Sifrei Devarim Paragraph 198
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(דברים כ ט) וְהָיָה כְּכַלֹּת הַשֹּׁטְרִים, בַּעֲקֵבָם שֶׁל עָם מַעֲמִידִים זַקָּפִים מִלִּפְנֵיהֶם וְאַחֲרֵיהֶם, וְכַשִּׁילִים שֶׁל בַּרְזֶל בִּידֵיהֶם, וְכָל הַמְבַקֵּשׁ לַחֲזֹר – הָרְשׁוּת בְּיָדָם לְקַפֵּחַ אֶת שׁוֹקָיו, שֶׁתְּחִלַּת נְפִילָה נִיסָה, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (שמואל א ד יז): ״נָס יִשְׂרָאֵל מִפְּנֵי פְלִשְׁתִּים וְגַם מַגֵּפָה גְדוֹלָה הָיְתָה בָעָם״. בַּמֶּה דְבָרִים אֲמוּרִים? בְּמִלְחֶמֶת הָרְשׁוּת, אֲבָל בְּמִלְחֶמֶת מִצְוָה הַכֹּל יוֹצְאִים, אֲפִלּוּ (יואל ב טז) חָתָן מֵחַדְרוֹ וְכַלָּה מֵחֻפָּתָהּ!
Pisqa’ 198³²⁸
- “And when the officers had finished” (Dt. 20:9)— after their charge to the people, they set up guards in the front and rear of the troops, with iron mallets in their hands. And if anyone wanted to leave, the guards had the right to break their shins, for the beginning of defeat is retreat.
“So Israel retreated from the Philistines **and then a great plague afflicted the people” (1Sam. 4:17).**³²⁹ 2. Under what circumstances [do these exemptions from battle apply]? In optional wars. But if it is an obligatory war, [in defense of the borders of the Land], everyone must go— even a bride-groom from his bedroom and a bride from her wedding-canopy³³⁰ 190.9.
footnotes: ³²⁸ H:216-217;JN2:88. ³²⁹ =M. Sotah 8:6 ³³⁰ Cf. M.Sotah 8:7; //T.Sotah 7:24. See Pisqa’