Hence the soldiers could not be seen as laborers, and could not touch any of the fruit or the flowers. Sometime later I received an interesting postscript. Perhaps a first step in bringing peace to mankind is the introduction of ethics in war. I was very proud of our soldiers in Lebanon who wouldn't taste the fruit of a field, let alone rob the defenseless, rape women or pillage homes. No one is born with ethical self- discipline, and acquiring it is a lifelong battle.
War is a struggle within individuals as well as between individuals.
If we master the inner, private struggle, the day will come when we'll never have to fight the public ones, as nation after nation exchanges swords for plowshares.