The Greatest Battle: Overcoming the Yetzer Hara

“And you see among the captives a beautiful woman, and you desire her and take her for yourself as a wife”(Deuteronomy 21:11).

The Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh explains, on an allegorical level, that the entire world depends upon the deeds of the Jewish people. When the Jewish people conduct themselves properly, the world continues to exist. Moreover, Hashem Himself rejoices when the Jewish people fulfill His will and follow the proper path. If they do not, God forbid, the opposite occurs.

From here we can understand the tremendous importance of a person’s actions and the impact they have, not only on those in their immediate surroundings, but on the entire world.

The Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh also emphasizes that the ability of the Jewish people to follow the proper path depends upon their victory over the yetzer hara, the evil inclination. The more they confront and overcome it, the more upright their conduct will be.

“By way of allusion, the passage may be explained as follows: The entire structure of the world and its continued existence depend upon the deeds of the Jewish people. If they improve their ways, the world endures, the heavens rejoice and the earth is glad. Hashem our God, too, rejoices and delights in us. And the uprightness of Israel’s ways depends upon overcoming the evil inclination.”

An Eternal Battle With the Yetzer Hara

The Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh explains that these verses come to awaken a person to the reality that when he descends from the upper world, the world of souls, into this world, he must immediately be prepared for spiritual battle. Life in this world involves a constant struggle between a person and the yetzer hara, and he must be prepared to confront it.

“The verse comes to awaken a person to the fact that when he leaves the upper world to enter this world, he must be prepared for battle.”

The Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh warns us not to imagine that overcoming the yetzer hara is easy or requires little effort. On the contrary, it is a battle in the fullest sense of the word, an ongoing struggle that continues throughout a person’s life in this world. The struggle to master the evil inclination is a genuine war, which is why the Torah uses the language of battle to describe it.

He cites the teaching of our Sages in Pirkei Avot: “Who is mighty? One who conquers his inclination.” He emphasizes that there is no greater form of strength than overcoming the yetzer hara. This is among the greatest achievements a person can attain. It is true strength.

Finally, the Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh explains that the word lamilchamah, “to the battle,” is referring to the battle, the well-known and ongoing battle against the yetzer hara.

“For one should not think that no special strength is required to achieve this victory. On the contrary, this is what is truly called a battle, as our Sages said (Avot 4:1), ‘Who is mighty? One who conquers his inclination,’ for there is no greater might than this. Therefore it says ‘lamilchamah,’ with a patach beneath the lamed.”

Through this interpretation, the Ohr HaChaim calls upon every person to recognize the spiritual challenges that await us in this world and to appreciate the profound importance of confronting and overcoming the yetzer hara.