Parshat Ki Tetzei

This week’s parashah, Ki Tetzei, begins:  “When you go to war against your enemies. . .”  The Talmudic rabbis understood this to refer not to an external war, but to an inner war against our own darkest impulses. Teshuvah, turning toward the good, means waging war against our yetzer hara, our capacity for selfishness. Change begins with confrontation and struggle.

Centuries later, the Hasidic masters understood the process of teshuvah very differently. Rabbi Nahman of Bratslav taught that teshuva starts with our ability to see the good in everyone, including ourselves. We grow not by attacking the worst in ourselves but by acknowledging the best, by recognizing that, no matter how badly we have failed, we are still images of God. That is what motivates us to do better. Change begins not with confrontation but with compassion, even for ourselves.

Whichever way we choose to begin — by confronting the worst in ourselves or by searching for the best — we cannot do it alone. Being part of a spiritual community gives us the strength to push back against our darker impulses. It also helps us to recognize our strengths. In both ways, reconnecting with community enables us to grow as individuals.

May we strengthen one another as we make our way toward the new year.