"When you go out to war against your enemy and you see horses and chariots, an army greater than you, do not fear them, for the Lord your G-d, Who took you out of Egypt, is with you." (Deut. 20:1)
How can we possibly expect to achieve such a high level that we do not fear when we go into battle? Even Moses fled in terror when his rod was transformed into a snake. Yet if the Torah commands us not to fear the impending battle, it must be something within the capability of every Jew.
The Talmud (Brachot 60a) raises a seeming contradiction between the verse "Fear in Zion, you sinners" (Isaiah 33:14), which implies that fear is a sin, and the verse "Fortunate is the one who fears constantly." (Proverbs 28:14) The Talmud resolves the apparent contradiction. The fear of losing one's Torah learning or mitzvah observance is positive; all other fear is negative.
A careful consideration of the mitzvot of our parsha provides important clues as to how we can attain the proper fear and avoid all other fear. The unifying thread running throughout is the necessity to pursue perfection. The parsha begins with the command to appoint judges and enforcers of the law to ensure tzedek – complete and perfect righteousness. Our right to occupy Israel, the land of perfection, depends on our pursuing this goal diligently. Life – meaning an attachment to G-d – is possible only where that quest for righteousness is in progress. For this, we require judges to discern what is right. And they must be given the means to enforce that judgment.
The Alter of Kelm explains that judges and enforcers parallel chochmah (wisdom) and mussar (ethics) on the individual level. Chochmah is the ability to discern what actions and thoughts are an expression of G-d's will; mussar is the ability to translate that knowledge into action.
INNER SANCTUM
Only by obeying the Torah leaders of the generation can one be assured that his path leads to perfection and not its opposite. Thus, the need for such obedience is the next topic in the parsha.
When the quest for perfection is the driving force in a person's life, the fear that he is deluding himself or failing to achieve this perfection is always with him. He can be compared to someone who is afraid of mice and finds himself in a burning building with a mouse standing at the only exit. That person will quickly forget his fear of mice.
So, too, will every other fear pale for the one who seeks above all to draw close to G-d, other than the fear of losing his closeness to G-d.
"G-d is my light and salvation, from whom should I fear; G-d is my life's strength, from whom should I dread?... If an army encamps against me, in this do I trust... that I will dwell in G-d's home all the days of my life, that I will see the pleasantness of G-d and visit in His inner sanctum." (Psalms 27:1-4)
When such a person goes into battle to fight the enemies of Israel and of G-d, the only thing that concerns him is the strengthening of G-d's rule that will result from victory.
