Parashas Ki Tavo
Rav Chaim Lifshitz

Positive War:

“Make His Will Your Will”

                                                                                                 Translated by Dr.  S. Nathan

                                                                                    l'ilui nishmat Esther bat Mordechai
                                                                                l'ilui nishmat Mayer Hirsh ben Laibel

Aside from milhemet reshut, the optional war, and milhemet mitzva, the war that Hashem has commanded, there is another war, which we will call the positive war. 

“Because it says, ‘When He will give you rest [from all your enemies] – it also says that there are certain mitzvos that come before He gives us rest.  They apply immediately“when you come [to the Land].”   These are bikurim, the first fruit offering, ma’aser, the tithe, writing the Torah on stones, building a mizbayach, and giving the brachot, the blessings, and the klalot, the curses, on the two mountains.”  (Ibn Ezra)     

“Above, it is written: “Erase the memory of Amalek,” and immediately thereafter: “When you come to the Land.”  This is because they were commanded to erase the memory of Amalek immediately upon entering the Land.  [As the Gemara states in Sanhedrin 20B.]”

(Ba’al HaTurim)

“ ‘And you shall inherit it.’  To inherit (to evict) the Land of its inhabitants.  Even if what you have in the Land is enough for you, nevertheless, you must evict God’s enemies.” (Ohr HaChaim)             

It seems on the surface of things that a contradiction exists between the words of the Gemara in Sanhedrin and the Ibn Ezra’s commentary.  According to the Gemara, the mitzva of inheriting – evicting the inhabitants of the land through war -  applies immediately upon their coming to the Land.  According to the Ibn Ezra, the mitzva of waging war against Amalek, according to the plain meaning at the end of Parashat Ki Saitsai, applies only after “Hashem shall give you rest from all of your enemies that surround you.”  

The mitzva of bikurim comes at the very beginning.  Like blessings recited before a commandment, the mitzva of bikurim is ovair la’asiyatan; it precedes and focuses on subsequent actions.   The mitzva of ma’aser comes to give thanks and to express gratitude.  “A bit of the light pushes away much of the darkness.”  Do not fight evil.  Do good. 

The Lithuanian mussar approach endorsed a before-and-after sequence.  “Turn away from evil,” and only afterwards, “do good.”  Otherwise you will be like  “someone who immerses [for purity] while holding an insect in his hand.”  The Chassidic approach endorsed the reverse method: Turn away from evil by doing good.  How shall good evict evil without war?  How will Yaakov’s voice neutralize the control wielded by Esav’s hands? 

It wouldseem that avodat Hashem through mesirut nefesh, serving God in utter devotion and self-sacrifice, as in: “Should a man die in the tent,” and as in: “The Torah that I have learned furiously has stood by me,” is not merely an investment of effort and initiative, as in hitaruta dilitata, “the awakening of the lower one,” but rather falls into the category of a positive war, that is to say: a war for…rather than a war against…

This war “for” – comes immediately upon their entry into the Land, and it is fought through hakarat hatov, through gratitude and the mitzva of charity according to the Ibn Ezra, through the bikurim, the ma’asrot, writing the Torah on stones, building a mizbayach, and affirming the blessings and the curses. 

All of these mitzvot come to express man’s part in avodat Hashem.  These actions in service of God require mesirut nefesh - devotion, self-sacrifice, and absolute hishtadlut - an all-out investment of effort, rather than merely acting to discharge one’s obligation as with the other mitzvot.  As the Talmud comments: “Torah,” [writing the Torah on stones] the Land of Israel, [inheriting the Land] and the next world are acquired through yisurim, through suffering.”  They are acquired through yisurim shel ahava, sufferings of love, as in: “When a man shall die in the tent…” 

According to this fundamental principle, it would seem that the mitzva of wiping out Amalek comes after entering the Land, and after considerable investment of effort entailing immense mesirut nefesh.  Whereas, with mechiat Amalek, the investment of human effort is lesser, while God’s portion in it is greater, in that “the lower one’s awakening” rouses “the Higher One’s awakening.”   However, for those earlier, initial mitzvot mentioned above, maximal hishtadlut on man’s part is required. 

Further on, the parasha describes the blessings and curses given on Mount Grizim and Mount Eval, and these also belong to man’s part rather than to God’s part of the covenant.  These are all results of man’s action, of man’s behavior, in which he brings upon himself blessing or curse. 

We might say then that the entire parasha is speaking of man’s part in the covenant, in the sense of Et Hashem he’emarta…vaHashem he’emircha: “It is God Whom you have claimed for yourself, and God has also claimed you for Himself.” 

If man fulfills his part of the covenant, by waging the positive war that expresses fulfillment of mitzvot through human initiative – the more man imbues his personally initiated avodat Hashem with mesirut nefesh,  the more God will fulfill His part of the covenant, and the less hishtadlut man will require in everything related to attaining the brachot and fulfilling his own existential needs. 

This is reflected in the mishna in Avot: “Make His will your will [through immense investment of effort to the point of self-sacrifice],” and to the same extent, “He will make your will His will,” and you will not be required to exert yourself unduly to attain the fulfillment of your needs.  This is because the Creator of the universe, your eternal Partner, will Himself fill your needs.  And this, the Torah calls bracha, blessing. 

What the Torah calls klala, curse, is what transpires in the event that you do not do His will with mesirut nefesh, devotion and self-sacrifice.  You will then be required to sacrifice yourself for your existential needs, as in: “By the sweat of your brow shall you eat bread,” without achieving any real, tangible results, which is a curse obviously. 

Bracha and klala, blessing and curse are thus a result of fulfilling and realizing that key formula: “Make His will your will, etc.” 

Et Hashem he’emarta: “It is God Whom you have claimed for yourself.”  Religion is popularly understood as a theocentric perception, in contrast to liberal, secular perceptions that are characterized as anthropocentric, because man is their chief concern, whereas God is the purpose of the religions, with man being merely the means. 

Judaism, however, is neither theocentric nor anthropocentric.  “Make His will your will” – theocentric – “so that He will make your will His will” – anthropocentric. 

We see from this that man’s goal is theocentric, and in response, God makes a human being’s will into His Own will.  That is, the Creator of the universe places man as His chief concern. 

Such is the formula of the covenant that creates a dynamic vector of reciprocal relations between both sides.  This fundamental principle is the key to man’s existence in God’s universe. 

Every aspect of existence – be it economic, military, medical or social – arouses the survival urge.  The solution is not hishtadlut.  Investing effort is not the way, but rather nullifying one’s ego and putting in its place that devotion which pushes aside those components of survival that galvanize one to the fight for existence. 

If man would have the wisdom, during moments of existential pressure, to place God’s Presence as his goal and purpose – at the center of the arena of his own reason for existing – he would be able to successfully bypass his own existential struggle for survival by sanctifying the Godly Presence, and thereby restoring the balance in his own relationship with his Creator, according to the formula of “Make His will your will.” 

Ki Tavo, “When you come to the Land” is phrased in the singular form, to teach you that the individual must bring himself to the Land, his own selfhood – what distinguishes him from everyone else.  Whereas when he acts as a detail within the general group he loses his selfhood.  What pertains to the self is quality.  What pertains to the group is quantity. 

There are two aspects to the coming of Mashiach.   Our perception of man’s part: Believing in man’s ability to become perfect, to become the Mashiach.  Our perception of the Creator's part: Believing in siyata dishmaya, in Heaven’s assistance, which will redeem us and grant us success on our path to perfection.