The halacha is that one of the people sent home from battle is one who is afraid. Once the war begins however, the Rambam says he should rely on Hashem and realize he is fighting for the sake of the oneness of Hashem's name and not show fear. He should not worry about his wife or children. On the contrary, he should remove all thoughts from his mind except the war. Anyone who begins to feel anxious in the midst of battle to the point where he frightens himself, transgresses a negative commandment.
It occurs to me that a lesson we can learn from this is that we can control ourselves and our thoughts. It is not valid to say, well this how I feel so I can't help it. Hashem does not give us mitzvos that are impossible to fulfill. If there is a prohibition of being afraid, we can distract ourselves and not be afraid. The same would apply to other negative emotions we have that are unhelpful if not worse. Hesech ha'daas - distraction, turning our minds to positive pursuits, is the way to go.
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It would also seem though, that because the Torah allows for cowardice before going into battle, it acknowledges that such feelings exist and may be beyond that person's desire or ability to control them. The person who can control his fears can now enter battle and fight for Hashem's honor.
ReplyDeleteI have always admired airline pilots for their confidence and courage to do a job that requires skill, bravery, and concentration. I have never seen a pilot who seemed wimpy or lacking in confidence. I figure that wimps would find a different job; one that did not require taking responsibility for so many lives.
It seems that Hashem in His wisdom, realizes that He created different types, the soldier and the coward and the coward is not required to become a soldier and spread his lack of confidence throughout the brigade. Once the soldier is handed his Tanach and his Uzi, however, he now has a sacred task that comes before any consideration of his own life or the lives of his loved ones.
Therefore, although fears must be conquered for the greater good, there is an allowance for those who cannot or will not do that inner work. The army does not need his type.
With regard to other emotions, I know a widow who avoids certain social situations that remind her more of her loss. She can't just go and pretend to cope because it is too painful. Distracting herself only helps for so long but the pain is still there. Unfortunately she deprives herself of many possible enjoyable experiences but too her they are painful and she can't experience the joy. While she was only given one month to mourn halachichally, the Torah does remind us that almanos require special consideration because of the pain that they endure.