Shoftim - 7th Portion

Join me as we learn Humish for Shabbos, the seventh Torah reading of Parshas Shoftim. This Torah reading now tells us about when being that yesterday we spoke about how and who would go to war, today we continue with that theme about when they would go to war and they would lay siege, how they would do it. And the Torah reading it concludes with an the halacha, the law of pertaining the unsolved murder. Verse 10, chapter 20. When you approach a city to wage war against it, to wage war against it, you shall tell them you first must propose peace to it. Rashi We're not talking about it in an obligatory war, which then you had to wipe everybody out. This is talking about a war that you want to annex land, like it says you're allowed to do to all the different cities around you. Which are far from you. Verse 11. If they will respond with peace, and it opens up, then all the nation, all the people that are there amongst you will be for you as um as for tax, and they will serve you. Rashi Even if you find it, meaning it's a even if you find in the city Let's say it's a far distant city. It's not from the seven nations of the land of Israel, and you want to annex it. And then you happen to see that there's amongst them people from the seven nations of the that you were supposed that you were told to eradicate. You're allowed to keep them going. You're allowed to keep them as long as they accept upon themselves the taxes and that they will be servitude to you. Verse 12. You must However, if they will not make peace with you, they'll make a war with you, the tsar tala, and then you can besiege it. Rashi, a cost of me the Torah is letting you know and is guaranteeing you that if they are not going if they're not if you come to them to wage war, now you gave them an opportunity to make peace and they don't want to make peace, they can end up making a war with you if you allow them to go, so therefore, you should besiege it. The tsar tala, how are you going to besiege it? You can cause them to be in hunger and to cause them of thirst and to kill them all different types of terrible deaths. Verse 13. When the son God will deliver them into your hand, you're going to kill all the male adult males by the sword. When the son if you're going to follow everything you're told to do, save the end result is will allow them to be given into your hands. Verse 14. However, the women, the children, and the livestock, everything else in them in the city, called shlola, and all their spoils tove is luck you will take for yourself. The shlola you consume all the spoils that you God will give you. The and the children, even the male children. The kiss of God that says previously in the verse you will kill all the males, the it's only talking about those that are men, the adults. Verse 15. Came to automatic this is what you can do to all the lands that are far from you, meaning outside your borders. Very far from the they are not from the cities and the nations that are occupying the promised land that you were told to eradicate them completely. However, these nations, these cities of the seven nations that are occupying the land which God has given you you must not allow any soul to live in it. Verse 17 because you must eradicate them, you must utterly destroy them. God commanded you. What does mean as he commanded you? Who is he also including? Even though he doesn't mention their name, but they have to be included with the other seven nations. Verse 18 Why am I telling you that you have to eradicate them completely? You should not they should not teach you in accordance of all their abominations. I should also came that they do to their gods and then you will sin to God your God. However, if these people repented and they converted then you can accept them as converts like every other convert cuz then they're not going to teach you any of their bad ways. Verse 19 If you take siege on a city now going back to the laws pertaining to those outside the promised land that God said you're allowed to take proceed on. If you're going to take proceed a city for more than 2 days to take to wage war against it to take capture to take capture it that's you must not destroy its trees. To chop it down guys them with an axe give me men of cycle cuz you're able to eat from it. And that you should not cut down the man is compared to the man man is compared to the field of the tree cuz is the tree of the field of the man, loving me that who is able to come onto the besieged fleeing from you and since it's not, you should not punish it. As we know from this verse, as we mentioned many times, man is compared to a tree. And for that, there are many different ways that we compare. One of the things that are very well known is why we don't cut a child's hair until they're 3 years old because they're compared to the tree of the field in the same way the tree, you don't cut its fruit for 3 years, so to man, but this is learned from this verse. Though in this case, it's asked as a question. Is man a tree that you should cut it down? Let's see Rashi. When it says many, two, rabim, three. Rabim is two, two cuz it's plural, rabim is many, three. My kind number from here we learn in the show game show you that I'm going to show you this. That one should not lay siege on the city of non-Jews less than 3 days before the so it shouldn't be that they should be worried and they wouldn't be able to do it properly because then they're going to have to deal with as well. The limit as well as this teaches us that they can start negotiating in peace for two or three days. And the women as we find by David