parshat Ki Tetze

"When you go out to war against your enemies…" Going to battle means "going out," leaving our regular routine and habits. The Torah educates us to gentle behavior, to making concessions, and certainly not to kill – under normal circumstances. But in wartime, killing Israel's enemies is a mitzvah, and requires one to become nearly a different person, one with great strength and aggressiveness. These are traits that can cause a person to lose the proper balance...

The story is told of a brother and sister who set out to search for spirituality. Each one found something: The brother found and returned to Judaism, while his sister fell under the influence of a guru in India and decided to remain there...

The war against Amalek can take place on two planes – a maximalistic plane and a minimalistic plane.

The Torah speaks of making war upon one's enemy. Who is this enemy? There is a rabbinic tradition that The enemy described is not so much a physical or national enemy as it is a spiritual or societal foe.

A Shiur by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks for the weekly Torah reading of "Ki Tetze".