Bs”d
Parshas Shoftim – Ki Saitzai – Elul (5762)
By Mordechai Dolinsky
The parsha of Ki Saitzai begins and ends with going out to war. The greatest and most significant battle we have is with the yetzer hara which encompasses every area of avodas HaShem and accounts for the tremendous variety and range of mitzvos our sedra contains.
Parshas Shoftim contains the imposing of authority over the people with a “stick and strap”. This represents the exterior motivation and incentive. This is the time of year that we harness the Shoftim aspect of our personality and character by making self-imposed restrictions and taking upon ourselves stringencies. Besides the concept of tshuva another concept explaining this Elul mentality is that we have special Divine assistance to free us from being bound by the heavy chains of the yetzer hara manifested in consistent transgressions or constant lack of ability to actuate the reality of true fulfillment of the mitzvos. The strength and the ability to accomplish this in Elul is the special closeness that Hashem makes available to us, expressed so beautifully in “Ani Ledodi V’dodi Li”.
Have a wonderful Shabbos and a successful Elul.