Sotah 084

נושא: Sotah

BET MIDRASH VIRTUALI

The [priest] designated for war when he addressees the people would speak in the holy tongue, for it says, "When you are about to engage in war the priest shall approach" – this is the priest designated for war – "and he shall address the people" – in the holy tongue – "and he shall say to them: 'Listen, Israel! Today you are about to engage in war with your enemies'" – and not with your brethren: not Judah with Simeon nor Simeon with Benjamin (for if you were to fall into their hands they would be merciful towards you, as it says: 'The men named rose up and took the captives, and with the spoil clothed all who were naked among them, dressed them, gave them boots, gave them food and drink, anointed them, and carried all the exhausted among them on donkeys, and brought them to Jericho, the city of palm trees, to their brethren: then they returned to Samaria.'); it is against your enemies that you proceed and if you fall into their hands they will not be merciful towards you. "'Do not be faint-hearted, do not be afraid do not tremble etc' – 'Do not be faint-hearted' – at the sound of the horses neighing and the swords clashing – 'do not be afraid' – at the clanging of shields and the stamping of boots – 'do not tremble' – at the sound of the horns – 'do not be scared' – of the shrieking – 'for your God goes with you' – they come [trusting] in human victory while you come [trusting] in the Lord: the Philistines came trusting in Goliath's victory, and what was his end? – he was felled by the sword and they fell with him; the Ammonites came [trusting] in Shovakh, and what was his end? – he was felled by the sword and they fell with him. But this is not your case 'for your God goes with you to fight for you etc' – this is the camp with the Ark.

1:
The list of items which must be recited in Hebrew which is given in 7:2 places the 'Designated Priest' last. Elaboration on this topic occupies the whole of Chapter Eight, our present chapter. (The penultimate item in 7:2 is dealt with in Chapter Nine.)

2:
Our mishnah is very long and very convoluted. It is much like a midrash on verses from the Torah, with quotations interspersed with amplificatory comments. I have tried to make this clearer in the mishnah above by the use of colour. However, in order to understand our mishnah it is most appropriate to bring the whole of the original Torah text [Deuteronomy 20:1-4]:

When you go forth to battle against your enemies, and see horses and chariots – people more numerous than you – you shall not be afraid of them; for your God is with you, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. When you are about to engage in war the priest shall approach and speak to the people and shall say to them, 'Listen, Israel, you are about to engage battle this day to battle with your enemies: do not be faint-hearted, do not be afraid, do not tremble, and do not be scared of them; for your God goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.'

The priest mentioned in this passage is the "priest designated for war" who is the subject of our present mishnah.

To be continued.

Albert Ringerwrites concerning the eight blessings of the High Priest after his Readings from the Torah on Yom Kippur (Chapter Seven, Mishnah Seven):

I remember having learned from Prof. Safrai that most of the subjects of the prayer of the Kohen Gadol can be found in the barachot we say after the Haftara.

Torah: Al haTorah;
Ritual: ve-al haAvodah;
Priest: ve-alHaNeviim;
Thanksgiving: Anachnu modim lach;
Forgiveness: haEl Haneeman;
Temple: Mesame'ach Tsion Bevaneha;
Israel: uleAmcha Yisrael toshia;
Rest of the prayer.

Obviously, there is some difference. We pray for the restoration of the Temple, not for the Temple as such. Instead of the prayer for the priests, we pray for the prophets and the house of David. Our prayer after the Haftara is very long and complex, compared to the barachot that surround the Torah-reading. The barachot we say after reading the Haftara can be seen as a small service in it self. Both our prayers and those we know the High Priests said, seem to be a remnant of a ritual in which a kind of Amida was said after reading Tora and Amida.

I respond:

I find this very interesting – and at the same time rather unconvincing. Priests are not prophets, 'the faithful God' hardly adumbrates forgiveness – and so forth. And, of course, there are only five berakhot (one before the Haftarah and four after it), and not eight. However, it could well be that the eight blessings of the High Priest on Yom Kippur served as a paradigm for the creation of the blessings after the Haftarah. We must always bear in mind that the reading of the Haftarah was a comparatively late innovation and it is quite possible that the High Priest's benedictions were already formulated, at least as regards content, long before the introduction of the readings from the Prophets.

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