Impact of Our Actions

Most of us ask whether what we're doing is permitted. Few of us ask what the person watching will take from it. In Parshas Shoftim, the officers tell a frightened soldier to go home before the battle, and the reason has nothing to do with his own safety. Why should one man's fear matter that much, and what does it say about our own responsibility for the people around us? A boy walks into a yeshiva lunchroom, and one small moment with a cup of coffee decides his whole future.