Woman Taken Captive

The case of the יפת תואר, the beautiful woman taken captive, mentioned in פרשת כי תצא, is somewhat puzzling.

On the one hand, the Torah speaks of the holiness that existed in the Israeli war camp. We are told that King David’s army was entirely made up of righteous men. They were careful to maintain a high degree of purity, with the realization that victory came directly from Hashem.

But on the other hand, this entire episode is described with the words, דיברה תורה כנגד יצר הרע, that the Torah is speaking of a formula to combat the evil inclination. If the Torah would not have given its specific details as to how one might marry such a woman, she would have been taken anyway, and man would give in to his lusts.

Some explain that the real battle that every Jew fights is a battle against the יצר הרע. And even a righteous soldier could be vulnerable to its cunning allures.

There is another explanation that the יפת תואר was singled out by their Jewish captors because of the potential seen in them. They may actually be Jewish souls trapped in non-Jewish bodies.

Regardless of the explanation, a great deal could be learned about man and his vulnerabilities. Shabbat Shalom