particular government time that that David was by when he came back from the Amalekites was this was talking about the matter that I'm just talking about a war of not a war of not a commanded war or a war that is only to annex land. They have two or three days as we see by David that he started with two that you start with peace and you wait two or three days to see the response. The man is a soldier. The word key in this case, as we mentioned, has many different translations. In this case, it will be more has the translation of maybe or is it for example like in a question. Sham or the man is a soldier, maybe do you say that man is like the tree of the field? Actually, it's the same as that he should be using your siege. You have to be sure that it should cause it to hunger for some and thirst country early the people of the city. the tree? Verse 20. Only a tree. However, if you may destroy a tree which you know is not an edible tree, not a food tree. Who although that one that you can destroy you can cut down and you can build a siege with it. I'll be here on the city you're doing a war with it until you get it to submission. As we mentioned previously in paying the taxes and then being subservient. Chapter 21 verse 1. We now begin the laws pertaining an unresolved murder. In a case where you may find a slain person may be found anywhere. In the land that God gives you to as an inheritance. Is lying in the field you don't know who killed him. Verse two. And your elders and your judges meaning the Sanhedrin will go and measure the cities they will measure the cities surrounding the corpse. Rashi. Not just a regular person but the special people which is Sanhedrin this is the Sanhedrin. They will measure from the place that the corpse is lying. They'll measure for every city which is the closest city to this corpse. Verse four three. And from all from all the closest cities to the corpse, and they will take the elders of that city a glass backer a calf that no work has been performed with it actually much cobell and has never been drawn with a yoke. Verse 4, and the elders of that city will bring must bring the calf down to a valley to a virgin valley. What does it mean a virgin valley? And it was never tilled there for our full service and they must decapitate the calf there in the valley. Rashi, not a son. What does it mean a son? The word a son of here means to comes in with kosher. a hard surely never it was never plowed, never tilled, never you work with the land. So what do we say place that nothing was ever used there for our full. The word of our full or decapitated takes an ax and chops it off. God said to the egg wash NASA. Let a young calf come. Surely a pair of them never brought any children into the world. The day or day the mocking and should be killed in a place where it does not grow any where nothing grows. What happened to a tone for the sin of a person that surely has a pair of them that he was not able to bring fruit. He was not able to bring to anything in this world. He was not killed. He was not able to do mix with and he was not able to bring any more life and energy into the world. Verse 5 The mixture of the name of the common and the sons of Levi will approach because then God chose to serve and to bless the name of God and God even according to them they oversee every controversy any lesion. Verse 6, and all the elders of the city of the craving that are very close to the hollow that means the ones that were closest to the corpse, city that was closest to the corpse, Yir Hatzi Yedeim, they must wash their hands over the calf. Alah Gala Alah Egla on the calf, a heifer that was decapitated by Nachal in the valley. Verse seven. Va'anu and they will respond, they will declare, Va'amru and they say, "Yadeinu lo shafchu es ha'dam hazeh, our hands did not shed this blood, ve'eineinu lo ra'u, and our eyes did not see him leave." Rashi, Yadeinu lo shafchu, "For he also leaves there's one thing that the Sanhedrin killed him, she'ziknei Beis Din shafchu dam mei'ein." Ela, but this is what they have to say and this is what they're intended in their verses. "Lo ra'inu, we didn't see him, we put him on the way and we didn't see him leave the city and give him no food on the way, lo livinu, we didn't escort him to make sure that he should be safe." Hakohanim umrim l'kohanim say this, "Kaper amcha Yisrael." And this is what the Kohanim respond to what the elders say, "Re atone for the sin of the Jewish people." Va'anu va'amru vek verse eight, "Kaper amcha Yisrael." The Kohanim will respond, "Kaper amcha Yisrael, grant atonement to your nation, the Jewish people, asher padisa Hashem, that you have redeemed, al titen dam naki b'kerev amcha Yisrael, do not lay innocent blood upon your people of Israel, v'nikaper lehem ha'dam, and may the blood guilt will be atoned for them." V'nikaper lehem ha'dam, a custom of ours from the Torah says, "U'she'ken when the Jewish people do this, meaning and they follow all the steps that were mentioned in the previous verses, then yuchal l'maves, then the sin is atoned for them." Verse nine, "Va'atah ta'avir dam naki b'kirbecha, and you must abolish the guilt of innocent blood from among you, ki sasa YHVH ashem, for you must do what is proper in the eyes of God." Rashi, Va'atah ta'avir, she'im nimtza hereg she'ein sarfei egla, what happens if you find the murderer who killed this individual, then areiza yareg, then he should be killed as stated and by getting rid of the murderer this brings and makes what is right in the eyes of God. This concludes the seventh Torah reading of parsha shoftim concludes the Torah reading of shoftim.