Ki Seitzei is a Segulah for Salvation:
Someone once came to Rav Noach of Lechovitch zy”a to ask him to daven for a woman who was experiencing a difficult childbirth. At the time, there were several men sitting around the Rebbe’s table and he told them the following story:
A certain city once appointed two men to serve as gabbaim, both of whom were completely unlearned. On the first Tainis Tzibur after their appointment, the gabbaim had to roll the Sefer Torah to the portion of “Vayichal”. However, neither one of them knew where to find this Parshah in the Torah.
One of them said, “I remember that it is in a sedrah that begins with the word ‘Ki’, but I don’t remember if it is in Parshas Ki Seitzei or Ki Savo. (In reality, it is in Parshas Ki Sisa). I think it is in Ki Seitzei.”
The other one said, “No. It’s in Ki Savo!”
They began to argue with one of them repeating “Ki Seitzei” and the other saying “Ki Savo”, over and over again.
The Rebbe related this story very enthusiastically until a messenger arrived with the good news that the woman had given birth and both her and the baby were in good health, thus fulfilling the words “Ki Seitzei Ki Savo”. (The baby went out and came to this world.)
After Defeating The Yeitzer Hara, One Must Redeem The Shechinah:
Sefer Degel Machaneh Efraim (כא, י)כִּי תֵצֵא לַמִּלְחָמָה עַל אֹיְבֶיךָ וּנְתָנוֹ ה' אֱלֹקֶיךָ בְּיָדֶךָ וְשָׁבִיתָ וגו' When you go out to war against your enemy and Hashem your G-d gives them into your hand and you capture... (21:10)
explains the pesukim using the method of “remez” as follows: “When you go out to war against your enemies” – when you fight a battle against the yeitzer hara. “And Hashem gives him over into your hands” – Hashem will help you to emerge victorious if you do your part. “And you see amongst the captives a woman of beautiful appearance” – when Hashem gives the yeitzer hara into your hands, you will see that the Shechinah, which is very beautiful, is a “captive”, so to speak. It needs you to redeem it from the captivity of this world and to “take it to yourself as a wife.”
The Protection of the Ohel Hatorah:
Sefer Agra D’Kallah asks why it says that we will “go out” (“seitzei”) to war. Why doesn’t it simply say that we will go (“seilech”) to war?
He answers that the Torah is hinting to a person who goes out from the tents of Torah, as the last letters of the words “seitzei l’milchama al” spell the word “ohel” (tent). The pasuk is saying that when one leaves the tents of Torah, he is in danger of being attacked by his enemies, i.e., the damaging angels and evil forces. As long as one is in the bais medrash, however, these forces have no power over him.
The War With The Yeitzer Reveals The Inner Goodness:
The Zohar Hakadosh explains that the “enemy” mentioned in this pasuk is the yeitzer hara, which is constantly fighting with all people and trying to destroy them.
Sefer Yismach Yisroel quotes Rav Yechiel of Alexander zy”a who asks how the pasuk can guarantee that Hashem will give the yeitzer over into our hands.
Does one always defeat the yeitzer hara immediately? Don’t we see that this takes a lot of effort, as the Chovos Halevavos (Shaar Yichud Hamaaseh, Perek 5) says that the wise man told the king: “You have returned from a small war, but now you will have to fight a big war, which is the war with the yeitzer.”
The Alexander Rebbe explains by quoting Rishonim who say that the main aspect of teshuva is accepting in one’s heart to change one’s ways. This is seen from the pasuk (Shemos 12:28): “And they went and they did.” This infers that as soon as one takes the first step to improve, it is already considered as if he did it (see Rashi ibid).
He writes that this is also the meaning of the statement: “Naaseh v’nishmah. (We will do and we will hear. Shemos 24:7).” As soon as one accepts to do teshuva for his past sins and to follow Hashem’s ways in the future, he is already considered to be a complete tzadik.
In this vein, the Rambam rules (Hilchos Geirushin 2:20) that even though a husband must grant a divorce willingly, if he is forced to give a get it is still valid because every Jew really wants to do the right thing. At his core, every Jew really wants to obey Hashem’s commands but his yeitzer hara stands in his way. Once this obstacle is removed, his true self is able to come to the forefront.
Therefore, even if a Jew commits severe sins, his inner essence – his chelek Elokah m’maal – remains pure. This is as Chazal say (Sanhedrin 44A): “Even though they sin, they are still Yisroel.” Their true selves remain clean and unblemished since they really want to do good. And if we truly desire to do what is right, our true essence will be revealed.
Shlomo Hamelech compares Klal Yisroel to a shoshana (lily) (Shir Hashirim 2:2). Just like a lily has a periphery of yellow leaves that surround a red, central leaf, and the outer yellow leaves need to be peeled away to reveal the red flower in the middle, so too the inner essence of Klal Yisroel is good and beautiful but the outer layers of gashmius must be removed before it can be seen.
