Woman Taken Captive and Soul Searching

The Keli Yakar has an interesting take on the incident of the woman taken captive in war. He commented on the procedure enumerated in the Torah, connected with dealing with this problematic woman.

The desire to get involved and possibly marry this prisoner of war, is mainly based on lust. She is even taught that she should try to seduce and defile the holy Jewish soldier.

The procedure involves taking her home to live with him for a month. She is to shave her head and wear clothes of mourning. Her physical attraction is intentionally diminished. If after thirty days, he still wants to marry her, he may do so. There is great doubt if such a marriage will succeed.

The novel point of the Keli Yakar is that the Torah is telling this man to turn his house into a בית האבל, a house of mourning. This woman mourns for her family that she may never see again. The intention of such a setting is that instead of lusting after the “Shiksa,” his focus changes, and he sees his own יום המיתה, day of death.

Hopefully, this will cause him to do some serious soul searching, that will allow him to come to his senses. A marriage based on physical attraction and materialism, is destined to fail. He will realize that he must strive towards loftier pursuits. He must find a partner who will help them build a sacred home, based on Jewish values.

He will send this woman home to her family, and will treat her respectfully, as he goes on their own individual path. Important lessons are learned from the incident of the woman taken captive.