02 Sep KI SEITZEI: BATTLING THE YETZER HARA

We are now in
Chodesh Elul,
blowing the shofar
and waging war
against the yetzer
hara. Like every war,
strategies are required
to help us win this
great battle.
Let’s begin by
understanding that the
nature of this war is
unlike any other war.
The goal of a war
fought between countries is to conquer
the enemy. When the opposing army is
defeated, the war is over. But it isn’t so
with the war against the yetzer hara. When
we win one battle, we are confronted with
yet another war. It is a never-ending fight.
Chazal (Brachos 61.) call the yetzer hara “a
fly” because, like a fly, after you chase it
away, it returns.
The beginning of this week’s parashah
(21:10) states, Ki Seitzei L’Milchama, “If
you go out to war against your enemies…”
and the pasuk alludes to the war we wage
against the yetzer hara. Take note that the

pasuk doesn’t state, Ki Seitzei L’Nitzachon,
“When you go out to win,” rather, the pasuk
says when “you go out to war.” The Tiferes
Shlomo explains that this is because even
when we win a round, the war goes on.
There is always another battle.
We quote the Tiferes Shlomo (beginning of
this week’s parashah):
“There are righteous people who battle
against their yetzer hara and win, and a few
days later, the yetzer hara returns, and they
must wage war with the yetzer hara once
again! This confuses them, and they ask,
‘What is this all about? I already had this war
with the yetzer hara and won!’ They think
they were finished with the yetzer hara, but
the yetzer hara returns. They wonder what
will be with them. The Torah discusses this
situation and explains, Ki Seitzei, the reason
you came down to this world, L’Milchama
is for war. This is your life’s mission. For
this, you were created.” You cannot win the
war once and for all and be at peace with the
yetzer hara because then life wouldn’t have
a purpose. There are always new battles to
be fought.
Although we try our best to win all wars, the
nature of the world is to lose sometimes. You

win some, and you lose some. It is unrealistic
to expect to be victorious every time.
The Ruzhiner Rebbe zt’l said, “A potch for
a potch, the main thing is that you give the
final potch.” Sometimes, the yetzer hara
wins a battle, and sometimes, you win. The
main thing is that you should win in the end.
Reb Yitzchok Hutner zt’l writes in a
letter, “When we discuss the greatness of
tzaddikim, we have a bad habit to begin at
the end [of their lives], focusing on the great
levels the tzaddikim achieved. We skip the
many years they struggled with their yetzer
hara, and we think they were born tzaddikim.
[For example], everyone praises the Chofetz
Chaim’s shemiras halashon, but who speaks
about his struggles and ups and downs he
encountered until he reached this level?
Leaving out the early chapters of their lives
creates a problem because when a bachur has
a strong desire to grow in avodas Hashem
and is confronted with a challenge or a
downfall, he thinks he will never reach the
level of the tzaddikim he wishes to emulate.
He thinks that if he faces challenges, he has
no hope. But that is ridiculous. Know, my
friend, you will fall time and again, and there
will be battles that you will lose. But in the
end, you will emerge victorious and wear the

crown of success on your head. The wisest of
all men said ‘A tzaddik falls seven times and
rises.’ The wise understand that the tzaddik
rises because he fell seven times [and he kept
lifting himself again]. I beg you, don’t think
of tzaddikim as people who are at peace with
their yetzer tov. Rather, when the yetzer hara
is burning inside you, and you’re struggling
to overcome it, those moments are when you
are most similar to the gedolim, even more
than when you are at peace with the yetzer
hara.”