The Alexander Rebbe thus explains the pasuk to be saying that when we prepare to fight the yeitzer hara that dwells within us, Hashem guarantees that “He will give it into our hands”, meaning that He will give us a pure inner essence that will be revealed to us and will help us overcome the yeitzer. Furthermore, we will “capture captives”, meaning that we will able to do teshuva out of love, “capture” our sins and turn them into merits.
Hashem Defeats The Yeitzer Hara:
Rav Eliezer’l of Dzhikov zy”a (quoted in Imrei Kodesh- Bobov 5765, page 23) explains the pasuk to mean that when we go out to fight the yeitzer hara and defeat it, we should recognize that Hashem is giving it into our hands. We should realize that He is the true victor, and without His help, we would not be able to overcome the yeitzer hara.
The Four Strategies of The Four Kings:
The Chida zt”l (Sefer Chomas Anach) explains the connection between this pasuk and the previous verse of “ki sa’aseh hayashar b’einei Hashem” (when you do what is right in the eyes of Hashem) by citing the Medrash that speaks about four kings who had four different ways of waging war.
Dovid had the strength to chase his enemies and destroy them. Asa said that he didn’t have the strength to destroy them, only to chase them. Yehoshafat said that he didn’t have the strength to chase them. All he could do was say Shira to Hashem and be saved. Chizkiyahu said that he didn’t even have the strength to do anything. All he could do was go to sleep and Hashem would fight his enemies for him.
All four of these strategies are hinted to in the pesukim. The word “yashar” contains the same letters as the word “shira”, so it is a hint to Yehoshafat. “Ki seitzei l’milchama” is a reference to Asa, who only went out to war but did not fight. The final letters of the words “seitzei l’milchama el” spell the word “ohel”, which is a hint to Chizkiyahu, who stayed in his tent. The words “and Hashem your G-d will give them into your hands” teaches us that Hashem granted victory to all of them. And the words “and you will capture captives” refers to Dovid, who actually went out and fought.
One Who Purifies Himself Provides Purity For Bnei Yisroel:
Rav Mordechai Chaim of Slonim zy”a (Maamar Mordechai, Chelek 1, page 85) says in the name of Rav Shmuel of Kaminka zy”a that this pasuk can be understood to mean that if a person clears out the evil from within himself, he will influence all of Klal Yisroel to listen and fear. By purifying oneself, one brings purity to others.
The Tzadik’s Prayer Transforms Judgment to Mercy:
My grandfather, Rav Mordchele of Nadvorna zy”a (Sefer Maamar Mordechai) explains that this pasuk is hinting to the power that Hashem gives to a tzadik. It is saying that even if a person is destined to die, a tzadik’s tefillah can transform his judgment to Divine mercy and the decree can be annulled.
The pasuk is speaking about a person who has a Divine judgment made against him that he is liable to die for his sins. It says that “he is hanged on a tree.” This means that a tzadik (who is compared to a tree) can leave the judgment hanging until he does full teshuva and merits Hashem’s mercy.
A Tzadik’s Responsibility to Provide Goodness for Klal Yisroel:
Sefer Tiferes Shmuel explains this verse as follows:
The Zohar Hakadosh (Ki Sisa 93B) relates that Rav Shimon bar Yochai’s students said before he died: “Woe to the generation because you are leaving us.” We may ask how they could speak this way to their teacher.
The pasuk in Tehillim (106:4) states: “Zachreni Hashem b’ratzon amcha. Remember me Hashem, with the will of Your people.” When Dovid Hamelech began saying praises and songs to Hashem, he ascended to the upper realms of the higher worlds. He was so immersed in this holiness that he could have forgotten to daven for the needs of Klal Yisroel. Therefore, he asked Hashem to help him remember the needs of His people even when he was in the upper realms.
The same concept is found in the Gemara (Brachos 3B) that says that the wise men of Yisroel came to Dovid in the morning and said, “Your nation, Yisroel, needs parnassah.” They did this to remind him to worry about the people’s needs even while he was immersed in his own avodas hakodesh.
This is also seen from Rashi (Bamidbor 24:16) who says that it is a praise about the leaders of Klal Yisroel that when they leave this world, they set aside their own needs and ask for the needs of the tzibur. In other words, when they leave this world during prayer to ascend to higher levels, they still remember to daven for the needs of the public.
This is the meaning of this pasuk. It can be understood to mean that even when a tzadik rises to the upper worlds, he should not ignore the needs of the people – such as their cow and other means of earning a livelihood. “You shall surely return them to your brother” – whatever good influences they create through tefillah should be returned to Klal Yisroel for them to benefit from.
This is what Avrohom Avinu meant at the akeidah, when he said (Bereishis 22:5): “And we will bow and we will return to you.” He was saying that all of the good influences that he obtained from the akeidah would be returned for the benefit of his people.
