The War in Afghanistan seems to be in it’s final stretch nearly 20 years after it began. As many of its results were overturned so quickly, politicians and strategists debate each tactic that was used and discuss alternatives that never saw the light of day.
War is one of the most powerful and dangerous events that can happen to a society, so it’s no wonder that we are fascinated by it. It’s also no wonder that the Torah has guidelines for how to wage war in the most just and moral ways possible, which in some cases drastically changed the tactics of Jewish armies. Laws such as providing the option of surrender before laying siege to a city, or never surrounding your enemies on all four sides, so that they always have an avenue to flee.
There is one mitzvah about war in this week’s parsha that stands out though. The mitzvah of the trowel.
With your gear you shall have a trowel, and when you have squatted you shall dig a hole with it and cover up your excrement. Devarim 23:14
Every soldier, along with his boots and water and gun, must be sure to bring along a trowel to war. There may not be proper toilets on the battlefield after all.
While practical, it seems out of place for the Torah to bother with such a minor and mundane detail. Why is G-d so concerned with how we relieve ourselves while at war?
Perhaps it is because it reminds us to have human dignity. Animals defecate on the ground without thought. People, cover their feces.
In the throngs of battle, it’s easy to lose yourself and to become an animal, but with this small simple act you would have to do every day, you would remind yourself that you are above that. And with that thought, you might lead the rest of the war in a more civil way as well.
If even at war, G-d expects people to maintain a certain level of civility, how much more so in times and places of peace? Remember to always be a dignified human being, both in how you compose yourself, and how you interact with others.
Good Shabbos,
Rabbi Altonaga and the JET Team
