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How can Israel wage war for economic needs (milchemes reshus)? The shiur reveals that war is only justified against nations that immorally withhold resources, and requires a level of communal commitment higher than even Yerushalayim — soldiers fight not for personal gain but for the collective welfare of Klal Yisrael. This profound unity creates a machaneh of such holiness that impure thoughts are forbidden, yet dissolves once victory is achieved and spoils are divided.
The shiur opens with a fundamental philosophical challenge: how can the Torah (תורה) permit milchemes reshus, a war waged for economic benefit (parnasa)? The Gemara (גמרא) in Brachos describes how the sages came to Dovid HaMelech saying "Amcha Yisrael tzrichin parnasa" (your nation needs sustenance), and Dovid responds by asking whether they've tried helping each other economically first. Only then does he permit them to wage war. This seems morally problematic — how can economic need justify killing and taking resources from others? Rabbi Zweig explains that the key lies in understanding the pasuk "ki seitzei milchama al oyvecha" — you may wage war against your enemy. An "enemy" in this context is not simply someone with resources you want, but a nation that is immorally and illegally withholding resources from you through embargoes and trade restrictions, despite the international obligation of tikkun olam ha'adamah — the responsibility all nations have to help each other. Just as Rashi (רש"י) explains that Sefer Bereishis justifies Israel's right to Eretz Yisrael by establishing that Hashem (ה׳) created and owns the world, so too milchemes reshus requires moral justification: it is only permitted against nations that violate the fundamental brotherhood of man by refusing to trade fairly and instead seek to starve Israel economically.
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Parshas Ki Seitzei
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