A Desire to Be Victorious
War is a zero-sum game: there is always a winner and a looser, a victor and the defeated. While usually the more powerful army is victorious, there have been epic battles throughout history when a smaller army wins despite being out-numbered and out-matched.
How can that happen?
The power of desire. When a smaller army is driven by a deep desire, a will, to wage that war and more importantly, to be victorious, they can vanquish and defeat a more powerful adversary. Napoleon is quoted to have said that the power of will in battle is worth three times the power of weapons.
No Way Home
There is a beautiful story that teaches the power of will, of desire and morale in battle:
There once was a powerful nation that had an immense military. However, there was an island of rebels who would terrorize this nation. Trying to rid themselves of this menace, the nation would deploy their ships filled with infantry and an unmatched arsenal to try and capture this island and destroy this band of rebels. Time and time again, however, the ships would return with battered soldiers, in utter defeat.
Frustrated, the king replaced his Military Minister with a cunning and brave general. His first task: destroy the terrorizing rebels. Like his predecessor, he loaded the ships with troops, weapons and equipment. When they reached the shores of the island, the troops disembarked and set up camp. Then, the new minister unleashed his secret weapon: he set his own ships ablaze.
The troops watched in horror.
The minister stood on the shore, before his terrified army, the glow of the burning ships in the backdrop, and told them: "Look! Our ships are burning! There is no way home without victory. Your only option is to fight; fight for your very lives. Our enemy will show you no mercy; no quarter will be granted. You must fight. You must win. If not, this island will be your burial place!"
The soldiers stormed the island, attacking the enemy stronghold. They fiercely fought. After a grueling battle, the army emerged victorious; the rebels were destroyed.
After the battle, the troops were celebrating, and the minister took the opportunity to address his victorious army saying: "You all saw that I burned our ships. I know that you were terrified. However, as long as those ships were docked, you had a way out, a way home, you knew that you could flee the battlefield. However, once you knew that there was no way home; that victory was your only option, it awakened in each of you a deep will to win, a desire to survive and to leave the battlefield victorious. You summoned every ounce of your strength, and you waged a battle never seen before. That will, the longing is why we are standing here today victorious!"
The Jewish Kings
Chazal teaches us in Sotah (44b), that when the yidden went to war during the reign of Jewish kings, there were layers of military police stationed behind the frontlines ensuring that the soldiers could not flee. The soldiers had no other options but to stand and fight with every ounce of their being, with all their might. As Chazal continues n Sotah that the beginning of an army's downfall is fleeing; the ability to abandon the battlefield.
When Capturing a City…Leave an Out
When the Torah describes conquering a city, we are instructed to first send a peace treaty; to offer the city an opportunity to surrender and accept a full pardon. This peace treaty is preferred to war. And, since peace is preferred, the Torah instructs us not to siege the city on all four sides. Rather there needs to be one side left open for the citizens of the city to flee; they need to see an exit.
This option to flee softens their resolve to fight, as the Abarbanel in Devarim (20:10) explains, that since they have an option for amnesty, they would prefer that outcome versus risking their lives in battle. This process enables the yidden to conquer a city with little risk of losing Jewish lives, which is inevitable; even the victor suffers casualties.
The Cunningness of the Yetzer Harah
At times, a similar strategy is deployed with ill intentions. A conquering army approaches a city under the guise of peace, under the banner of a truce offering amnesty and pardons. Promising to live in tranquility, side by side. However, after taking over the city, they unleash a reign of terror and begin a systematic slaughter of the citizens. Their banner of peace is quickly replaced by the reality of utter destruction.
The Eternal Battle
Every yid finds himself in this world facing an extremely powerful adversary: our Yetzer Harah. We are constantly at war, fighting battle after battle. Struggling to connect to Hashem while our Yetzer Harah is constantly trying to create distance, to pull us away. The Yetzer Harah has a single goal: distance you from Hashem with each sin, with each indulged temptation, with every step in the wrong direction. He wants you to be numb to the holiness, to the light, to the blessings that surround you.
But we have the ability and power to be victorious. We can overcome this adversary. We might feel outmatched. We might feel like underdogs. However, if we have a deep desire, a driving will to be victorious in these struggles, we can overcome this adversary.
We must realize that the "ships have been burned" and our only path forward, our only way to connect to a true and meaningful life is through our victories against the Yetzer Harah, both large and small. We need to have that burning desire for victory, to summon all of our talents, our strengths and resources. We need to fight like our very lives depend on it.
We must also recognize with the utmost clarity that the Yetzer Harah is a true enemy. We cannot be naïve and fall prey to false promises of peace; we cannot let ourselves be fooled into believing that letting this enemy into our midst will be fine; that we can coexist. We must see through these deceptions and false promises. Even though the Yetzer Harah might approach us with benign overtures, even though the temptations might seem harmless, there will be an ultimate accounting for our actions. In the end, the enemy will destroy you,
The pasuk in Koheles (11:9) says, "Rejoice, young man, in your childhood, let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth, follow the path of your heart and the sight of your eyes - but be aware that for all these things God will call you to account." Even though you might rejoice in the temporary pleasures of temptation, even if you follow the wants and desires of your "eyes", eventually God will call for an accounting.
The Promise of Victory…If You Wage the War
This is what the Torah is teaching us in the pasuk: "When you will go out to war against your enemies, and Hashem, your God, will deliver them into your hand" (Devarim 21:10)
A yid must wage this war. He must go out and battle the eternal enemy, the Yetzer Harah. However, you must battle with the confidence, desire and the will to win. Therefore, you must recognize that this battle is truly "against your enemies"; an enemy that will grant you no quarter and who aims for your ultimate and complete destruction. There can be no retreat; you cannot flee. Surrender will not end in peace but utter demise.
If you enter these battles with a desire to win, with a longing for victory, then Hashem will, as the pasuk promises, "deliver them into your hand." Hashem will help and give you the strength to be victorious.
May each of us be blessed with the awareness of the internal battles in our lives, and may we all be given the strength from Hashem to continue to fight these battles with an unrelenting will.
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