And, to complicate this matter even further, rabbinic literature has identified the major enemy to be overcome as the personal weakness of all the Jewish people generally and of individuals Jews in their own right. Part of the problem of all great military strategists has been to identify the true enemy, and to deal with the core of the problem and not only with the periphery. That is why espionage, spies, informants and military intelligence are so much a part of warfare from time immemorial.

 

It is therefore important to note this observation of the Rabbis that our main enemies may not be external foes and forces but rather internal weaknesses as lack of confidence in our true mission and ourselves. Throughout human history the symbol of the Trojan horse has dominated the imagination and planning of all armies and governments. Of course, overwhelming external force, that no amount of internal courage and selflessness could overcome, has conquered nations. But it is no less true that mighty empires have also collapsed because of internal weaknesses and unsustainable constraints.

 

Life is a constant struggle with ourselves, with our base instincts, with our selfishness and greed, our desires and lusts. It is a war that we fight with ourselves daily and it is a cruel war because it knows no compromise nor cease-fire. The example of the non-Jewish woman taken in war by the lust of the moment, described for us this week's Torah reading, is meant to be the paradigm for all our struggles to remain upright and human despite financial, physical and political temptations.

 

They Torah instructed us to survive these wars by always choosing life over death, right over wrong, holy values over temporary temptations. The problem is that many people do not realize that they are engaged in such a struggle and arrive at the battlefront unprepared and ill armed. Knowing next to nothing about their identity and character, Jews, ignorant of the lessons of Jewish history and the values that have been taught to us by previous generations, are unable to identify the enemy. They form a circular firing squad that is self-destructive to themselves and others.

 

Freedom becomes licentiousness and achievement is forced to give way to entitlement and never-ending dependency upon others. Any careful study of the words of the prophets of Israel during first Temple times will notice that they reviewed all the external enemies that they then faced, and in the end eventually conquered Israel as being manifestations of the internal enemy that was destroying Jewish spirituality and sense of godly mission and purpose. This is a lesson that our generation should certainly also take to heart.

 

Shabbat shalom

 

Rabbi Berel Wein