[Avodah] Y'fas to'ar, etc.

[Ira Tick]

On Sun, Sep 7, 2008 at 5:41 AM, Cantor Wolberg <cantorwolberg at cox.net>wrote:

> *The following has always bothered me and let me explain why...(following
> the text and commentaries)
>
> *
> The explanation of pasuk 11 that if God did not permit her to him, he would
> then take her illicitly, flies in the face of the whole point of Torah. We
> are given the yetzer tov and the yetzer ra and are constantly challenged
> with overcoming the latter. With the reasoning given, why not allow
> adulterous relationships when a man comes across a beautiful woman. Why not
> allow eating treif if one is overcome by a delicious looking steak?  I don't
> mean to sound facetious, but is there anyone out there who understands my
> point?  We have so many mitzvot that can be rationalized the same way.
>

I think you misunderstand.  The Torah is acknowledging that, in the form of
the captive woman in the midst of battle, there will be in Jewish national
life common scenarios of consistent insurmountable temptation that are
practically unavoidable.  The Jewish nation will periodically, not
incidentally, need to defend itself by going to war.  In war, the "heat of
battle" is extremely intense and hormones are skyrocketing--adrenaline,
testosterone, cortisol (from the stress).  Inhibitions break down and
passions flare.  The soldier cannot train himself to avoid the problem, like
a person curious about the MacDonald's french fries that smell so good, or a
man who lets his mind wander to lewd thoughts about another's wife.  The
soldier must fight and fight whenever he's called upon to do so.   So the
Torah acknowledges that its own demands to go to war conflict with its
demands for sexual purity, and makes a special allowance.  Otherwise, people
may lose their conscience altogether and do regretful things.

Two historical examples of what happens in war, when there is no established
rule for accomodating, and thereby regulating, man's weaknesses:

1) In the last days of WWII, German women (not that I'm necessarily pitying
them, mind you) died trying to cross over to the American lines, so that
they would not be raped by the Russians.  Some killed themselves before the
Red Army reached them.

2) Eisenhower instituted a policy of "no fraternization" with German women
as the US Army reached into Germany, to uphold a firm anti-Nazi policy.
This did very little to stop young fighting men from taking advantage of the
opportunities available to them.  Wouldn't have worked in peace time, let
alone during the ongoing war...
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