Parshas Ki Seitzei – The Yetzer Hara’s Greatest Weapon

Every successful army knows that before you can win a war, you must first understand your enemy. If you don't know his tactics, you will fall into his traps.

The Parshas opens with the words, "Ki seitzei lamilchamah al oy'vecha" - "When you go out to battle against your enemy" (Devarim 21:10). While the Torah is speaking about a physical war, the baalei mussar explain that these words also describe the greatest battle every Jew fights throughout his life: the battle against the yetzer hara.

So how does the yetzer hara fight? The Radvaz points us to a Gemara in Brachos 17. Every day after davening, Rav Alexandri would say, "Ribbono Shel Olam, it is revealed and known before You that our true desire is to do Your will. What is holding us back? The yeast in the dough and the oppression of the nations" (Berachos 17.). Rashi explains that the "yeast in the dough" is the yetzer hara.

But why compare the yetzer hara to yeast? The Sefer Avir Yaakov brings down the Beis Halevi (Parshas Bereishis) and answers that most of the pleasures of this world are far more exciting before we have them than after we get them. A person spends all day looking forward to his favorite food. He imagines how enjoyable it will be. Yet a few minutes after he finishes eating, the excitement is gone.

The same is true with money. A person is convinced that if only he earns another few thousand dollars, then he will finally be happy. But once he reaches that goal, he immediately begins chasing the next one. As Chazal teach us, "Mi sheyesh lo maneh rotzeh masayim" - one who has one hundred wants two hundred.

Why doesn't he ever learn? Because that is the yetzer hara's greatest weapon. It exaggerates. It inflates. It convinces us that something will bring tremendous happiness, when in reality the enjoyment is brief and often disappointing.

That is exactly what yeast does. It causes dough to rise and look much larger than it really is. Much of what you see is only air. The yetzer hara does the same thing. It fills our imagination with promises that rarely live up to reality.

The Beis Halevi says this idea explains another Gemara (Sukkah 52a). In the future, Hashem will destroy the yetzer hara before everyone. The tzaddikim will see it as a towering mountain, while the resha'im will see it as a tiny strand of hair.

How can both be true? The tzaddik remembers the battle. Before every nisayon, the temptation felt enormous, like climbing a mountain. Yet he fought and won.

The rasha remembers what happened afterward. Once the aveirah was over, he realized that all the excitement had disappeared. Looking back, he wonders how he traded his relationship with Hashem for something so empty. The mountain he once saw now looks no bigger than a hair.

This also explains the words we say in Viduy: "Velo shavah lanu." After a person sins, he often realizes that it simply was not worth it. The yetzer hara promised so much but delivered so little.

I once heard someone say that in one respect he admires a yeshivah bachur even more than a baal teshuvah. A baal teshuvah has already experienced much of what the outside world has to offer. He knows firsthand how empty those pleasures can be. A yeshivah bachur, however, has often never experienced them. The yetzer hara whispers, "You're missing out. There's a whole exciting world waiting for you."

Yet he remains in the Beis midrash. He chooses a life of Torah because he trusts that Hashem's promises are more real than the promises of the yetzer hara. That is extraordinary strength.

A ger tzedek once put it beautifully. A yid once told him, "Es iz shver tzu zain a Yid" - it is hard to be a Jew. He smiles and answers, "Have you ever been a goy? I have. I can tell you that living without Torah is much harder, you feel empty, nothingness."

The Dubno Maggid explains that this is also the difference between physical pleasure and spiritual joy. Physical pleasure fades as soon as the experience is over. Spiritual joy stays with a person.

After the dedication of the first Beis Hamikdash, the pasuk says: “On the eighth day, he sent the nation away. They blessed the king and went to their homes joyful and glad of heart because of all the goodness that Hashem had done for Dovid, His servant, and for Yisrael, His nation" (Melachim I 8:66).

The Gemara in Moed Katan (9a) says that they were happy because they had enjoyed the light of the Shechinah. How did Chazal know that their happiness came from the Shechinah? Perhaps they were happy because of the beautiful meals and celebrations that had taken place during those days.

The answer is that the pasuk says they returned home still filled with joy. A physical pleasure lasts only while a person is enjoying it. But a spiritual experience remains with him. The people had already left the Beis Hamikdash and returned to their homes, yet their faces were still shining. That showed that their simchah came from the Shechinah.

A tzaddik once noticed the same contrast. He watched people entering a theater. Their faces were glowing with excitement. A short while later they came out, and the excitement had vanished.

Later he watched a ben Torah leave the beis medrash. His face was shining. His simchah had not ended when the learning ended. He carried it home with him.

That is the battle of Parshas Ki Seitzei. The yetzer hara's greatest weapon is not force. It is illusion. It makes temporary pleasures look permanent and small things look enormous.

The Torah teaches us to see through the illusion. When we do, the mountain becomes a hair, the battle becomes winnable, and the Torah's promise comes true: "Unesano Hashem Elokecha b'yadecha."

When we sincerely go out to fight the yetzer hara, Hashem fights alongside us and gives us the strength to win.