Sota 44: Exempt from War?; The Red Heifer

After mentioning that a corpse imparts ritual impurity extending four cubits when it is in a graveyard (but only four handbreadths in a number of other circumstances), the rabbis return to their conversation illuminating our last Mishna.

The Gemara clarifies who counts in the category of betrothed.  Rabbi Yosei Hagelili suggests that one who is “fearful and fainthearted” (Deuteronomy 20:8) is a soldier who is betrothed to an unsuitable partner.  He is feeling that way because of the knowledge that he has sinned.  The rabbis note that one is not actually punished with flogging until one has actually engaged in sexual intercourse with an inappropriate wife, for at that point he has “profaned his seed” which is forbidden (Leviticus 21:14-15).

Regarding the order of the Mishna’s directives: one that has built; one who has planted, and then one who has betrothed – why are these placed in this order when they are repeated from Deuteronomy (20-5-7)?  The rabbis argue about potential meanings.  Is one to “work in the field” to acquire money, then buy a home, then take a wife?  One of the other possibilities is, of course, based on the lives of the rabbis: “Prepare your work outside” is studying Bible and Mishna; “make it fit for yourself in the field” is the study of Gemara, and “build your house” refers to good deeds. 

The rabbis also consider the meaning of “new wives” and the fact that a man who leaves his new wife to fight transgresses two prohibitions: to be home with his wife for a year and to not add to the war effort as a new groom.

A new Mishna teaches us that the officer who instructs the soldiers is referring to specific people when he speaks of the fearful and fainthearted.   Perhaps these men are those who have married unsuitable women, and they are fearful because of their sins.   In fact, officers are placed at the front and back of the units.  Not only do they guide, assist and protect the soldiers, but they beat soldiers with iron rods when they attempt to run from the battlefield. This is because one fearful soldier can affect the entire unit.

We then learn that all people, including the groom in his room and the bride in her wedding canopy, must go to war if the battle is obligatory.  Women fighting with men?  The rabbis address this ‘difficulty’ by suggesting that women were required to serve in non-combat roles.  Alternatively, they say that this was simply a turn of phrase from the Bible and not a suggestion that women actually fight in war.  Again, the rabbis interpret based upon their socially constructed understandings of what is best rather than upon discerning G-d’s will.

The Gemara begins with a conversation about transgression of rabbinical law in comparison with transgression of biblical law.

The rabbis actually change one of the sentences in the Mishna.  Originally it says that “because the beginning of fleeing is a downfall”.  They realize that this makes much more sense if they exchange the word placement: “because the beginning of the downfall is [the act of] fleeing”.  Again, why can the rabbis sometimes insists on the sanctity of wording and at other times change the wording to suit their interpretations?

Before beginning Perek IX, we are reminded of a halacha from Sukka 25a: One who is performing a mitzvah is exempt from performing another mitzvah.  This is stated with regard to a debate about which wars were necessary – all of Joshua’s wars.  The rabbis state that King David’s wars, which were fought to expand territory, were elective.  How might the rabbis understand the recent wars in Israel?  Some are certainly expansionist in nature… but what were the official boundaries and what would be considered extra territory?  That question alone has caused battles to flare.

Perek IX begins with a new Mishna.  It speaks of a found corpse.  In such a situation, the Elders and Judges are called together with either three or five of the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem.  These men look at the corpse.   Together, an odd number of them walk through the ritual of the red heifer.  This ritual is not performed if the corpse is buried under stone or otherwise hidden.  As well, the process is not necessary if the body is found close to a border, near a city populated mostly by Gentiles, or a well populated Jewish city with a large rabbinical court.

The Gemara tells us that the community will be spoken to in the Hebrew language.  It reasons whether the number of Judges from the Sanhedrin should be three or five, and it reminds us that those chosen should always be the most distinguished and respected in the community.  Our daf ends with a question: why would the Elders be mentioned separately from the Judges?  The question is not answered at the end of our daf.