Winning Our Battles

How many battles did you fight today? Did you fight fatigue to pry your eyes open this morning? Did you fight the mad traffic jam to navigate to work? At the office, did you fight laziness to climb the stairs instead of riding the elevator? Did you fight lethargy to focus on the tasks at hand? Did you fight the clock to meet your deadline? Did you fight your cravings to avoid unhealthy snacks and choose nourishing food?

Every day, every hour, every minute, we wage countless battles.

This week’s Torah portion begins by telling us about our battles and provides us with vital knowledge to win them.

“When you go out to war on your enemies, the L‑rd your G‑d shall deliver them into your hands and you shall capture from them captives.”

The Torah doesn’t write, if you go out to war, but rather when. Turbulence and struggle is inevitable.

We fight real wars just as we fight moral ones. We struggle with character traits just as we do with using our time wisely and developing our talents fully. We battle to protect loved ones from the harsh realities of our world and to create a better reality.

Here are 3 important things to know about your wars:

1. The Hebrew phrase "al ovecha" is literally translated as "on top of your enemies." Just because we are constantly engaged in struggle doesn’t mean that we are defined by them. Don’t focus on your losses; you are far more than your conflicts. You have a divine soul that is perfect and untarnished. So just get back up, reenergized, and begin anew.

2. When your battles become oppressive, you may need to take a step back and reevaluate. Affirm that there is no true existence other than G‑d. Nothing has any real power over you. Go to war with the optimistic confidence that "G‑d shall deliver them into your hands,” to succeed.

3. “You shall capture from them captives.” Anything negative in a person or in the world can be harnessed for the good. You were exposed to your circumstances for a reason. Find a lesson in every situation.

Wishing us all strength and victory in fighting our many battles!

Shabbat Shalom!

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