A Vital Message for Elul: Don’t Be Afraid, for G-d is With You!
“When you go out to battle against your enemy, and you see horse and chariot – a people more numerous than you – you shall not fear them, for Hashem, your G-d, is with you” (Deuteronomy 20:1).
In this week’s parsha, Shoftim, Moses exhorts the nation to be confident as they face their enemies in battle. As we enter the month of Elul, this message could not be more relevant!
While on the surface, Moses was referring to external enemies and physical battle, his words apply to each of us daily, even if we are far from conflict zones and geographic front lines.
Life, the Sages teach, is a constant battle. Even at times of “peace,” there is a spiritual war that rages perpetually within us and around us. There are forces assailing us constantly that attempt to distract us, entice us, delude us. And these forces are ubiquitous – wherever we go, there is no escaping them.
Yet Moses assures us that no matter how prodigious the enemy, we should not be afraid, for G-d is with us! On the simple level, we can understand this to mean that G-d is more powerful than any foe, and we can rely on the fact that He will protect us.
But on a more internal level, we must understand that Moses is telling us something even more profound. “A-donai E-lohecha imach/G-d your Lord is with you” – Moses is reminding us that God is not against us, He is with us!
Many of us feel pain and fear as we begin Elul and this profound time of soul-searching and introspection. We have become convinced that G-d is angry at us and He wants us to pay for our errors and missteps. His omnipotence in such a case is not a benefit, but a detriment – for if He wants us to suffer at the hands of our “enemies,” then no matter how hard we try, we will lose.
But Moses is assuring us that when we face our enemy – those forces within us that have tempted us, weakened us, and led us astray time and again – even if they seem more numerous and powerful than that essential part of us that has always wanted to do the right thing, we should not be discouraged, for G-d is with us and within us!
G-d does not want to punish us, but to embrace us and to be expressed through us. Remember this in Elul and every day, and rather than fear, you will feel the tremendous love that will empower you to overcome all of your challenges.
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