Never Cause Pain to Others:
The Daas Zekeinim of the Baalei Tosafos states: One should not plow with a cow and donkey together because the cow chews its cud and when the donkey hears the cow chewing, it will be pained.
The donkey will think that the cow was given more food than it was, which will cause it pain. Rav Gad’l Eisner zt”l (quoted in Sefer B’Mesilos Gad, page 159) discerned from these words that the Torah is extremely worried about the pain of any living creature. We can certainly take the lesson that one should never cause any pain or anguish to a fellow Yid.
The Torah Refutes The Satan:
The Imrei Chaim of Vizhnitz zy”a related the following:
During his drasha before Kol Nidrei one year, his uncle, Rav Yehoshua of Dzhikov zy”a, explained the pasuk about a na’arah hameurasa. He explained that the Satan makes “libelous charges” against Klal Yisroel and claims that Klal Yisroel has rebelled against Hashem. He says that “he didn’t find besulim”, meaning that even during Elul, which has the mazal of “besulah”, the Jewish people are not serving Hashem.
The Rebbe then took hold of the curtain of the Aron Hakodesh and said: “’And they shall spread out the garment.’ Let us open the curtain and ask the holy Sefer Torah, which always says the truth, if the complaints are true!”
After several moments of silence, he continued: “The Torah Hakedosha says that the claims are false! Ribono Shel Olam, don’t believe the Satan. The Torah says that the punishment for making false claims is 100 silver coins. We are now owed that amount. You must provide us with sufficient parnassah and peace of mind. Furthermore, it says that ‘she shall be to him as a wife. He may not ever send her away.’ You cannot send us away or trade us for any other nation!”
Teshuva Transforms Sins Into Friends:
Sefer Likutei Yehuda relates in the name of Rav Boruch of Kosov zy”a, who was a “talmid chaver” of the Baal Shem Tov zy”a, that the word “Edomi” refers to a person’s aveiros. (The word literally means “red”, and aveiros are referred to as being red in Yeshaya 1:18). Accordingly, the pasuk is telling people not to despise their sins “because they are your brother.” This is because when one does teshuva out of love, his deliberate sins are transformed into merits (Yoma 86B) and they become like his friends and brothers that provide benefit for him.
The Reward For Shabbos in The Next World:
My grandfather, the Kretchnifer Rebbe zy”a (Gilyon Kol Emunah), quotes “Dorshei Rshimos” who say that the first letters of the words “b’yomo titein s’charo” spell the word “Shabbos.”
The explanation of this is that the Gemara tells us that “there is no reward for mitzvos in this world” (Kiddushin 39B). However, the Torah tells us that a worker must be paid on the same day that he worked and that one may not withhold wages from a worker (Vayikroh 19:13). We know that Hashem keeps all the mitzvos in the Torah. If so, how could it be true that He doesn’t pay people for their work right after they do a mitzvah?
They answer by quoting the Shulchan Aruch (Choshen Mishpat 339:7), who rules that if a man asks his friend to hire a worker for him, there is no prohibition of not paying the worker on the same day. If the worker is not paid on the day he did the job, neither the man who had the work done for him nor the agent he sent to find the worker are guilty of transgressing any prohibition.
We know that all of the 613 mitzvos were given to us through a messenger, as Hashem gave us all the mitzvos through Moshe Rabenu. Therefore, Hashem does not transgress anything if He does not pay us immediately when we do a mitzvah.
The mitzvah of Shabbos, however, was given to us by Hashem directly, without using Moshe as a messenger. This is seen from the Gemara (Shabbos 10B) that relates that Hashem told Moshe: “I have a good gift in My treasure house and its name is Shabbos. I want to give it to Yisroel.”
Hashem personally gave the gift of Shabbos to Klal Yisroel. Therefore, He is obligated to pay us for it immediately, which is why receive reward for Shabbos in this world, as the Zohar Hakadosh says (Chelek 2, 88B): “All blessings are dependent on Shabbos.”
That is why the word ”Shabbos“ is hinted to in the commandment to pay a worker on the day he does a job.
Glorifying Hashem for Benefiting The Public:
Sefer Tiferes Shlomo explains this pasuk to mean: “You shall not glorify” Hashem only for the goodness and kindness that He does for you personally. Rather, you should glorify Him for all that He does for the entire public, including for taking care of the ger, orphan and window.
Amalek Only Harms One Who is Alone:
Rav Isaac Humeler zt”l (Rav Yitzchok Isaac Halevi Epstein, a leading chasid of Lubavitch and Rov of the city of Humel, quoted in Sefer Toldos Yitzchok Isaac, page 121) explains that Amalek can only harm a person who is separated from the general public. He can only hurt someone who is “lecha”, i.e., living solely for himself. However, if one is connected to other chasidim, Amaleik cannot harm him.
