PARSHAT KI TAYTZAY
BS’D PARSHAS KI TETZE YERUSHALAYIM IH’K
The Parsha begins by telling us that when we go out to war with our enemies, Hashem will give them into our hands and we will take captives. War is built into the fabric of life. The wisest of all men, Shlomo Hamelech stated in Koheles, There is a time for war, and there is a time for peace.
War, it seems, is unavoidable.
But what type of war we engage in is up to us. There are external wars and internal ones. An external war would be against enemies that dress up as humans. Or it would be a war against the elements, climate or an untidy garden. We make war on traffic and we make war against intolerant educators. We go out to battle shopkeepers as we bargain down prices, and we claw our way through the lines at the stores and to get onto busses. And of course, we fight for our lives against terrorism and enemies of freedom and democracy.
And then, there is the real war. The internal battle that rages within our soul. The battle against lethargy, against despair, against that which pushes us to control everyone around us. The battle of will. The battle to bend our will to the Will of the Almighty. The battle of purpose. The battle to stay focused on purpose. The battle to live inspired. Read more
