Rabbi Jon Cutler
Parshat Shoftim
For more than three decades, I have held the hands of people suffering from horrendous diseases and offered prayers and support for those who struggle daily with chronic illness or depression.
I have been in the trenches of battles with God waged by victims of abuse, neglect and combat.
I have served as a Jewish Navy chaplain for 32 years and have been with sailors and Marines in combat, Desert Storm and Iraq. I have seen courage in the face of adversity in the actions of the sailors and Marines.
I have served as a hospice chaplain for five years at Abramson Hospice. I have been with parents with sick, disabled or troubled children. I have been inspired by the faith of the survivors of war and disease who teach me about God every day as they use their Judaism to overcome the adversity that life has placed on their path.
As a Navy chaplain, I served military families who send loved ones into harm’s way, I have prayed with members of our armed services and their families to ask God to watch over them as they travel to a war zone on behalf of a grateful nation. Day after day, I call upon God to go into battle for those I love and care for.
I am not alone in this effort. So many of you call upon God to go into battle with you and your loved ones, colleagues, neighbors or friends, even if you don’t use those exact words.
What are the weapons in our Jewish arsenal as we wage war against pain and suffering, fear and tragedy? For some, it is prayer. Others count on the strength that comes from friends and relatives, medical professionals, caring communities and clergy who offer love and support in an hour of need.
This week’s Torah portion, Parshat Shoftim, reminds us that the words of Torah can also be a source of strength and insight in adversity. One of my favorite lines of this week’s portion is Deuteronomy 20:4: “For it is the Eternal your God who marches with you to do battle for you against your enemy, to bring you victory.” Literally and figuratively, the idea of God haholeich imachem, “walking with you,” is very appealing. No one wants to face adversity alone.
While serving in Iraq in 2008, I had the privilege of offering blessings to so many Jewish Marines and sailors before they went off to combat. I wrote a prayer asking God to watch over them as they went into harm’s way. Although I have done this many times before, I was never prepared for their responses. Many of them would start welling up and weep big tears. Going into combat with God made a difference for them.
As the World War II aphorism goes, “There are no atheists in foxholes,” and those of us who serve Jews in the military know how important Judaism is when you are far from home with your life on the line.
On more than one occasion, I have planned a funeral with a member of our military before a deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan. It is in those situations that the verses from our text about finishing unfinished business — from dedicating a new house (20:5) to yard work (20:6) to marriage (20:7) to addressing one’s fears (20:8) — seem so very real.
Today, serving a civilian congregation, while most of my congregants are not going off to war in a literal sense, they wage war on the battlefield of life, nonetheless. For so many of us, life’s challenges can besiege our lives, and the constant fight to survive and overcome adversity can make us weary. As some wars never seem to end, the battles of life can seem endless, as our victories may be few or nonexistent. Having the Torah teach us that God is with us at the most trying and frightening of times can make a difference.
This section of Deuteronomy is concerned with the waging of holy war, a war for the greater good, rather than one that is undertaken to take from others. When Jews go to battle “with God” it is to make all of our battles holy, even the personal ones. Rashi talks about the fact that we come to the battle relying on the strength of God. He compares our struggle to that of David against Goliath: “They come to war relying on the conquering strength of human beings (literally, “flesh and blood”), but you come relying on the strength of the Omnipresent God! The Philistines once came to war relying on the strength of Goliath — what was his end? He fell and they fell with him.”
I would expand Rashi’s perspective to say that we do rely on ourselves to overcome adversity, but we are bolstered in our strength and resolve when we add God to the equation.
Going into battle with God may not give everyone the “victory” they desire. Yet, the Hebrew phrase in 20:4, l’hoshia etchem, shown as “to bring you victory” in our Torah commentary, can also be translated as “to save you.” Sometimes, being saved from aloneness, despair or fear is victory enough.
Rabbi Jon Cutler is co-president of the Board of Rabbis of Greater Philadelphia and rabbi of Beth Israel Congregation of Chester County. The Board of Rabbis is proud to provide diverse perspectives on Torah commentary for the Jewish Exponent. The opinions expressed in this column are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the view of the Board of Rabbis.