How To Win this Battle and End This War
“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 God, is with you” (Deuteronomy 20:1).
Here in the sixth aliyah of this week’s parsha, Shoftim, we are provided one of the most important principles for life. Moses conveys to the nation the proper conduct for engagement in battle, yet his guidance here applies every day of our lives, and it is no coincidence that it is read at the beginning of the month of Elul when such a message is particularly relevant and helpful.
Life, the Sages teach, is a constant battle. At times the conflict is externalized and plainly manifest in the physical world. Yet 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.
It is easy to become discouraged, to assume that if the enemy forces are so massive and so persistent, then there is no use fighting them. But Moses assures us otherwise. When you go out to battle, no matter how prodigious the enemy, you shall not fear for God is with you! It is God Himself who creates the enemy, who animates these opposing forces at every moment, who is their sole true existence, for He is One and there is nothing but Him alone!
This fundamental truth applies on the physical battlefield as well as the spiritual combat zone. It is relevant daily, but particularly in this month of Elul when we evaluate the battles that we have been waging throughout the past year and confront the painful reality that we have not yet been victorious.
Do not fear, Moses exhorts us, for it is your very fear that postpones your victory. He instructs that there should be sentinels at the head and rear of the army who, as Rashi comments, “stand at the edge of the battlefield to lift up those who fall and encourage them, saying: Return to battle and do not flee, for TECHILAS NEFILAH NISA/fleeing is the beginning of defeat” (Rashi on Deuteronomy 20:8).
When we doubt God’s supremacy and His complete control over our reality, our downfall ensues. Fear is a natural emotion, but it can and must be overcome with meditation on God’s infinite unity. Flight is a rejection of His Kingship and the Divine protection that comes with it. When we trust in Him, aware that He is “with you” always, then no matter how imposing the enemy or the battle ahead, we will be victorious and we will finally usher in the time of peace that we and the entire creation have been awaiting.
— Pnei Hashem is an introduction to the deepest depths of the human experience based on the esoteric teachings of Torah. www.pneihashem.com
