When you go to war upon your enemy…and you will see in captivity a woman of beautiful appearance and you will desire her…You shall shave her head and make her [pare her] nails…she shall remove her garb of captivity and…mourn for her father and mother for thirty days… [only then can you marry her]… (Deut. 21:10-14)

[The Talmud cites a disagreement between Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Akiva as to the meaning of “make her nails." According to Rabbi Akiva, the opinion cited by Rashi, this means “let her nails grow" so that they become disgusting. According to Rabbi Eliezer, the opinion cited by Chizkuni, this means “cut her nails." (Yevamot 48a)The ma'amar apparently follows the latter opinion.]

So begins our Torah portion. This essay explores the deeper and personal meaning of "a woman of beautiful appearance" and the inner significance of shaving the head and cutting the nails. [On the literal level, this law addresses the inevitable occurrence during war of a soldier's desiring to marry one of the captive women. The Torah reluctantly allows him to do so. But, she must first undergo a process that is hoped to discourage him from marrying her. If he decides not to marry her, he is not allowed to sell her or use her in anyway. If he does marry her, she is to be accorded full rights as any other married woman.] [The mazal] remains aloof from the body and is not affected by its distorted view of reality.

The soul of man is made up of two general parts: one that remains beyond and above the body and one that is enclothed within it. The first aspect does not undergo the process of Divine concealment administered to the second aspect. Thus it remains aloof from the body and is not affected by its distorted view of reality. This part of the soul is called mazal, as in the saying, "although he does not see it, his mazal sees it."

[The Talmud (Megilla 3a) cites a verse: "I, Daniel, alone saw the vision but the people that were with me did not see it; yet a great fear fell upon them and they fled into hiding." (Daniel 10:7)]

The Talmud identifies those who were with Daniel as Chaggai, Zechariah and Malachi, who, although prophets themselves, were not on the level of Daniel and therefore could not see what he saw. The Talmud then asks: If they did not see, why were they frightened? And the Talmud answers: Though they did not see, their mazal's did see. Ravina commented: Learn from this that one who becomes frightened (for no apparent reason, it is because) though he did not see it (the cause for his fear), his mazal did see it.

In other words, although a person is not consciously aware of his mazal, he is affected by what the mazal experiences. Thus if the mazal is afraid, the person will be afraid. If the mazal is inspired, the person will suddenly and inexplicably feel inspired.1 The mazal, therefore, because of its superior vision, guides the person through certain decisions, causing him to choose the path that will best serve his ultimate purpose.2

It is called mazal, a word that can connote "flowing," since the energy of the mazal flows to the aspect of the soul that inhabits the body. The aspect of the soul that inhabits the body is called a woman of beautiful appearance...

The mazal aspect of the soul is referred to as yefat to'ar, "beautiful appearance." Beauty is produced by the coming together of various elements. One color does not create beauty. It is the convergence of various colors that creates beauty. Similarly, the mazal receives its energy from a number of Divine elements and is therefore related to the sefira of tiferet, which is the fusion of chesed (kindness) and gevura (severity), as is known to those who know the hidden wisdoms.

[The soul is therefore often referred to as Jacob, who represents the fusion of Abraham and Isaac, kindness and severity.]

The aspect of the soul that inhabits the body is called "a woman of beautiful appearance," meaning that it is the recipient of the beauty of the higher aspect of the soul.

[In Kabbala, woman symbolizes reception, while man symbolizes giving. (This is reflected in the process of procreation, wherein the woman receives from the man.)]

Hence she is referred to as a woman in captivity, since the lower aspect of the soul is, so to speak, held captive by the mental and emotional chains of the bodily perspective.

So when a person "desires her"--he truly wishes to free the imprisoned soul from its captivity, he must "shave her head" and "cut her nails."

Similarly, at a personal level, a person must also cut off "the nails," i.e., the surplus of the hand, which is called chesed. [The hand is used to do kindness.] (As in the case of Abraham, who embodies chesed, the surplus of his energies resulted in Yishmael.) When this is accomplished, the soul's energies are redirected entirely through the fulfillment of Torah and mitzvot and it is freed from its captivity.

Based on discourses in Likutei Torah p. 36a ff. and Derech Mitzvotecha p. 208 ff

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