Gad and Reuven in Our Day
Dedicated to the lone soldiers of the IDF.
This week the Torah tells the story of two tribes, Gad and Reuven, who ask Moshe for permission to settle across the eastern bank of the Jordan River, where the land is fertile and they believe they can lead comfortable lives. With the nation about to enter the Land of Israel, where fighting will inevitably ensue, Moshe responds with a devastating question: “Will your brothers go to war while you settle here?” Quickly, Gad and Reuven backpedal and clarify their stance: they are indeed prepared to cross the Jordan and fight with their people, and they will even take a leading role, but they wish for their families to remain safely to the east, and they seek to return to their families after the war is over. Moshe accepts this approach, and ultimately, as recorded in the Book of Joshua (chapter 22), the tribes of Gad and Reuven fulfill their promise, after which Joshua honors their agreement with Moshe, blessing them as they return to their families.
The story foreshadows the modern-day “lone soldier” from the diaspora. Like Gad and Reuven, the lone soldier leaves his or her family behind to fight for the State of Israel. While some will ultimately stay and make Israel their home, others, like Gad and Reuven, will return to the diaspora after completing their service. Every IDF soldier makes great sacrifices, but lone soldiers face unique challenges, as they lack family support in Israel, learn a new language, and integrate into an unfamiliar environment. Thankfully, the IDF and many supporting organizations – such as the hesder yeshivot and other institutions where many lone soldiers prepare and study – contribute greatly to lightening lone soldiers’ burdens.
The Talmud offers the following counterintuitive statement: a person who is obligated (commanded) to do something, and does it, is greater than a person who lacks any obligation and does the same thing. The commonly understood reason for this idea is that people naturally question authority and are inclined to rebel. According to the Talmud, overcoming the inclination to shirk an obligation makes fulfilling it more praiseworthy.
Rabbi Kalonymus Kalman Shapira, the Rabbi of the Warsaw Ghetto, offered a different, almost opposite, perspective in his book Aish Kodesh. He explained that when carrying out a religious obligation, a person naturally enjoys support from God (who of course wants the person to succeed) – and therefore any reward for doing so is received only as a kindness. But, if a person performs a praiseworthy act out of free will, “this is her own deed, since there was no awakening from above to do it.”
By definition, lone soldiers from the diaspora have no legal obligation to serve. Not only that, but the process of enlisting in the IDF is challenging, time-consuming, and littered with obstacles. Lone soldiers’ dedication should be a source of inspiration not only for others to follow in their footsteps, but for every person to find ways to help improve the world, even if doing so requires going above and beyond any established obligation.
