Going Out
Our souls are in exile and yearn to be liberated. Personal redemption is the catalyst for collective redemption.
Abhorrence of War
War is one of the most—if not the most tragic— manifestation of life in the pre-Messianic Age. And while we have prayed—and continue to pray—to G-d to bring an end to all forms of warfare, we are presently living in the reality that still tolerates war, and in some extreme cases even requires it. But at all times, Judaism instructs us to view war as a necessary evil at best.
As discussed in the preceding essay, one way the Torah expresses it abhorrence of war, even as it discusses the laws that regulated it, can be found in the beginning of this week’s parsha. The very first fragment of the first verse says it all:
“If you shall go out to wage war on your enemy.”
By stating “If you shall go out to wage war,” and not simply, “If you shall wage war,” the Torah wants us to realize that fighting is never your inner goal and your essence. You must go out of your routine and that which defines you to do the aberrant exercise of warfare. It is not you!, It represents going out of yourself and being something that you are not.
War and Bread
There is also a deeper, mystical and personal approach to the concept of war, which explains the phraseology of “going out” to fight the war.
All of life is a struggle. Even the word for the staff of life— bread—in Hebrew is lechem, the root of which is war. Because in order to procure all of our needs, symbolized by bread, we must struggle. Whether it is the farmer struggling with the elements, or the retailer who encounters stiff competition and barely ekes out a meager living, life is a virtual battlefield.
But if life looks like it is a struggle for us we should look within our inner selves to reveal the existence of a far greater struggle. The soul that we all possess comes from a Divine source that is beyond the whole concept of interaction with a physical body with physical needs.
For the soul to descend into this physical existence is not easy. It must be “convinced” that it is a worthwhile endeavor. It is not natural for a soul to be involved with the mundane and material aspects of life. It must “go out” of its element and be injected into a different and strange world. To the soul, the view of tour world is as alien and bizarre as a green Martian would be to us.
Thus, the Torah begins this week’s parsha with the words: “When you shall go out to wage war.” This alludes to the soul that agrees to go out of its secure and spiritually insulated domain and be thrust into this cruel world to do battle.” By using the words “When you go out,” the Torah conveys to us that essentially we are spiritual creatures introduced into a hostile and alien world.
The Spoils of War
But, the Torah continues to describe what happens in war:
“And you shall capture a captive.”
In every war the winner gets the spoils of war. So too in the perennial struggle with the physical world, the soul comes out a winner. It extracts the treasures and positive energies that exist in everything that G-d created, and uses this newfound energy to enhance it its own relationship with G-d.
In addition, the very fact that the soul must struggle to win these battles allows the soul to discover its hidden potential. The soul discovers that it possesses the energy to overcome obstacles it was never aware of when it resided in its spiritual home.
Exile!
But very often, the body does not allow the soul to profit from its sojourn in our material world. When this occurs, the soul feels totally out of place, as if it is in a foreign country, or, for that matter, in another galaxy. It feels totally alienated and forlorn This is what exile really means. When the Jewish people were driven out of their land, there was a simultaneous alienation of their souls from this world. The soul felt it was situated in a world that was so distant and cold. And when the soul feels that it is all alone, it relays its sense of dissatisfaction with life to the conscious mind. And that is when feelings of despair and bitterness set in.
Thus it quite possible that some forms of depression can be traced back to the soul feeling alienated and lost in a world that it had to “go out” of its element to live in, and not make any progress; no “captives.”
Treating Depression
To treat this condition, one must first be aware of the fact that we all possess this soul and know from where the soul derives. We must also realize that if we do not nurture it and allow it to feel comfortable in our world of materiality by using the physical as a medium to do Mitzvos, then the soul will be quite unhappy and even despair about the prospects of winning the war.
The key to recovery from the spiritually induced sense of depression is a three step program:
First, we must appreciate who we really are; that we are a composite of a soul and a body, and the soul is our true essence Second, we must be aware that our soul’s descent into our world is the result of a mission it was given to change the world.
Third, we must be aware of the fact that we have the power to succeed. This power to achieve “victory” we have through the observance of the Mitzvos.
This awareness instills in us a sense of meaning and profound joy. Instead of the soul feeling alienated from its place of origin, the soul feels liberated and fulfilled.
The surest way to feeling joy in our lives is not through perpetual entertainment. That just masks the soul’s pain. Only a life that is consistently geared to the observance of the Mitzvos can bring contentment and tranquility to the soul, which, in turn, brings joy and fulfillment to the conscious mind.
Personal and Collective Redemption
When we speak of the coming of Moshiach and the imminent Redemption, we must begin to address our own personal state of redemption. Getting out of spiritual depression is a form of liberation. The soul feels free and rejuvenated because we have allowed our soul to express itself in an uninhibited way.
This personal Redemption is the catalyst for the collective Redemption of the Jewish people and all of humanity.
From the book Light from the Future: Parshas Ki Seitzei by Rabbi Heschel Greenberg, published by the Jewish Discovery Center.
