Sotah 44b (מד:) — the Talmud in English

Once

the beginning of flight is the beginning of defeat—

for flight from the battlefront is the beginning of defeat, since it instills panic and a spirit of defeatism among the fighters, and this causes failures in battle,

as it is stated: “Israel fled before the Philistines, and there was also a great slaughter among the people”

(I Samuel 4:17):

first, “Israel fled,” and afterward, “there was a great slaughter among the people.”

And elsewhere,

in another place,

it [the verse]

states: “And the men of Israel fled

before the Philistines,

and the slain fell” and so on

(ibid. 31:1):

first, “they fled,” and afterward, “the slain fell.” Therefore, sentries who are mighty warriors are appointed, to maintain discipline in the army and strengthen the spirit of the fighters through their own courage and the excellence of their leadership .

And this entire passage—that some return from the battlefront and engage in supplying food, repairing roads, and the like, while others do not move from their places—

applies

only

to optional wars,

which are fought in order to expand the borders of Israel and collect tribute from the nations, or by a king who fights in order to increase his greatness and add honor to his name.

But in mitzva wars,

such as the conquest of the Land in the days of Joshua or the war against Amalek,

everyone goes out

to battle ,

even a bridegroom from his room and a bride from her wedding canopy.

Rabbi Yehuda said: When does this apply—

when some return from the battlefront while others do not go out to war at all?

In mitzva wars

that Israel wages so that the enemies will not prevail over them. This too is called a mitzva war according to Rabbi Yehuda, and with regard to it one is permitted to set aside the mitzvot, because one who is engaged in one mitzva is exempt from another mitzva; whereas according to the first tanna, he is not considered engaged in a mitzva and remains obligated in all the mitzvot.

But in obligatory wars,

namely, the war against the seven nations and the war against Amalek,

everyone goes out, even a bridegroom from his room and a bride from her wedding canopy .

And it is clarified in the Gemara that the entire dispute between the first tanna and Rabbi Yehuda concerns only whether it is permitted to set aside the mitzvot in order to prevent the enemies from coming: the first tanna calls this an optional war, while Rabbi Yehuda calls it an obligatory war:

Gemara:

What difference is there

between them

between

the position of

Rabbi Yosei and

the position of

Rabbi Yosei HaGelili?

For, seemingly, they agree about the same matter: that “the fearful and the fainthearted” refers to one who has committed a transgression.

And we answer:

There is a difference between them

with regard to

a rabbinic transgression,

a matter prohibited by the Sages. According to Rabbi Yosei HaGelili, he returns, whereas according to Rabbi Yosei, he returns only because of a transgression from the Torah, such as the prohibition against a High Priest marrying a widow.

According to whose opinion does

the following statement

that was taught in a baraita accord?

Even if

he spoke

—

between

putting on the

phylactery

of the arm

and the phylactery

of the head , and did not recite another blessing over the phylactery of the head—

it is a transgression

in his possession, and he returns because of it from the ranks of those who go out to war .

According to whose opinion

is this?

And we explain:

According to

the position of

Rabbi Yosei HaGelili,

who holds that one returns even because of a minor transgression.

Who is the tanna of that which the Sages taught in a baraita:

If he heard the sound of trumpets

[shofar-like instruments]

and trembled

[shook with fear],

or he heard

the closing of shields

[the striking together of shields]

and trembled,

or he heard

the sharpening of swords, and

because of fear

urine

[urine]

flowed down onto his knees,

his status is that he

returns

from the ranks of those who go out to war.

According to whose opinion—

according to whose position was this baraita stated?

Let us say

that it was stated according to the position of

Rabbi Akiva,

who interprets “the fearful and the fainthearted” according to its plain meaning,

and not

according to the position of

Rabbi Yosei HaGelili,

who interprets “the fearful and the fainthearted” as referring to transgressions in his possession? The Gemara answers: No!

In this matter,

even Rabbi Yosei HaGelili agrees

that he returns ,

Because it is written: “So that he not melt the heart of his brethren like his own heart”

(Deuteronomy 20:8)—

a person whom everyone sees to be extremely frightened influences the others and causes them also to become afraid.

