How must we reciprocate when Hashem saves us from our enemies?
(21,10) If you go out to war against your enemies, and Hashem, Your G-d, will deliver him into your hands, and you will take his captives. And you see among the captives a beautiful woman…
What does the posuk mean “and you take his captives”? We can explain it according to what Chazal taught, that the Torah only allowed the matter of the “beautiful woman” during war because a person’s evil inclination is very strong at that time, and so the Torah made a provision for marrying such a woman by following a strict set of rules, as the Torah goes on to state.
Now, there are two types of war which Yisrael fights - there is war with the nations which is primarily for us, for the needs of the body, and there is also the war against the evil inclination, and this war is for Hashem and His honour. Therefore the Torah is telling us to act with Him measure for measure. The war with our enemies which is for us, this Hashem will do Himself, and He will deliver our enemies into our hands. And we will reciprocate and strive to deliver His enemy, so to speak, into His hand, to conquer the evil inclination and destroy it.
This is what the posuk is saying: “If you go out to war against your enemies”, against those who hate you, “Hashem will deliver him into your hands”. And when Hashem delivers those who hate you into your hands, then you will make sure to reciprocate, “and you take his captives”, the captives of Hashem, and conquer the evil inclination. How so? When “you will see among the captives a beautiful woman” - in this you matter you will conquer your evil inclination and not sin, by following all the rules that the Torah states.
What type of war is the Torah discussing?
(21,10) If you go out to war against your enemies, and Hashem, Your G-d, will deliver him into your hands, and you take his captives. And you see among the captives a beautiful woman…
The Yalkut comments that this posuk it is talking about a voluntary war. It seems to me the Yalkut is basing its comment on the Midrash on our parsha, which says that we learn from our parsha that a sin brings along other sins. We see this from the fact that it says “if you go out to war…and see among the captives a beautiful woman”, and this is followed by “if a man has a wayward and rebellious son”, which is followed by “if a man commits a sin which is worthy of death”. And a mitzvah brings along a mitzvah we see from that which it writes “if a bird‘s nest chances before you on the road…you shall send away the mother”, which is followed by “when you build a new house, you shall make a parapet…”.
According to this the Yalkut had a difficulty - if a mitzvah brings along a mitzvah, how from war could a person come to desire a beautiful woman. Surely the war itself is a mitzvah. Therefore the Yalkut said that the posuk is talking about a voluntary war, and if so, it is not a mitzvah. But if the Torah is discussing a voluntary war, why should it permit “a beautiful woman” because of the evil inclination - don’t make war, and then you will not come to this. Therefore the posuk continues that the war is “against your enemies”, implying that they started with you, and so you had no choice in the matter.
Why was Shaul not completely successful in his war against Amalek?
(21,10) If you go out to war against your enemies, and Hashem, Your G-d, will deliver him into your hands, and you take his captives. And you see among the captives a beautiful woman…
It says further in the Yalkut that if you do everything that is mentioned in the matter, in the end Hashem will put them into your hands. This is a puzzle - what does it mean “everything that is mentioned in the matter”? Behold, until now it does not mention anything. But it seems to me that the Yalkut is referring to the end of the previous parsha, which discusses the law of Eglah Arufah (decapitated calf).
Now, Shlomo HaMelech said in Koheles (8,5) “one who observes a mitzvah shall know no evil thing”. And yet Chazal taught in the gemara in Yoma 22b on the posuk regarding Shaul (Shmuel I 15,5) “and he fought in the valley” - concerning the valley, that Shaul argued from the parsha of Eglah Arufah against killing Amalek, and thus he did not fulfil the wiping out of Amalek. Thus we see that from the mitzvah of Eglah Arufah came his sin. How do we resolve this with the posuk in Koheles?
But the answer is this. If Shaul had at some time completely fulfilled the mitzvah of Eglah Arufah, then he would certainly be “one who observes a mitzvah shall know no evil thing”, and he would not have come to any mishap from it. But since this mitzvah never came to his hand, and so he had never fulfilled it, therefore there came from it a mistake.
Thus the Torah concludes the parsha of Eglah Arufah with the posuk “and you will remove the innocent blood from among you, when you will do what is right in the eyes of Hashem”. That is, you should not worry that there will happen to you from this any mishap when you go out to war against your enemies, that you will learn from this to have mercy upon them as happened to Shaul, and which resulted in the death of Shaul and his sons. Therefore the posuk says that I promise you that “you will remove the innocent blood from among you”, that no harm will come to because of this. And that is when you “will do what is right in the eyes of Hashem” and actually do this mitzvah. Then I promise you that when you go out to war against your enemy you will be assured that Hashem will give him into your hands, and not like Shaul who did not correctly succeed.
This is the meaning of the Yalkut - if you do all that is stated in the matter, and actually fulfil the mitzvah of Eglah Arufah, then I promise you that Hashem will give them into your hands.
