Ki Teitzei: The Most Difficult Battle

Rabbi Silber's Parsha Thought on Ki Teitzei opens with Rashi's observation that the milchama described here is a milchemes reshus, an optional war, and reads it as a metaphor for our own battle with the yetzer hara. He teaches that the classic model of growth, sur mei'ra v'aseh tov, first removing the negative, then building the positive, assumes we're ready to confront what's broken inside us, but sometimes we simply aren't. Rabbi Silber offers a second path for those moments: when confronting our demons feels too overwhelming, we can still move forward by flooding our lives with positivity, good deeds, and self-worth until we're strong enough to wage that harder battle. Either path, he teaches, is a legitimate way to fight the most important war any of us faces.

• Growth doesn't always start by confronting what's broken - sometimes it starts by building up the good.
• If you're not ready to face your demons yet, that doesn't disqualify you from growing; there's another path.
• Overwhelming your life with positivity, good deeds, and self-worth can carry you forward until you're ready for the harder battle.
• Not every struggle can stay optional forever - at some point we all have to confront what's broken inside us.