Parshat Shoftim

Monday of this week was the first day of the month of Elul. Elul is the last month of the year in our calendar. Our tradition tells us that this month provides an opportunity for reviewing our activities of the past year. This review prepares us for Hashem’s judgement on Rosh Hashana.

An honest appraisal of our deeds should lead us to seriously regret our lapses and to resolve to change our behavior for the better. In other words, Elul is the month for teshuva.

The Rambam writes in his Laws of Teshuva (2:4) that the penitent should constantly cry for forgiveness. This idea seems to have a basis in David Hamelech’s prayer (Tehilim 51:5) “…and my sin is before me constantly.”

It would seem that an awareness of one’s sins is a sign of sincere piety, since only a spiritually complacent individual would be indifferent to his sins.

With this in mind I will discuss something that the Sfat Emet (in his Torah for Shoftim from the year 5671) found puzzling.

In this week’s parsha we are given the laws for raising an army and waging war. The Torah says (20:8) that the fearful should be allowed to leave the army. The Gemara (Sotah 44a) says that Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Yose HaGlili disagree about the nature of this “fear.” According to Rabbi Akiva the Torah is telling us to send home anyone who fears combat. Rabbi Yose says that the Torah is telling us to send home anyone who fears his sins.

The Sfat Emet says the opinion of Rabbi Yose is difficult to understand. From the words of David Hamelech and the Rambam we see that the penitent should be worried about his sins, so why shouldn’t such a person take heart from Hashem’s promise and go to war?

The Sfat Emet (quoting his grandfather) says that inasmuch as it is praiseworthy to live in awareness of one’s sins, there is a higher level of penance. Rabbi Yose say that we are to send home “the one who fears the sins that are in his hand.” This person still feels connected to his sin. The sign that a person has been forgiven is that he no longer lives in fear and instead trusts in G-d. This level is achieved when the sinner has completely left the sin behind.

This was the level of Sarah Imeinu. When Sarah Imeinu heard that she would have a child after so many years she laughed to herself (Breishit18:12) and could not believe the promise. But when she was asked why she laughed at the promise she denied laughing (Breishit 18:15).

Many explanations have been offered for this apparent lie. The Sfat Emet explains that Sarah Imeinu never dissembled. After Sarah Imeinu laughed at the promise, she immediately regretted this lack of faith. But her penance was so absolute, her severance from this lapse was so complete that she no longer remembered it. This is the highest level of teshuva.

Rabbi Yose HaGlili would agree that initially a sinner should worry about his sins. But his anxiety is a sign that he has not been forgiven, he has not reached the level of Sarah Imeinu who was able to move on and leave her sin behind. When the sinner achieves tranquility he will be ready to go to war.