DEUT1247 See [[DEUT1237]] Deuteronomy 23:10 careful GATES 215

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DEUT1248 No one spiritually impure may enter the Temple Mount. Key concept: See [[NUM10]] Numbers 5:2 impure CHINUCH 227-8

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DEUT1249 Establish latrine facilities for soldiers in wartime. Key concept: The verse explains (Devarim 23:15), “For Hashem, your God, goes in the midst of your camp, to deliver you and place your enemies before you (at your feet).” Jewish souls are always attached to the Shechinah, all the more so souls of Jewish soldiers on the battlefield. All of them are pure of sin, for any soldier with sin on his hands must leave the scene before the battle starts. Only the pure ones remain-- those in whom the spirit of God is dwelling--so it is known that they maintain physical cleanliness as well. As is known, care regarding physical cleanliness is one of the traits that helps a person to attain prophecy. In addition, the mitzvah shows the praiseworthiness of the Jewish nation. The world sees that the Jewish camp is holy. Despite the horrors of war time, the Jewish camp is totally free of any trace of filth.

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DEUT1250 Among those injunctions that depend on one's speech: "For Hashem, your God, moves within your camp, to save you and deliver your enemies before you; [therefore,] your camp shall be holy. And let Him not see any sort of nakedness among you (Devarim 23:15). Our Sages, z"l, said (Berachos 25b) that included in this injunction is [the following:] when we utter Hashem's Torah and when we articulate our prayers before Him, our camp should be holy and there should be no nakedness among us. [However, thoughts of Torah and prayer are permitted in this case Zeh Hasha'ar] consequently, we have been commanded to utter Hashem's Name only went in a state of holiness, and to be engaged in the study of Torah and in prayer, only went in a state of holiness. One should not utter Hashem's Name or words of Torah while unclothed, or while one who is unclad stand before him. Similarly, we have been admonished that our place should be clean, as the pasuk says (this verse), "You shall dig with it, and again, and cover your excrement." (Continued at [[NUM164]] Numbers 15:31 disparaged GATES 219).

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DEUT1251 See [[LEV164]] Leviticus 15:2 unclean TAMARI 297-8

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DEUT1252 Bar Kappara expounded: "And a spade shall there be for you al azenecha" -- Read it not: "al azenecha" ["among your implements"], but al aznecha" ["upon your ears"]. If one hears something unseemly, let him place his finger in his ears (Ketuvoth 5a)

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DEUT1253 Each Jewish fighter must carry a small shovel. Key concept: See [[DEUT1249]] Deuteronomy 23:13 latrine CHINUCH 362-3

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DEUT1254 Judaism has never run from the possibility of war in spite of a keen awareness of the horror of the death and destruction that come with it. Those things that are worth living for are also worth dying for. And there will always be someone who will want to deprive you of what you cherish: wife, family, freedom, home. But there is a morality of war, a right and a wrong way among the particular alternatives forced upon you. The Torah does teach: "And your camps shall be holy" [this verse], and the Jewish State has developed a concept of tohar ha-neshek -- "the purity of arms" -- an ongoing exploration of the application of the moral principles of Judaism to the horrifying but real circumstances of war and terrorism in Israel today.

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DEUT1255 Rabbah b. Bar Chanah said in the name of R. Yochanan: It is permitted to meditate in the words of Torah everywhere except in the bathhouse and the privy, it being written: "And let your camp be holy" (Shabbath 150a)

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DEUT1256 Exile comes upon the world on account of idolatrous worship, incest and adultery, bloodshed, and [the failure to observe] the sabbatical year of the soil. Pirkei Avot, Perek V, mishnah 10-11. Why is Scripture so vehement about this [second] category of sin (incest and adultery)? Said R. Ishmael b. R. Yose: "As long as the people Israel are unbridled, wanton in immorality, the sh'chinah (Divine Presence) withdraws … for it is stated: let Him not see among you anything indecent, and turn away from you" [this verse].

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