In this week’s Parshah, the Torah discusses the laws of war and some of the moral imperatives that apply even under fire. Specifically, we read of the exemptions that entitled a soldier to leave the battlefront. One of these was “the man who is fearful and fainthearted.” The Torah rules that “he should go and return to his home” and join the civil service, lest his cowardice “melt the hearts” of his comrades in arms and demoralize them (Deuteronomy 20:8).
Interestingly, Maimonides rules that this exemption applied only to wars which were optional for political or territorial reasons, but not to obligatory wars where the Torah itself mandates that we go to battle, such as a war of self-defense or the wars to conquer the Promised Land.
But what is the logic here? Why the distinction? If the problem is that the coward’s fear will have a negative effect on his fellow combatants, then that is a psychological fact of life. What difference does it make if the war is mandated by G‑d or by the Jewish leadership of the day? Surely a coward is a coward, whatever the war!
But Maimonides is sharing with us a striking analysis of human nature. Fear and anxiety are magnified when there is more than one option open to us. When we have the choice of fighting or not, when war is not strictly commanded by G‑d and it’s a government decision, then I may very well choose to retreat. But when there is no choice, when it is a non-negotiable mitzvah from G‑d that this war be fought, then even cowards become heroes.
I am fond of quoting that famous American philosopher John Wayne, who once said, “True courage is not the absence of fear. True courage is being scared like hell and saddling up anyway.” Now that’s a wise cowboy. The fearless few who heedlessly plunge into every offered challenge are indeed strange exceptions to our race. Most normal people experience fear in scary situations. Those of good courage face up to the fear and confront it.
I can tell you many stories of ordinary people who became heroes. How? By overcoming their fears and doing whatever deed had to be done.
When something just has to happen, we find a way to make it happen. We pluck up the courage and act valiantly.
It applies to life, to marriage, to business, to everything. If something is so important to us that to lose it would be unthinkable, we discover that we really can find a way after all. In our Jewish lives, too, when we accept that a particular mitzvah is a sacred principle and inviolate, we will observe it no matter what the challenge.
So, cowards of the world, unite! Let us do what we know must be done. That’s how ordinary people become heroes.
-adapted from www.chabad.org
