This week’s Torah reading, Ki Tetze, begins, “When you go out to war against your enemies....”
What does a soldier feel when he enters combat? Maimonides writes: “Once a soldier enters the throes of battle, he should rely on the Hope of Israel and their Savior in times of need. He should realize that he is fighting for the sake of the oneness of G-d’s Name. Therefore, he should place his soul in his hand and not show fright or fear. He should not worry about his wife or children. On the contrary, he should wipe their memory from his heart, removing all thoughts from his mind except the war.”
Rising Above Personal Self
What motivates a soldier to rise above his personal self and risk his life in battle? He identifies with something higher. At the point he enters into battle, his personal identity becomes subsumed to the general whole. His “I” is no longer the individual “I” of his personal self, but the encompassing “I” of the Jewish people as a whole.
Simply put, a soldier is not his own man. He is the representative of the Jewish people and that collective identity takes precedence over his own.
Here lies the issue: We see that, when called to serve in an army, ordinary individuals who are not spiritually oriented can rise above themselves and make the supreme and ultimate sacrifice. They subsume their individual identities.
Eclipsing the “I”
On the other hand, there are developed persons who spend their days in spiritual endeavors; they struggle and labor and yet, they have difficulty eclipsing their “I.” It’s true; their “I” is not an “I” of materialistic desires. Instead of seeking physical satisfaction, their wants are intellectual and spiritual, but there is still an “I” that wants.
The soldier, by contrast, is not concerned with his individual “I.” He is not laboring intellectually or spiritually and yet, he is prepared to give up everything, his life and all his concerns, for a purpose above himself.
What is the source for this dynamic? At the core of each of our beings lies a G-dly soul that is not identified with our individual “I.” It is a part of G-d, infinite and undefined as He is. Since this is the core of our being, we all have an innate tendency to self-transcendence.
During our everyday lives, this inner potential does not surface. But when put to the test, when the person feels — either consciously or subconsciously — that this inner potential is being called on, it comes forth, almost effortlessly.
The Army of G-d
The Jewish people are called “the army of G-d.” Implied is that each one of us is a soldier. In that vein, our Rabbis explain that the phrase, “When you go out to war...” refers to the battle each person faces with his own individual nature and his struggle to bring spirituality into his everyday concerns.
This is where we must be soldiers. Instead of seeing these challenges as personal issues, we should see them as part of a general concern, as part of G-d’s desire for a dwelling place among mortals, which is the purpose of creation as a whole.
That sense of purpose will lift each one of us above our individual identities and prompt our essential core to seek expression.
Adapted from the teachings of the Rebbe, reprinted from Keeping in Touch, with perm. from Sichos in English.
