DEUT1033 The Sifre comments: "Does it occur to anyone that the elders were suspected of shedding blood? With their statement implies is this: he did not come to us and we dismissed him without food; and we have not seen him and neglected to escort him." Failure to help the needy may expose them to starvation. "The Torah," R. Simlai observed, "begins with loving kindness and ends with loving kindness." Sifre, Deut. 210; Sotah 9:6; 14b. See story of Nahum of Gimzo, Taanit 21a. A harsh and hostile world taught the Jewish people to aid one another in distress. Jewish communities considered it to be part of prudence as well as of religious duty to care for their own poor, and to prevent them from becoming burdens to their neighbors. Yoreh Deah 254. Motives of humanity prompted them further to come to the aid of the non-Jewish poor. Philo considers charity a debt due to all men, including strangers, slaves, and even enemies. De Caritate (Philo), 17-18. Josephus writes that Moses taught the following duties towards one's neighbors, without distinction: giving them fire, water and food, showing them the road and burying their dead. Apion II; 29. The Talmud teaches that indigent non-Jews must not be prevented from sharing the gleanings, the forgotten sheaf and the corners of the fields. They were to be supported along with the Jewish needy; the sick were to be visited and their dead given burial, for the sake of peace and goodwill. Git. 61a; H. Matnot Aniyim 7:7.

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DEUT1036 See [[DEUT759]] Deuteronomy 15:9 base AHAVCH 116-7

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DEUT1034 (Continued from [[GEN1120]] Genesis 21:33 tamarisk AHAVCH 197-8) Let each person look at himself. Sometimes he builds extra buildings in his yard. He does not require them for sleeping facilities, but for less vital uses, and he convinces himself that these are a necessity for one purpose or another. So how can he then refuse to provide quarters for the needs of his soul? Now, if people individually cannot afford the cost, certainly the community is obliged to provide a hostile for wayfarers, so that they should not have to sleep outside. The community must also take care to feed them, and must by no means allow them to depart, God forbid, without food. Chazal (Sotah 46b) have remarked in commenting on [this] verse: "Our hands have not shed this blood," that it conveys: "He did not come to our hand and we let him go without food." Chazal have also declared that "had Jonathan given David two loaves of bread"… as we have explained in chapter 1. It has now become the standard practice in Jewry to found a Hachnasath Orchim Society which devotes self to the fulfillment of this mitzvah. Happy is the lot of these people!

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DEUT1035 After the guest has finished his meal, the host must accompany him on his way. Chazal have ascribed very great value to this mitzvah, declaring (Sotah 46b) that it carries reward without limit. They have also expounded [this] verse in this way: "Can it enter our minds that the elders of the Beth Din shed blood?--They meant to say 'We did not see him and dismiss him without food, and we did not leave him without an escort.'" Chazal have further asserted that if a person accompanies someone setting out on a journey a distance of four cubits, the traveler will come to no harm. Hence whoever fails to escort him it is like one who sheds blood. The community may compel individuals to escort travelers, just as it may force individuals to contribute to charity. Especially is this important when the guest does not know the way, and there are many forks and crossroads ahead. Then it is a great mitzvah to accompany the traveler and show him the way, or at least to give him such precise directions that he makes no mistake.

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DEUT1037 See [[DEUT989]] Deuteronomy 20:10 peace DORFF-RUTTENBERGWAR 102-3

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DEUT1038 Despite its admiration of beauty, Judaism never developed a beauty cult similar to that of the Greeks and Romans. The struggle waged against paganism and its statuary motivated the strict biblical prohibition of some forms of plastic art (Exodus 20:4). The Judaic attitude to feminine beauty is somewhat ambivalent. On the one hand, there was an instinctive impulse to sing its praises in poetic phraseology. The biblical Song of Songs attests to that inspiration. Yet the Song of Songs Is atypical among the ancient sacred and secular Jewish literary works. Indeed, had it not been for the Rabbinical allegorical interpretation of the Songs of Songs as depicting a romance between God and his people, the book would never have been included in the canon. Feminine beauty was greatly admired, but its role in provoking lust, a cardinal sin, imposed a moral restraint upon the free expression of poets and singers. The biblical law regarding a pretty heathen captive of war [this verse] warned of the potential power of beautiful women to defeat religious scruples.

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DEUT1039 This teaches us that Scripture here speaks only vis-à-vis the evil inclination, viz.: It is better that Israel eat slaughtered moribund flesh than that they eat carrion moribund flesh [i.e., It is better that he be allowed to take her as a wife than that he ravish her] (Kiddushin 21b)

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DEUT1040 Carry out the laws of a non-Jewish woman taken captive in war. Our Sages teach, “Only in recognition of the evil inclination does the Torah permit marriage to the beautiful woman taken captive in war.” That is, because a soldier's state of mind during wartime is slightly crazed, if the Torah would forbid such marriages, the soldiers would ignore the prohibition and take such women anyway. The Torah therefore requires that first the man take her to his home, where for thirty days she mourns her parents and does other things that will make her much less appealing to him. Hopefully, by the time the month passes, she will appear disgusting in his eyes, and no longer will he be attracted to her. His passion for her will die down and no longer will he want her as a wife.

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DEUT1041 See [[DEUT190]] Deuteronomy 5:18 slave BLOCH 203-4

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DEUT1042 See [[EXOD272]] Exodus 17:15 Amalek LOC 149-50

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