Likutei Moharan Torah 107
Can copy this into an AI, or connect the whole library to your assistant. For deeper learning, you can directly use the original seforim, sites, and apps.
כִּי תֵצֵא לַמִּלְחָמָה עַל אֹיְבֶיךָ וְכוּ' וְשָׁבִיתָ שִׁבְיוֹ (דברים כא):
“Should you go out to battle against your enemies and God your Lord give him into your hand and you take captives from him.” (Deuteronomy 21:10)
פֵּרוּשׁ: כִּי תֵצֵא לַמִּלְחָמָה עַל אֹיְבֶיךָ – שֶׁהוּא הַיֵּצֶר הָרָע.
This is the explanation: **Should you go out to battle against your enemies—**This being the Evil Inclination,
וּנְתָנוֹ ה' אֱלֹקֶיךָ בְּיָדֶיךָ – כְּלוֹמַר הַיֵּצֶר הָרָע יִתֵּן, כְּמוֹ יִמְסֹר, אֶת ה' אֱלֹקֶיךָ בְּיָדֶיךָ, עַל דֶּרֶךְ: צַדִּיק מוֹשֵׁל בְּיִרְאַת אֱלֹקִים (שמואל־ב כג).
**and God your Lord gives him into your hands—**In other words, the Evil Inclination gives—i.e., delivers—“God your Lord into your hands,” as in “The tzaddik rules with the fear of God” (2 Samuel 23:3).
נוֹתֶנֶת הַתּוֹרָה עֵצָה עַל זֶה:
The Torah provides advice for this:
וְשָׁבִיתָ שִׁבְיוֹ – כְּלוֹמַר: עִם מַה שֶּׁהוּא רוֹצֶה לְהִתְגַּבֵּר עָלֶיךָ, הַיְנוּ בְּגַדְלוּת, בָּזֶה תִּתְגַּבֵּר עָלָיו, הַיְנוּ שֶׁתֹּאמַר לוֹ: אֵיךְ אֲנִי מוֹשֵׁל כְּשֶׁיֵּשׁ לִי גַּאֲוָה, וְאֵין הַקָּדוֹשׁ־בָּרוּךְ־הוּא שׁוֹרֶה עִמִּי, וְדַי לַמֵּבִין.
**and you take some of them captive—**In other words, by using that very thing with which it seeks to overpower you—namely, pride—to overpower it. That is, say to it, “How can I rule when I am haughty, and the Holy Blessed One does not reside with me?” This is sufficient for the insightful.