My commander just showed this to me - in Hebrew. Anyone who has been called up to the army should read this for strength and inspiration: The Rambam writes in Hilkhot Melakhim 7:15 as follows: What man is there that is fearful and fainthearted? (Devarim 20:8). This is to be understood literally, that is, the man who is not physically fit to join the ranks in battle. Once, however, he has joined the ranks, he should put his reliance upon Him who is the hope of Israel, their Savior in time of trouble. He should know that he is fighting for the oneness of God, risk his life, and neither fear nor be affrighted. Nor should he think of his wife or children, but forgetting them and all else, concentrate on the war. He who permits his attention to be diverted during a battle and becomes disturbed, transgresses a negative command, as it is said: Let not your heart faint, fear not, nor be alarmed, neither be affrighted at them (ibid. 20:3). Moreover, he is accountable for the lives of all Israel. If he does not conquer (because) he did not fight with all his heart and soul, it is as though he had shed the blood of all, as it is said: Lest his brethrens heart melt as his heart (ibid. 20:8). The truth is brought out with notable clearness in the injunction of the prophet: Cursed be he that does the work of the Lord with a slack hand, and cursed be he that keeps back his sword from blood (Yirmiya 48:10). He who fights with all his heart, without fear, with the sole intention of sanctifying the Name, is assured that no harm will befall him and no evil will overtake him. He will build for himself a lasting house in Israel, acquiring it for himslef and his children forever, and will prove worthy of life in the world-to-come, as it is written: For the Lord will certainly make my lord a sure house, because my lord fights the battles of the Lord, and evil is not found in you… Yet the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with the Lord your God (I Shemuel 25:28-29).
Posted on: Thu, 10 Jul 2014 14:09:58 +0000
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