BS"D
PROACTIVE, PEACEFUL AND POSITIVE: PARSHAT KI SEITZEI
Shira Smile shiur 2023/5783
Adapted by Channie Koplowitz Stein
Parshat Ki Seitzei begins with laws pertaining to war and to the
possibility of a Jewish soldier being captivated by and desiring one of the
captive women. Although chronologically, these laws appear as Bnei Yisroel is
about to enter Eretz Yisroel and wage war against the alien nations residing
there, for these laws to be included in the Torah, they must have relevance
today. Since this parshah is always read in the month of Elul, the month
preceding Rosh Hashanah, we can reasonably assume that the laws are relevant
for Rosh Hashanah preparations. The war must be a constant war, and the allure
must be other than for a captive woman.
The text itself raises some
questions to help us in our study. First, we have a similar introduction to war
in the previous Parshah, Shoftim. In both chapters, the Torah begins,
"When you go out to war against your enemies..." It is here that
anyone in service may encounter a temptation, symbolized by the beautiful
woman. It is here that safeguards must be put in place to keep the "soldier"
from spiraling out of proper Jewish behavior "when you go out to war
against your enemies." The question intensifies as the verse continues,
"...and Hashem will deliver him (singular enemy) into your hand, and you
will capture its captivity." It is on this point that Rabbi Gifter notes
that we battle the same yetzer horo on a daily basis, although it may
appear to us in many guises.
The Netivot Shalom
precisely uses the terminology of the verse to give a homiletic interpretation
of the war the Torah is here concerned with. "When you go out, when your
neshamah leaves its celestial abode," and enters the lower, physical
world, your purpose is to find your enemy, conquer it, and thereby fulfill your
mission. Every challenge we face has been orchestrated by Hashem Yisborach for
our growth. That is what Yosef Hatzadik Hatzadik understood when he comforted
his brothers who had sold him into slavery to Egypt, "It was not you who
sent me here, but Hashem," for I had a mission to fulfill in Egypt.
Our lives must be filled with
purpose. We were created to struggle to fulfill our mission. The Slonimer Rebbe
goes as far as to say that any day that one does not confront his yetzer horo
in that struggle is a wasted, purposeless day.
While we face many challenges
and struggles, we each have a specific, overriding challenge that is our unique
mission to overcome. Yes, we need to learn how to shoot at enemies in general,
but we must recognize our “enemy” and learn to aim directly at him. How do we
recognize the enemy that is coming specifically for us? It is that challenge
that I keep encountering, whether in anger, stinginess, haughtiness, or any
other stumbling block to spiritual growth.
Rabbi Scheinerman, citing
Rabbi Dessler, makes an interesting observation. As verbal human beings, we
verbalize our thoughts. After the sin in Gan Eden, we often talk in the first
person. This monologue is usually, "I want..., I'd like.... etc."
This is usually our yetzer horo talking. We identify ourselves with it, usually
with physicality In contrast, when we talk to ourselves in second person,
someone outside us telling us what to do. "You should..., you
shouldn't..., you need..." it is usually our yetzer hatov talking.
The yetzer hatov seems to be outside us, imposing its will upon us. If
we recognize this strategy, we can change how we talk to ourselves. We can say,
"I need to get up..., I want to keep Shabbos..." [Self talk is a well
known psychological strategy to build self esteem. CKS]
All month long we recite Psalm
27, leDovid Hashem Ori. There, we also recognize that we may be at war,
"Though war would arise against me, in this I trust...:" What is
"this" in which I trust? Citing the Sefas Emes, Rabbi
Scheinerman notes that if I recognize that this is war, I will overcome, for
Hashem is with me. Our purpose is to overcome both the general and the specific
enemy.
The "Yetzer Horo War"
is different from other wars, explains Rabbi Eisenberger in Mesillot
Bilvovom. Wars generally have a specific objective, usually winning more
land or extending a nation's power and resources. When that goal is achieved
and the enemy is defeated, the war ends. Not so with our battle against the yetzer
horo. The yetzer horo has no specific goal; it just wants to keep
fighting and exhausting us, his enemy. Even when we lose a skirmish, we are
meant to pick ourselves up and continue fighting the next battle, for the yetzer
horo is never satisfied. We never have the right to concede total defeat.
And the yetzer horo has
the same mission. It too will never cease to fight, even when it is defeated,
writes the Chovos HaLevavos. The yetzer horo will begin fighting
again, using a new strategy. So what chance do we have against it? The
Manchester Rav urges us to be spiritual warriors, to be proactive, to "go
out in war against our enemies." When one actively work on overcoming his
negative desires and character traits, he will earn Hashem's assistance in the
battle.
The best defense is an
offense, go out and attack the yetzer horo, urges the Netivot Shalom.
It was at Refidim, not just the place name, but the emotional state of Bnei
Yisroel, in weakness, that Amalek came to attack. We must be on constant alert.
Although the yetzer horo comes disguised in many forms, writes Rabbi
Gifter, we must recognize that what appears as multiple enemies is, in fact,
only one yetzer horo. This is why the shofar blasts begin at Rosh
Chodesh Elul, to wake us up to be always alert to the yetzer horo’s tactics.
Rebbetzin Smiles provided a
very apt, modern metaphor to help visualize the yetzer horo's tactics.
