading the Shema, and prayer, and such. And in the inner Torah, in the hand-copied teachings that we have, etc.)
Another thing: Don’t speak of any depressing matters, heaven forbid. On the contrary, always act joyfully, as though you are filled with joy in your heart—even though it’s not there in your heart at the time. Eventually it will be.
There’s reasoning behind this: When you make it a consistent habit to behave in a certain way, you eventually integrate that into your personality. Maimonides writes this at the end of chapter one of Hilchot De’ot:
And how may a man acquire these attitudes so that they are permanent with him? He should do once, repeat, and do again the things he is called upon to do in harmony with the attitudes…and repeat the practice continuously until the doing it will be accomplished with slight effort, and they will not be burdensome upon him. Then will these attitudes be a fixed part of his personality.
He writes similarly in the fourth chapter of his Eight Chapters. The quote above, however, is within the context of healing the illnesses of the soul. In Sefer Hachinuch, mitzvah 16, you will find the same idea, and so too in many other places in their works.
Although none of their words require support or proof, nevertheless, there is proof according to the Kabbalah as well—in Pardes Rimonim, the Portal of Colors, chapter 1 [where he writes that a person should choose the colors of his clothes according to the disposition he wishes to channel from above]. He cites support for this from the Zohar, as well, that teaches that everything depends on the way you behave.
All this leads to one point: You need to control your thought, speech and action so as not to mull over worrisome matters that weaken the heart, and so that, on the contrary, you speak and act as a happy person. Then these dispositions will become an integral part of your personality, and once they are, so too G‑d will pour His spirit upon you from above with joy and a good heart.
So I heard from my grandfather, teacher and master, may his memory be for a blessing. When we were in Pienna, on the night of his passing, I began to pray the evening prayer with a sad melody. But he stopped me from doing so.
After I had finished my prayer, he told me, “So I heard from my teacher. and master, the Magid, on the verse, ‘As the appearance of a man upon it from above’: According to the attitude a person displays below, so he is shown from above.”
The appropriate thing for a person of your stature to wean yourself from all sadness. If a person can remove dread from his heart even in a situation in which there is something to dread, as I pointed out, all the more so in your case, that, thank Heaven, you have nothing to fear whatsoever, neither in terms of your body’s health nor in matters of income.
After all, there was a thread of divine kindness extended over you this past summer. And there is a well-known statement of our sages, “Anyone who is favored, not so quickly etc.”
Really all this is just the seduction of human urges. You need to cast it aside like any unsolicited thought, as evil mamesh. It’s written, “Don’t stray after your hearts, etc.” That means to turn your mind away from negative thoughts that are related to sins, as Maimonides writes (Hilchot Avodah Zarah, 2:3). In precisely the same way, you need to distance yourself from these pessimistic thoughts.
If, nevertheless, you wish to fulfill the mitzvah of worrying, then give it it’s proper place As the saying of the sages goes, “Secrets of Torah are shared only with one whose heart worries within him.”
What type of worry? The distance of their soul from the Light of the Infinite, may He be blessed.
And what is the answer to that worry? That which the verse tells you, “This was my consolation in my poverty—that Your words of Torah gave me life…”
FOOTNOTES
1.Laws of Kings, Chapter 7. Maimonides furthermore writes that one who allows himself to be frightened “is responsible for the blood of the entire Jewish nation.” Rabeinu Yona of Gerona (Gates of Repentance, Chapter 3, part 32) writes that this prohibition is not only at the time of war, but at all times of danger. It is the source-text for trust in G‑d. 2.Parshat Shoftim. 3.Chapter Two. 4.Talmud Yevamot 53b. 5.Hilchot Isurei-Biah ch. 1. 6.Also, mitzvah 95, 98 and 117. 7.Zohar II, 35b. 8.See Talmud Baba Kama 80b. 9.Talmud Hagigah 13a. 10.Psalms 119:50.