S.A.L.T. - Motzaei Shabbat

          As we briefly mentioned yesterday, Parashat Ki-Teitzei mentions the obligation for soldiers to keep a shovel with them in the military camp: "You shall have a shovel with your gear, so that when you have squatted you shall dig a hole with it and cover up your excrement" (23:14). The following verse presents the reason for this obligation: "Since the Lord your God moves about in your camp to protect you and to deliver your enemies to you, let your camp be holy."  The Torah informs us that when Benei Yisrael wage war, God accompanies them to offer His assistance. Consequently, the environment in the camp must meet the standards befitting God's presence, and the Torah therefore requires that bodily waste be disposed of properly.

         The Gemara in Masekhet Ketubot (5b) offers a homiletic interpretation of this mitzva. By reading the word "azeinekha" ("your gear") as "oznekha," or "your ear," and by invoking the additional meaning of "yated" ("shovel") as "peg," the Gemara rewords the verse to read as follows: "You shall have a peg by your ear."  As the Gemara explains, this means that if one hears improper speech, he should plug his ears, so-to-speak, and refuse to allow the inappropriate words to enter.

         The question arises as to the relationship between the homiletic reading of the verse and its context – the sacred quality of the military camp. Did Chazal extract this verse entirely from its context in arriving at this homiletic interpretation, or did they detect some connection between the context of warfare and refusing to listen to improper speech?

         The work "Orach Yesharim" is cited as explaining this connection based on a famous Midrashic passage in Vayikra Rabba, towards the beginning of Parashat Emor. The Midrash asks why it was that under the reign of King David, when Torah observance was generally widespread, Benei Yisrael suffered many casualties at war, whereas later, under the wicked King Achav, when the Northern Kingdom became a pagan country, they would win wars with few fatalities. The Midrash explains that in David's time, Benei Yisrael were plagued by "daltorin" – talebearers and gossips. People fought with one another and tried to defame their competitors' reputations. In Achav's time, however, as corrupt and spiritually vacuous society had become, people respected one another and would not speak badly about their fellows. It was this quality that guaranteed Achav's forces victory and saved them from casualties, despite the widespread paganism and outright rejection of the Torah. When Benei Yisrael work together with mutual respect, they are rewarded with military success and protection.

         Understandably, then, Chazal detected within these verses, which speak of the proper decorum in the military camp, an allusion to the issue of lashon ha-ra – gossip and slander. Just as the camp's physical environment must be kept clean of filth out of respect for the Shekhina, so must the social atmosphere reflect the awareness of God's presence. A famous Gemara in Masekhet Sota (17a) writes that when a husband and wife are meritorious, the Shekhina resides among them; if not, then they are consumed by fire. God's presence can reside in a home only if the atmosphere is one of peace, harmony, and mutual respect and sensitivity. If a family is plagued by strife, contention, and selfishness, then it cannot serve as a home for the Shekhina. The same applies to a military setting. Only if the soldiers close their ears to slander and gossip, only if they respect each other's feelings and privacy, will the Shekhina maintain its presence among them and guarantee their triumph.

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