If so, Rabbi Yosei HaGelili does not disagree with Rabbi Akiva concerning one who is afraid because of the war: he returns. Rather, he adds that one who is fearful because of transgressions in his possession also returns:

We learned in the Mishna:

“And it shall be, when the officers have finished, etc., for the beginning of flight is the beginning of defeat”:

And we question the wording:

This

[this wording],

“because the beginning of flight is the beginning of defeat,”

whose meaning is that the beginning of flight is the defeat,

whereas seemingly it should have stated the opposite:

“Because the beginning of defeat is flight” should have been stated,

meaning that the beginning of defeat results from flight. Rather,

say

indeed, state:

“Because the beginning of defeat is flight,”

and this is the meaning of the Mishna.

We learned in the Mishna:

“When does this apply? In optional wars, etc.”

Rabbi Yoḥanan said:

The war called

an optional war by the Sages,

that is, what the Sages call “an optional war,”

is

the war of

a mitzva

according to

the

words of

Rabbi Yehuda.

And the war called

a mitzva war by the Sages—what the Sages call “a mitzva war”—

is

the war of

obligation

according to

the

words of

Rabbi Yehuda.

And Rava adds an explanation:

Rava said:

In essence, there is no difference between Rabbi Yehuda and the Sages.

For

the wars of Joshua,

which were waged

to conquer—

everyone agrees that they are obligatory,

and everyone must go out to war.

And

the wars of the House of David,

which were waged

for expansion,

as he fought against Aram-zoba to add it to the Land of Israel, and in the surrounding areas in order to receive tribute and forced labor,

everyone agrees that they are optional,

and even according to Rabbi Yehuda it is an optional war, and not everyone goes out to it.

Where do they disagree

[what is the subject of their dispute]?

With regard to a war that Israel wages against an enemy in order

to weaken

the

idolaters, so that they will not come against them,

so that they will not attack their land, when Israel fears that they may come against them, or has learned that the enemies are preparing to do so.

And even in this case, all agree that not everyone goes out. Rather,

one master—

Rabbi Yehuda—

calls it

a

mitzva war, and one master—

the Sages—

calls

it an optional

war,

and

the practical difference is with regard to

the principle that

one engaged in a mitzva is exempt from another mitzva:

Rabbi Yehuda calls it a mitzva war, so one who is engaged in it is exempt from another mitzva that comes his way; while the Sages call it an optional war, so one who is engaged in it is not permitted to neglect the mitzva that comes his way 19 .

We have completed the chapter “The Anointed for War”

Mishna:

We learned at the beginning of the seventh chapter that the passage of

egla arufa

is recited

in the sacred language,

and in the Mishna below [45b] the procedure for bringing the egla arufa is detailed: The elders of the city say, “Our hands did not spill this blood,” and the priests say, “Atone for Your people Israel,” etc.

And the source that it must be recited in the sacred language is

as it is stated: “When someone slain is found on the land, and your elders and your judges shall go out”

[and the Gemara explains that in this passage they derive by means of a gezera shava that it refers to the sacred language].

Three

judges

from the Great Sanhedrin in Jerusalem

would go out

and proceed to the place where the slain person was found, and measure from him to the surrounding cities in order to determine which was the nearest.

Rabbi Yehuda says: Five

judges would go out. Rabbi Yehuda learned that five judges are required to measure the distances of the cities from

the wording “your elders,”

which, being the minimum of a plural, means

two,

and likewise

“and your judges”

implies another

two.

And since it is an established principle that

a

court is

never evenly divided,

so that it could be split equally and be unable to decide the law according to the majority, therefore

they add another

judge

to them,

and there are consequently five judges who go out to measure the distances of the cities from the slain person.

If

the slain person

was found concealed in a mound

of stones,

or hanging from a tree, or floating on the surface of the water, they do not break the calf’s neck

to atone for the blood,

as it is stated:

“When someone slain is found

on the land,”

and we expound that the passage is said only when he is found on the land,

and not

when he is found

concealed in a mound.

And from the fact that it says that he was found

fallen,

we expound:

and not hanging from a tree.

And from what is written,

“in the field,”

we expound:

and not floating on the surface of the water.

If he was found near the border,

close to the boundary of the land of the gentiles,

or

close

to a city whose majority

are idol worshippers,

and the Gemara explains that in these areas he is considered to have brought death upon himself.

Or

if he was found close

to a city that has no court, they did not

break the calf’s neck measure ]

[measure]

because it is impossible to fulfill there the verse, “and the elders of that city shall go out.”

Therefore,

they measure only to a city that has a court,

and disregard the city that has no court, measuring instead to the other surrounding cities that have courts, to determine which of them is closest to the slain person; that city brings the egla arufa.

