Tests and Consequences
י. כִּי תֵצֵא לַמִּלְחָמָה עַל אֹיְבֶיךָ וּנְתָנוֹ יְ־הֹוָ־ה אֱלֹהֶיךָ בְּיָדֶךָ וְשָׁבִיתָ שִׁבְיוֹ
11. and you see among the captives a beautiful woman and you desire her, you may take [her] for yourself as a wife. Rashi says:
יא: ולקחת לך לאשה: לא דברה תורה אלא כנגד יצר הרע. שאם אין הקב”ה מתירה ישאנה באיסור. אבל אם נשאה, סופו להיות שונאה, שנאמר אחריו (פסוק טו) כי תהיין לאיש וגו’ וסופו להוליד ממנה בן סורר ומורה, לכך נסמכו פרשיות הללו -
The Rambam says that the pasuk’s instruction of ‘yefas to’ar‘ is a mitzva. Not just a heter (permit), Even if it is in a voluntary way ie and not milchemes mitzva.
We have two questions on the above pesukim:
Q1. The Gemara in Pesachim says ‘shluchei mitzva einam nezokin‘ – ‘people on the way to perform a mitzva are not harmed.’ So, how do we reconcile this gemara with the fact that according to the Ramban he is doing a mitzva, yet according to Rashi he will suffer because he will hate her and that any child from this relationship is destined to become a בֵּן סוֹרֵר וּמוֹרֶה?
Q2. ‘לא דברה תורה אלא כנגד יצר הרע’ If it is indeed a mitzva like the ramban said, how is it connected to the yetzer hara? We know that mitzvos are for the side of the יצר טוב!
There are two answers that work together to answer the questions.
Firstly, the torah is guiding us even בשעת הירידה. It says that in a time when we are about to stumble, Hashem doesn’t leave us out in the proverbial cold – ‘we are permitted to take her for a wife.’ Note that it does not say ‘marry,’ and after 30 days of having her in the house, with a shaved head, unkempt, mourning and in sack cloth, the man will in theory realise who exactly he has in his house and will send her home after 30 days.
Secondly, כנגד יצר is in the here and now. We have explained before that the יצר הרע is identified as impulsive and so the torah permits this indiscretion, on the proviso that he gets rid of her after 30 days. If he marries her after the 30 days the יפת תואר‘s ‘loophole’ has expired, and he is, in fact, committing a sin and as a result, as mentioned above, he will have a ‘rebellious son.’
This dual concept is referred to in Rashi’s explanation – “אם נשאה, סופו להיות שונאה” – in the 30 days he is doing a mitzva, he is indeed not harmed – but after 30 days he is not a שליח מצוה. Hashem is both helping us and testing us and then telling us the consequences of failing the test.
