Today the Queen of England passed away. 

I grew up going to London every summer of my childhood to visit my grandparents. 

My mother and her parents moved to England when they were able to escape Germany on the eve of World War II. They always lived with a deep sense of gratitude to the British for taking them in and saving them from Hitler. 

When I spoke to my Mother today she was very saddened by the passing of the Queen. She spoke of the sense of duty the Queen personified. She recalled how during the war when London was being bombed, the Royal family did not run away or abrogate their responsibility, but instead remained with their subjects, casting their lot together with their people, soldiering on together. 

Famously known for saying her life would be devoted to service, the Queen lived a life of dignity and duty from her youth until her dying day.

This weeks Torah portion is call Ki Tetze, which means when you go out to war. 

This Portion is unique in that it has the most commandments of any portion in the Torah, 70 in all. 

One fascinating commandment is given to a Jewish soldier going into battle. He is commanded to carry not only the regular accoutrements of war but to also carry a shovel with his other tools. 

The commentaries explain this is required for maintaining the soldier’s dignity. 

If in the vagaries of war, when proper facilities may not be available, a soldier taking care of bodily needs must carefully bury any waste. 

This seems like a bit of TMI 

(Please refer to last week’s musings for context). 

Why is this a commandment at all and how is it relevant to us?

Soldiers who are engaged in savage battle are focused on survival. Things may happen in war that may cause a soldier to feel he is no longer a human being. A soldier may lose the sense of his humanity. 

A psychiatrist who studied veterans suffering from PTSD found it was often rooted in the issue that the soldiers may have behaved in ways that made them feel inhumane. 

So the Torah commands the soldier not only to bear arms, but to also carry a shovel which would remind them of their humanity and the possibility of maintaining dignity in the very face of their humanity. 

This can also be extrapolated to the reality that people nowadays feel may feel guilt and shame for things they have done, or the way they feel. 

The commandment reminds us to carry that metaphorical shovel. Even if we have been a low place, we must remember that we have not lost our humanity, our inner essence is glowing and intact. 

This mitzva is therefore a reminder to us to carry a metaphorical shovel in our backpack. We maintain our royal dignity no matter what befalls us. 

In these weeks that lead us to the High Holiday season, our emphasis is not to change our essence. Because our quintessential ethos is regal. 

The work is just to connect to it and reveal what is beautiful and dignified within. 

When I was a little girl and misbehaved at the dinner table, my Father would always ask me if that is the way I would behave at the Queen’s table?

Now as I look back, I think he was trying to help me uncover the Princess within. 

Shabbat Shalom and so much love!