<div dir="ltr"><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Sun, Sep 7, 2008 at 5:41 AM, Cantor Wolberg <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:cantorwolberg@cox.net">cantorwolberg@cox.net</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
<div style=""><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><b><div><span style="line-height: 20px;"><font size="4" face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal;">The following has always bothered me and let me explain why...(following the text and commentaries)</span></font></span></div>
<div><font size="4" face="'Times New Roman'"><span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;"><br></span></font></div></b></span><br><div><span style="line-height: 18px;"><font face="Arial">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. </font></span></div>
</div></blockquote><div><br>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.<br>
<br>Two historical examples of what happens in war, when there is no established rule for accomodating, and thereby regulating, man's weaknesses:<br><br>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.<br>
<br>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...<br>
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