Gemara:

We raise a question concerning what we learned: The source that the passage of the egla arufa is recited in the sacred language is the verse, “When someone slain is found,” etc. This is seemingly difficult:

What is he saying?

How did the tanna learn from this verse that it must be recited in the sacred language?

And we explain:

Rabbi Abbahu said: This is what he is saying:

In the continuation of this passage, which begins with the verse “When someone slain is found,”

it is stated: “And they shall answer and say,”

the elders of that city: “Our hands did not spill this blood.”

And elsewhere it says: “And the Levites shall answer and say, etc.,”

referring to the blessings and curses on Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal; and they learn by means of the gezera shava “answer—and answer”:

Just as the answering mentioned there

by the Levites had to be recited

in the sacred language

[as we expounded above, 33a],

so

here

the priests and the elders of the city recite their statements

in the sacred language.

The tanna does not intend to derive from the verse he cited that it must be recited in the sacred language. Rather, he continues discussing the egla arufa and comes to detail

the procedure of the egla arufa: How is it performed?

As it is stated:

“When someone slain is found in the field, and your elders and your judges shall go out,”

teaching us that

“three from the Great Sanhedrin in Jerusalem would go out,”

and all that we learned subsequently.

We learned in the Mishna:

“Rabbi Yehuda says: Five, etc.”

The Sages taught: “And your elders and your judges shall go out,”

and we expound

“your elders”

to mean at least

two

and likewise

“your judges”

means another two.

And a court may not be evenly divided;

therefore

“they add another one to them; there are five here. This is the statement of Rabbi Yehuda. Rabbi Shimon says:

We expound only

“your elders,”

meaning

two, and a court may not be evenly divided,

and therefore

“they add another one to them; there are three here.”

And we challenge this:

And Rabbi Shimon,

why does he not expound that five judges are required for the measurement?

But it is written

also

“and your judges,”

which implies another two. And we answer:

That

is needed by Rabbi Shimon

to

teach that three should go out,

the distinguished ones among your judges,

meaning judges from the Great Sanhedrin in the Chamber of Hewn Stone.

And we challenge this from the other side:

And Rabbi Yehuda,

from where will he learn that the judges must come from the Chamber of Hewn Stone? We explain that he derives it

from

the fact that it could have said

“the elders of”

but instead it says

“your elders,”

and from this

he derives

that the three must be the distinguished ones among your judges.

And we explain from the other side:

And Rabbi Shimon,

who did not derive this from the extra wording in “your elders,” holds that it was impossible for the Torah to write “the elders of,” since

if the Merciful One had written “the elders of,” I would have said even the elders of the marketplace,

and judges from the Sanhedrin would not be required. For this reason

the Merciful One wrote “your elders,” and if the Merciful One had written

only

“your elders,” I would have said

that it would suffice for judges to go out

even

from

a minor Sanhedrin

of twenty-three, which exists in every city. Therefore

the Merciful One wrote “and your judges”

to teach us that they must be

the distinguished ones among your judges,

who are in the Great Sanhedrin; but one cannot learn from this that two additional judges must go out to measure.

And we explain from the other side:

And Rabbi Yehuda,

who derived from “your elders” that they must be the distinguished ones among your judges, did not need a teaching for the basic law that they may not be elders of the marketplace, since he

derived

a gezera shava

“elders—elders,”

from “the elders of the congregation,”

mentioned concerning the bull for an unwitting communal transgression.

Just as there

with regard to the bull for an unwitting communal transgression, it refers to

the distinguished ones of the congregation, so here

the elders of the court who go out are

the distinguished ones of the congregation.

And we challenge this:

If

Rabbi Yehuda derived the laws of the egla arufa from the passage of the bull for an unwitting communal transgression,

let him derive the entire matter from there,

including the number of five judges who go out to measure. He could learn this from the passage of the bull for an unwitting communal transgression, from which Rabbi Yehuda proved [Sanhedrin 3b] that five judges are required on a court. If so,

why do I need “your elders” and “your judges”?

And we conclude that Rabbi Yehuda indeed derived the requirement for the distinguished ones among your judges by means of a gezera shava,

but

he expounded “your judges” to mean two judges, like Rabbi Shimon. And he expounded the

vav

in the word

“and your judges”

as

a numerical addition,

to add another two judges who go out to measure.