If you play (or observe children playing) today's video games, the obstacles
and challenges that need to be overcome attack from all sides in very quick
succession. You win when you have developed the skill to anticipate the enemy
in all its forms and to shoot it down. As Meirosh Tzurim says, citing
the Ramchal, our job is to be constantly aware so that we can use the wisdom,
the skill Hashem has given us to fight.
Very often we are unaware of
the challenges. We walk around as if in a dream. In a kind of virtual reality,
we see ourselves as the center of the world, believing we are in charge and
that everything belongs to us. The shofar is sounded to wake us up, to rouse us
from that dream, writes Rabbi Bernstein in Teshuva. This is the sound
that inaugurates the Yovel/Jubilee year, the year that reminds us that
the world belongs to Hashem, and we are placed here to serve Him. As the Netivot
Shalom says, to enter into this battle, you must step out of yourself,
ki seitzei, you must leave your baggage behind.
We each have baggage that
weighs us down, But Hashem has also given us wings to help us fly, to soar
above the mesmerizing temptations of this world. Our problem, like the bird who
is paralyzed by the sight of the snake and forgets he has wings to escape, we
too often forget that we have the choice and the power to escape the clutches
of the yetzer horo, teaches us Rabbi Shaya Ostrov in The Menucha
Principle. We are being recreated each moment. As we face each new
challenge, whether it is anger rising at a perceived slight, or impatience at a
traffic delay, we must take a moment to pause, to leave the scattered,
fragmented state of mind and enter a more tranquil state. The trigger will not
go away, but we have the choice to relate to that trigger with equanimity, to
rise above it, to remember that Hashem is in charge, and He is orchestrating
the events in our lives.
Interestingly, Elul, the name
for the month preparatory to Rosh Hashanah, translates in Aramaic to latur,
to scout out. Before you go out to battle, you must scout the enemy. Your eyes
may see a beautiful object. What your eyes see can easily become the focus of
your desire and mesmerize you. You need to scout out a battle plan as well as
an escape route.
Our verse introduces the
danger with veroeesa/and you will see. The yetzer horo tempts us
first through our eye, the letter ayin/ע which translates as eye. But numerically ע equals 70. Rabbi Brazile, in a profound essay, explores both
these interpretations in depth. He begins with the power of the eye to lead us
astray. He begins with the Gemorro that tells us that tzadikim view the
evil inclination as a mountain, difficult to climb, and therefore they either
avoid it or expend tremendous energy conquering it. They separate the הר/mountain from the ע/ עין/eye in the word הרע.
From the beginning of
creation, it was the eye that was the downfall of Man through the serpent, the
sliest of all creatures. He was ערום/ עין רם. He had a
haughty eye. He saw Adam and Chava engaged in intimacy, and he desired Chava.
Thus began the serpent's seduction of Chava to eat the forbidden fruit. It all
began with the evil eye.
Rabbi Brazile continues to
Yosef Hatzadik who was able to conquer his passions, both from the women looking
up at him fawningly and from the desirous clutches of Potiphar's wife. Yosef
Hatzadik is blessed by his father as one who is ‘alei ayin’ above the
eye. It was in his merit that Bnei Yisroel remained chaste in the
depraved society of Egypt. It is also why Bnei Yisroel descended to Egypt with
seventy souls, to counter the effects of the evil "seventy mountain"
in Egypt.
The Torah tells us we should
choose/life, and during the Yomim Noraim we pray that Hashem remember us for chaim/life.
בחיים is also numerically equal to seventy. We pray that Hashem will
help us overcome what the yetzer horo wants our eye to see so that we
will merit life.
Sefer Mishleh discusses two contrasting women, writes Rabbi
Reissman. We have both the Aishet Chayil/the Woman of Valor, and also
the lesser-known Isha zara vnochria/the strange, foreign woman. While we
are familiar with the outstanding qualities of the Aishet Chayil, what are the
characteristics of the strange, foreign woman? Citing the Ralbag, Rabbi
Reissman explains that this strange woman represents everything external,
everything physical, everything empties of spiritual value. These women
represent human paradigms. Do we value the mitzvoth, enjoy the radiance of
Shabbat and Yom Tov, or do we watch the clock, waiting for Shabbat to be over
so we can turn on the various tech devices? Do we search for a beautiful etrog,
or complain about spending the money on a glorified lemon? We need to focus our
eyes on the beautiful aishet chayil, not on the strange woman who we think
we have captured but is capturing us.
An ayin tovah/good eye
and ayin ra'ah/evil eye are not necessarily inborn traits. As Rabbi
Eliezer tells us in Pirkei Avot, these are traits we can train ourselves
to cling to. These are pathways for approaching life. Rabbi Levi Liebowitz,
citing Rav Yerucham Levovitz explains, the "good eye" is a choice to
see the positive, even when it may be difficult to discern. When we look at
others with a negative eye, we write them off, we deem them unworthy of our
help, we ignore them, or worse. When we view others with a positive eye, we
appreciate their value. It is then easy to give a compliment and make their
day. We can help others who need our help. We can see a silver lining around a
cloud. With an ayin tovah, we bring goodness and joy into the world.
When, with our positive, good
eye we bring goodness, joy, and tranquility into the world, Hashem too will
focus on the positive within us, focus on our good, and bless the coming year
for us IY"H.